Set up and manage field placeholders

Who can use this: Tech admin

Available on: Gong Engage

A field placeholder is a stand-in that Gong replaces with each recipient's own details, such as a first name or a company name. You control which placeholders your team can add to templates, blocks, and flows.

Placeholders come in four types:

• Imported CRM fields: Values from CRM fields you import into Gong

• Custom field placeholders: Values you define in Gong when no CRM field fits

• Manual placeholders: Reminders that tell a team member to add something before sending

• Third-party placeholders: Values an outside tool supplies when the email is sent

A manual placeholder uses a single pair of curly brackets, for example {Add your text here}. Every other type uses double curly brackets. Gong does not fill in manual placeholders. If a team member tries to send an email that still contains one, Gong shows the message "Replace or remove placeholders" so they can edit the email before sending.

Set up placeholders after Engage is set up and before your team starts writing templates. Learn more about setting up Engage.

Note:

Field placeholders work in templates, blocks, and flows. You cannot insert them directly into the email composer. For a personalized one-off email, a team member can apply a template that already contains the placeholder.

Import CRM fields as placeholders

When you import a CRM field, team members can use it as a placeholder in templates, blocks, and flows.

Required permissions:

Import CRM fields into Gong

To import a CRM field as a placeholder:

1. From the left sidebar, click Admin center.

2. In the Settings tab, click CRM settings.

3. Click Salesforce or HubSpot, depending on your CRM.

4. Click the Data import tab.

5. Open the object that holds the field you want to import.

6. Click the Create placeholder toggle next to the field to enable it.

7. Click Save.

Create a custom field placeholder

Create a custom placeholder when no CRM field holds the value you need, such as a campaign name or a product term your team uses. After you create it, team members select it like any other placeholder.

To create a custom field placeholder:

1. From the left sidebar, click Admin center.

2. In the Settings tab, click Field Placeholders under the Gong Engage card.

3. On the Custom field placeholders page, click Add field placeholder.

4. Enter a name, a description, and the Field placeholder type, either Text or Link.

5. Click Save.

Tip:

Team members see placeholders in the placeholder menu in the same order as on the Custom field placeholders page. Drag placeholders to put the ones your team uses most at the top.

Set up third-party placeholders

A third-party placeholder holds a value that Gong never stores. An outside tool, such as an enrichment or research platform, supplies the value when the email is sent. Gong does not supply these values, so it cannot tell when one is missing. Before you use this type in auto email steps, confirm that the integration sends the values.

The integration sends the values through the Engage API when people are assigned to a flow. In Gong, set up the placeholder first. Then have the integration send its value under that placeholder name. Learn more about the Engage API.

Format dates and numbers

Your CRM sends dates and numbers in the format it stores them. A format string is a short code that changes how a placeholder shows them. It does not change the data in your CRM.

A date placeholder with no format string shows the date as year-month-day, such as 2025-07-08. Add a format string to change it.

Important:

Format strings are case-sensitive. mm shows minutes and MM shows months. If you use the wrong case, the email shows the wrong date.

Supported date formats

Write a date placeholder as {{format_date object.field 'format_string'}}. Replace object.field with the CRM object and field, such as opportunity.close_date. The following table shows each format string and its output.

For example, if the close date is July 8, 2025, {{format_date opportunity.close_date 'MMMM d, YYYY'}} shows July 8, 2025.

Supported number formats

Write a number placeholder as {{format_number object.field 'format_string'}}. Replace object.field with the CRM object and field, such as opportunity.amount. The following table shows each format string and its output.

For example, if the amount is 1234567.89, {{format_number opportunity.amount '$0,0.00'}} shows $1,234,567.89.

Use placeholders in links

You can put a placeholder inside a URL, so the link carries the recipient's own details. For example, the link can open a search or a form with the recipient's name filled in. Check these links before you send them. A broken placeholder inside a URL still looks like a normal link.

This search URL ends with the recipient's first name: https://www.google.com/search?name={{recipient.first_name}}

To turn a placeholder into a link:

Click Insert link and complete the Text and Link fields.

Tip:

You can use if/else conditions inside a URL. One link can then lead to different destinations, depending on the recipient's data.

Migrate placeholders from Outreach or Salesloft

When you migrate content from Outreach or Salesloft, Gong converts the placeholders it recognizes. It leaves the rest in the text, wrapped in single curly brackets like a manual placeholder. Review the migrated content by hand, because Gong does not fill in manual placeholders.

What Gong converts automatically

Gong converts these placeholders automatically:

• {{recipient.first_name}}

• {{recipient.last_name}}

• {{recipient.company_name}}

• {{recipient.job_title}}

• {{sender.first_name}}

• {{sender.last_name}}

• {{sender.job_title}}

• {{sender.phone_number}}

Gong also converts conditional logic that uses if, if/else, and unless.

What you need to fix manually

Gong leaves the placeholders it cannot convert in single curly brackets. Replace each one with its Gong equivalent.

Replace legacy placeholder formats in the subject line

Check the subject line as well as the body. Older placeholders in the subject line use uppercase names and Salesforce-style names instead of the Gong names in the previous table.

Update legacy conditional logic

When Gong migrates templates or flows from Outreach or Salesloft, it automatically converts conditional statements that use if, if/else, and unless. Review migrated content to confirm that the conversion was successful. Gong does not convert the older If, Else, and Endif form. Rewrite this format manually.

Old format: If Recipient first name {{Hi}} Else {{Hi there}} Endif

New format: {{#if recipient.first_name}} Hi {{recipient.first_name}}, {{else}} Hi there, {{/if}}

Other examples:

• {{#if recipient.first_name}}Hi {{recipient.first_name}}{{else}}Hi{{/if}} → "Hi" or "Hi John"

• {{#if recipient.first_name = Gal}} Hello Gal {{else}} Hello {{/if}} → "Hello Gal" or "Hello"

Update migrated manual placeholders

Manual placeholders arrive from migration in double curly brackets. Change them to a single pair.

Old format: {{Insert some research about the customer}}

New format: {Insert some research about the customer}

Check placeholders inside existing links

Check the links in migrated content as well.

Before: https://calendly.com/{sender.custom1}/english-optimization-call

After: https://calendly.com/{{sender.calendly_username}}/english-optimization-call

Links can also contain an if/else condition. For example:

https://calendly.com/{{sender.calendly_username}}/sync?sfid={{#if contact.Contact_18_Id__c}}{{contact.Contact_18_Id__c}}{{else}}{{lead.Lead_18_Digit_ID__c}}{{/if}}

You can use the same condition outside a URL:

{{#if contact.Contact_18_Id__c}} <Insert link version 1> {{else}} <Insert link version 2> {{/if}}

Note:

Reviewing and updating another team member's personal templates and flows requires Tech admin access.

To review another team member's migrated content:

1. From the left sidebar, click Admin center.

2. In the Settings tab, click Team members under the People card.

3. Open the team member's panel.

4. Click the More actions icon, and select Log in as.

Frequently asked questions