Conditional messages don't work in text only

conditions dont work/tags do

Basically, what i need to do is start the emails with

Dear [Firstname] (which works as a tag)

I would like a condition for the heading to read "Dear Friend," in case that the entry does not have a first name.

I tried thiswithout luck:

Dear [Firstname] <IF[[Firstname]]*"[Firstname]">Dear [Firstname],
<ELSE>Dear Friend,</IF>

What shows up in the preview is
<IF[Mark]*"Mark">Dear Mark,
<ELSE>Dear Friend,</IF>

Meaning, MaxBulk is replacing hte tag within the conditional statement but it is reading the conditional statement as text and not as code
 
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