HML vs Dynamic Content in Pardot Personalization Explained

When it comes to personalizing your Pardot (Marketing Cloud Account Engagement) emails, Dynamic Content and Handlebars Merge Language (HML) offer powerful but very different approaches. Choosing the right method can streamline your team’s workflow – or slow them down with technical limitations.

In this article, we’ll compare both personalization techniques in Pardot, highlight their strengths and pitfalls, and help you decide which approach makes the most sense for your marketing strategy.

Email Personalization in Pardot: Why It Matters

Personalization is no longer optional in B2B marketing. Prospects expect relevant, tailored messaging based on their interests, behaviors, and preferences. Pardot helps marketers deliver these experiences at scale, but the tools you choose to implement personalization – Dynamic Content or HML – can significantly impact both efficiency and effectiveness.

Method 1: Duplicating Email Templates

Before diving into Dynamic Content or HML, many marketers start with the most straightforward personalization method: duplicating email templates for different audiences.

How It Works

• Create audience segments via your Email Preference Center.
• Match each audience type to a Pardot list.
• Build and send distinct email templates for each list.

Say you’re a university. You might break your audience into categories like Undergraduate Applicants, Graduate Students, and Alumni. Then you’d create three separate emails – each targeting one segment.

Limitations

This method quickly becomes unmanageable as the number of segments grows. It’s time-consuming, and the chance of inconsistencies or errors increases with each duplicate.

For organizations with fewer categories, duplication may suffice. But for scale, you’ll want to explore Dynamic Content and HML.

Method 2: Pardot Dynamic Content

Dynamic Content in Pardot allows you to adjust parts of an email based on field values in the prospect record – without building multiple versions of the email.

How It Works

• Tag prospects using lists and custom fields (e.g., a an “Industry” field with values like “Healthcare,” “Finance,” or “Retail”).
• Create Dynamic Content rules linked to specific field values.
• Insert the dynamic content into your master email template using a numeric code.

The result: One email that behaves differently depending on who receives it.

Advantages

• Fewer email versions: Streamlines your campaign workflow.
• Field-driven automation: Pulls content based on specific data points.
• Default fallback: Optionally show a default message if data is missing.

Challenges

• One field per rule: You can’t base Dynamic Content on multiple fields simultaneously.
• Limited variations: Officially capped at 25 variations per block.
• Editing workflow: All changes must be made in the Dynamic Content area, not directly in the email editor.
• Testing complexity: Numeric codes make it hard to see what content is being inserted at a glance.

Method 3: HML (Handlebars Merge Language)

HML offers a code-based, highly flexible personalization framework. Unlike Dynamic Content, HML lets you embed conditional logic directly within your email’s HTML.

How It Works

• Use Salesforce-style merge fields like {{Recipient.FirstName}}.
• Add conditional logic using IF/ELSE statements.
• Control visibility of blocks of text, images, or even design elements based on prospect fields.

Example logic:

{{#if Recipient.PracticeArea == “Undergraduate Applicants”}}

  …insert Undergraduate Applicants content…

{{/if}}

{{#if Recipient.FIELDNAMESALUTATION}}Hello {{Recipient.FIELDNAMESALUTATION}} {{Recipient.FIELDNAMELASTNAME}},{{else}}Hello,{{/if}}

Advantages

• Unlimited variations: Not confined by a 25-block limit.
• Direct in-line editing: Modify conditions and content together in the same place.
• More flexibility: Customize specific words, phrases, or design elements within blocks.

Challenges

• Technical setup: Requires working knowledge of HTML and smart use of conditional logic.
• Risk of breaking code: Updates in Pardot’s editor can compromise HML syntax.
• Limited logic operators: Simple Boolean logic only (e.g., field = value). Complex nested logic isn’t supported.

Insert screenshot example of HML code snippet used in a Pardot email template

Side-by-Side Comparison

A Hybrid Approach

One size rarely fits all. In practice, blending both approaches – Dynamic Content and HML – can unlock even more power. For instance, set up basic segmentation with Dynamic Content, but control nuanced messaging within each block using HML.

This is especially effective when you want both a flexible design and scalable content variations, or when Salesforce field data is too complex for Dynamic Content rules alone.

So Which Should You Use?

Here’s a quick recommendation guide based on your goals and capabilities:

• Choose Dynamic Content if your team prefers UI-based editing, has limited HTML skills, and only needs a manageable number of variations.
• Go with HML if you need granular control, unlimited content variations, and have access to technical marketers or dev resources.
• Consider a hybrid strategy if your use case demands both flexibility and scale.

Key Takeaways

• Email personalization in Pardot isn’t just achievable – it’s essential for better engagement.
• Dynamic Content provides speed and simplicity for single-field personalization.
• HML delivers flexibility and power for multi-layered messaging – if you can handle the code.
• Testing remains a challenge with both methods – get robust QA processes in place.

Ready to Optimize Your Pardot Personalization Strategy?

Whether you’re fine-tuning email engagement or planning a scalable personalization strategy, we can help. At ConvertPilot, we’ve seen what works – and what doesn’t – across dozens of Pardot implementations. Get in touch with our team and explore smarter ways to personalize at scale.