Before you start: Variables require your technical team to pass user data (traits) to Candu through your integration. If you're not sure whether you're sending data to Candu:
Check your existing segments, if you can create segments based on properties like name, email, or company, you're already passing some data
Ask your technical team if user traits are being sent via your Candu implementation or through an integration like Segment
If you're not passing any data yet, learn how to set up user trait tracking before creating variables.
When a user views your content, Candu pulls the data you've sent for that specific user and displays it in place of the variable. For users missing that data, Candu shows your fallback text instead. For example, instead of a generic "Welcome!" message, you can show "Welcome, Sarah!" or "Your team has completed 47 tasks this month."
Common use cases:
Personalized greetings: "Welcome back, {first_name}" or "Welcome, {company_name} team"
Usage metrics: "You've completed {task_count} tasks" or "Your {feature_name} score is {benchmark_score}"
Role-specific messaging: "As a {role_type}, here are your recommended features"
Account information: "Your trial ends in {days_remaining} days"
To add a variable to your content
In the Candu editor, highlight the text you want to replace with dynamic data
Click the variable icon
{x}in the formatting floating barIn the variable menu:
First dropdown: Select which user trait to display (options come from data you're passing to Candu)
Fallback field: Enter text to show if that user doesn't have data for this field
Your text will change to display as
{variable_name}Note: To remove a variable, treat it as regular text and delete it.
Note: Fallbacks ensure users without data for a specific field still see appropriate content. By default, the fallback is the text you originally highlighted.
Blank fallbacks before punctuation → "Welcome, {first_name}!" with blank fallback shows "Welcome, !" for some users.
Privacy and security: If you're using personal information (names, emails, contact details) in variables, set up Identity Verification to protect user privacy.