Using personalization & messaging
How to use variables, spintax, AI-written messages, and conditional routing to increase reply rates across email, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp sequences.
Updated October 25, 2026 · 7 min read
Personalisation dramatically improves engagement. Generic blast messages get ignored; messages that reference the contact's actual role, company, and context get replies. Vetta gives you four personalisation layers: variables, expressions, spintax, and AI-written messages.
Variables
Variables pull contact data from CRM records into your messages automatically. In any message step, click the variable button to open the menu. It groups everything you can insert:
- Person: the contact's own fields
- Company: their company's fields
- Opportunities: fields from their latest, oldest or all deals
- A group for each pipeline, such as Cold outbound
- Sender: details about whoever sends the message
- AI Message: variables that AI writes from your prompt (see below)
Sequences · VariablesPick a field and it drops in as a chip; the preview shows where each value goes. The same menu works in email (including the subject line), LinkedIn and WhatsApp steps. Common variables:
| Variable | What it inserts |
|---|---|
{{currentPerson.name.firstName}} | Contact's first name |
{{currentPerson.name.lastName}} | Contact's last name |
{{currentPerson.company.name}} | Their company name |
{{currentPerson.jobTitle}} | Their job title |
{{currentSender.email.firstName}} | The sending rep's name |
Every field on the contact, including your custom fields, is available in the picker, so enriched or AI-written fields can flow straight into messages.
Each contact gets their own values when the step sends. If a contact is missing a value, that step fails for them instead of sending a message with a gap, so keep the fields you use filled in, or set a fallback.
For transformations (capitalisation, fallbacks when a field is empty, math, date formatting), wrap variables in expression blocks. See the full Variable Expressions reference.
Spintax
Spintax randomizes phrasing across sends, so your messages don't look copy-pasted to spam filters or to prospects who compare notes. Write variants and Vetta rotates them across your contacts:
{Hi|Hey|Hello} {{currentPerson.name.firstName}},
Use the spintax button in the message editor and preview a randomization before publishing. Spintax pairs well with variables: the structure varies, the personal data stays exact. Analytics don't break results down by spintax variant, so use spintax for variety, not to test which wording wins.
AI-generated messages
AI-written text comes from AI variables. Each AI variable has its own prompt and writes one part of a message for each contact: a whole email body, a subject line, or a single opening sentence. You insert it from the AI Message group in the variable menu, like any other variable.
AI variables are set up in AI Message Settings, in the sequence's settings. Generate under Generate AI message for this sequence creates one AI variable for every step and inserts them into the empty steps. See Setting up AI variables, and Previewing and regenerating messages to read what the AI wrote before anything sends.
Combined with the Qualify Lead step (which scores each contact against your ICP first), this gives you per-contact personalisation at scale that static templates can't match.
AI-written messages use credits. If your workspace runs out, steps that need credits pause and pick up again after a top-up or the next monthly grant.
Spintax plus targeted AI
You don't have to choose between a fixed template and a fully AI-written message. A strong pattern is to write most of the message yourself, with spintax for variety, and use an AI variable only for the parts that need thinking about each contact:
- One AI variable for a pain point specific to the contact's role or company
- One line that changes by segment, such as how you help companies like theirs
- Everything else (your introduction, proof point, call-to-action) as fixed text with spintax variants
In our experience, these messages read better than fully generated ones, stay on message, and use fewer credits because the AI writes less.
Best practices for personalisation
- Personalise the opening hook with specific research about the prospect (recent news, funding, new product)
- Layer multiple data points rather than relying solely on first name
- Avoid overly invasive details that might feel creepy or intrusive
- Use personal signatures with variables for the sender's name and title
- Preview messages with sample contacts before publishing to verify all variables populate correctly: and set fallbacks for fields that may be empty
Conditional messaging
Send different message versions based on contact characteristics:
- Separate enterprise versus SMB messaging
- Different value propositions by industry
- Adjusted tone based on seniority (VP vs. individual contributor)
Use Conditions, including Custom Condition on any CRM field, to route different contacts to different message steps based on their data.
Testing what works
Vetta has no built-in A/B testing, but per-step analytics show opened, clicked, and replied rates for every message in the flow, so you can compare versions by hand:
- Duplicate the sequence (choose Sequence only) and change one thing in the copy: subject line, hook, or CTA
- Split similar contacts between the two sequences
- Compare replied rates after a full cycle (5 to 7 days minimum)
- Keep the winner, then test the next variable
The full recipe is in Monitoring & optimizing results.
What to test first:
- Subject lines (curiosity vs. direct, personalised vs. generic)
- Opening hooks (research-based vs. value-first vs. question-based)
- Call-to-action style (hard: "book now" vs. soft: "open to a quick chat?")
Channel-specific guidance
Allows detailed, structured copy with formatting. Personalise the subject line and first sentence. Keep total length under 150 words for cold outreach.
Demands conciseness (300 to 500 characters). Open with something genuinely specific to the person. Avoid marketing language.
Emphasises direct, conversational tone. Write like you're texting someone you know. Emojis used sparingly are fine.
Common questions
What happens if a contact is missing a value my message uses?
That step fails for them instead of sending a message with a gap. Keep the fields you use filled in, or set a fallback with an expression block. See Variables.
Can I use my custom fields in a message?
Yes. Every field on the contact, including custom fields, is in the variable picker, so enriched or AI-written fields can flow straight into messages. See Variables.
Can I personalise the subject line?
Yes. The same variable menu works in the email subject line as in the body. See Variables.
Can I A/B test my messages?
There is no built-in A/B test. Duplicate the sequence (Sequence only), change one thing, split similar contacts between the two, and compare replied rates after 5 to 7 days. See Testing what works.
Does spintax tell me which variant performed best?
No. Analytics don't break results down by spintax variant, so use spintax for variety, not to test wording. See Spintax.
Do AI-written messages use credits?
Yes. If your workspace runs out, steps that need credits pause and pick up again after a top-up or the next monthly grant. See AI-generated messages.
Do I have to let the AI write the whole message?
No. Write most of it yourself with spintax for variety and use an AI variable only for the parts that need thinking about each contact; these messages stay on message and use fewer credits. See Spintax plus targeted AI.
How do I send different messages to different segments?
Use conditions, including Custom Condition on any CRM field, to route contacts to different message steps. See Conditional messaging.
Key outcome
Your messages now combine exact CRM data, varied wording and AI-written lines where they add the most, so each contact gets something that reads as written for them. Preview a few contacts before you publish, then compare versions over time to keep improving reply rates.
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