This article explains how to use attributes in Hunter to personalize email sequences at scale.
We recommend attributes for users who want to add recipient-specific details (such as preferences, industries, or links) to their emails to improve reply rates and relevance.
What is an attribute?
An attribute is a user-defined field that stores personalized information about a lead. You can insert this information into your email sequences so each recipient receives tailored content automatically.
You can store single words or entire text blocks as custom attributes. This is especially useful for dynamic intros or icebreakers.
Examples of attributes:
First or last names
Industry
Company type
Job title
Preferences (e.g. favourite tools, interests)
Custom icebreakers
Personalized URLs (e.g. blog posts)
💡 See an example
💡 See an example
If your lead, Juliette, is a Customer Success Specialist, you can see that in her contact card, the Job title field will show that input:
When you use this attribute in a sequence, the email content will automatically adapt for Juliette to the attribute associated with her lead.
Default attributes
Hunter offers built-in attributes ready to use in your email content and lets you set up your own custom attributes for even more personalization.
Hunter's default attributes
Hunter offers built-in custom attributes you can use right away when creating the content for your email sequences or templates. These default attributes are:
Company
Email
First name
Full name
Industry
Job title
Last name
Sender name
Website
These attributes can be selected when creating your email content in the content editor by clicking on Insert attribute.
How to add an attribute to your email sequence
Head to the Content section of your email sequence.
Click in the content editor where you'd like to insert the attribute.
Click the { } Insert attribute button:
Choose the attribute you'd like to use from the dropdown list, and set a fallback.
See a quick example of the steps put together here:
The content will automatically be saved, and you can review how each recipient's email looks in the Review section of your email sequence.
💡 Attributes can be included in the email body and the subject line.
Custom attributes
If you wish to add a new attribute that isn't already available in Hunter, you can set up a custom attribute.
Setting up your own custom attribute involves two steps:
Set up the custom attribute
Map your leads to the custom attribute
First step: Set up a custom attribute
To set up a new custom attribute, visit the Custom Attribute section in your Leads configurations section and define a new attribute.
You will need to give the attribute a Name, a Default value*, and a Description.
*The default value is a value that will be used if a custom attribute has not been set for a specific lead.
Second step: associate your leads with custom attributes
After creating a custom attribute, you need to assign it to your leads.
You can do this in two ways:
In bulk: import your leads using a CSV file that includes the custom attribute column.
Individually: manually edit each lead and set the attribute value.
Option 1: Associate new or existing leads with a custom attribute in bulk (CSV import)
Option 1: Associate new or existing leads with a custom attribute in bulk (CSV import)
To update new or existing leads in bulk, import a CSV file containing your leads, with a column for the custom attribute name and the respective values for each lead.
💡 If you need a CSV file of existing leads, you can export your Leads directly from Hunter.
Once your file containing your custom attribute is prepared:
Import your leads via CSV file in the Import Leads section.
Map your columns, including your custom attribute, appropriately.
If you need to create an attribute to match your file input, select "create a new attribute in the dropdown menu:
Once your file is mapped, you can finish configuring your import. This step allows you to select how existing leads are handled, which is important when updating leads in bulk.
More on leads import configuration can be found here.
When you successfully import your list of Leads into Hunter, you'll see your custom attributes added to your leads, as shown in this example:
💡 If you can't see your custom attribute column, make sure this field is included in your data table:
Option 2: Associate single leads with custom attributes (individual edits)
Option 2: Associate single leads with custom attributes (individual edits)
You can also manually edit and associate existing leads with custom attributes by making individual edits.
To do so:
Click your lead to open the contact card, then select Edit.
Add the attribute you want to associate with your lead at the bottom of the edit page.
Click on Update
You can create a new custom attribute from inside an individual contact card as well.
To do so:
Click your lead to open the contact card, then select Edit.
Click on + New custom attribute.
💡 New custom attributes created via an individual contact card will automatically be added to the Custom Attributes section, available for all leads.
Adding a custom attribute URL
Custom attribute URLs let you store a unique link for each lead (for example, a blog post) and reuse it dynamically in your email content.
Instead of manually inserting links—or showing long, spammy URLs—you can reference the attribute in your sequence. Hunter automatically inserts the correct link for each lead while keeping the email clean and readable.
How to add a custom attribute URL:
Highlight the text you want to turn into a hyperlink.
Next, click the Insert link button at the bottom of the editor.
To add a custom attribute URL, click the Attribute tab and select your custom attribute from the dropdown list.*
Click on Insert, and the URL attribute linked to each recipient will now automatically be added to the content of your emails.
👉You can use one of the following options to include a URL in your sequence:
Web address to add a URL and have it be the same for all your recipients (common link inserting)
Attribute to have a unique URL attribute for each recipient.
Things to keep in mind when using attributes
Insert attributes from the editor (recommended): Use the Insert attribute button in the email editor instead of typing attributes manually. This helps avoid typos and formatting issues.
Fallbacks are used when data is missing: If a lead doesn’t have a value for an attribute, Hunter inserts the fallback text you set (instead of leaving the field empty).
Most attributes won’t show in test emails: Attributes generally don’t appear in test emails. The exceptions are First name, Last name, and Company name, which work as expected in tests.
Outlook limitation with the Sender attribute: The Sender attribute doesn’t work for Outlook connections when using email rotation (Hunter can’t retrieve the sender name in that setup).
Preview before you launch: In your Sequence, open the Email step to preview how attributes will render for your leads and make final edits before starting the Sequence.