Mailchimp is the best choice for e-mail marketing. If you've already made the decision to use Mailchimp, then this guide is for you. Learn how to create

1. Mailchimp makes e-
mail marketing
easy.
A Practical Guide
1

2. marketing needs
single-mindedness.
so you can do more
with your time.
Damien
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike License.
2

3. @damiensaunders
3

4. What’s In Here?
• Introduction Email Marketing and Mailchimp
• Process Flowcharts (for those interested)
• Getting Started create your account with
Mailchimp
• Start a New List
– 9 requirements for any new list
– Importing your contacts to a new list
• Create a Template
– HTML vs Template
• Create a Campaign
• Resources
4

5. Introduction
• Now that you have made the choice to use
Mailchimp for your next e-mail marketing
campaign ...
• This, is a great guide to help you get started. It’s suite to
anyone serious about using Mailchimp.
• Mailchimp is a cloud-based (SaaS) email marketing solution
which is very popular and has great features like Google
Analytics tracking & integration with CRM tools, WordPress.
5

6. Introduction
• E-mail marketing is different to just sending out bulk-emails
like a monthly newsletter (sometimes called transactional
email).
• E-mail marketing fits nicely with integrated, digital and social
media marketing. Meaning your email should be sticky,
engaging, have great content and can be shared.
6

7. Are you new to email marketing?
• That’s ok – there are lots of good online blogs and
tools to help you & your clients get started with e-
mail marketing.
• The key thing for you to know when starting with
Mailchimp is there are only 2 steps to follow:
• 1. CREATE A NEW LIST for each Client
• 2. CREATE A NEW CAMPAIGN
7

8. New List’s – Where’s the effort?
Create New List
• Do this once for If you’re an Agency or you are going to
manage more than one list then you’ll
every new client need to create a new list for every client .
• Import address lists
• Complete the 9
steps to setup a list Tips -
• Add logo, default You should always segment
colours and font. your list, or you would double
the effort to to create a new
Pay Pay per send is list!
Monthly better if you have
large mail lists
or Pay
but won’t always
Setting up a list doesn’t involve
Per
Send? send campaigns Design, HTML or Backend Dev.
to all your Anyone can do this part.
addresses 8

9. Campaigns - What’s the effort?
Simple
Campaign Complex
Campaign
• Use any existing • Setup a new Template or import
Template or import HTML template
your own HTML • Extra segmentation required
template (location, gender, recently
• Use Mailchimp’s own added)
report tools • Setup Auto-responders or per
• Typically charge Per email personalisation
Email Sent • A/B split testing for the send
Simple Most clients will
• Inbox Inspection / Litmus ($3
vs only want a simple per test)
Complex? campaign much • Use Mailchimp’s reporting tools
like a transactional
mail shot. So • Typically charge per email sent.
remember to keep
it simple. 9

10. Flowcharts
10

11. Mailchimp Process Overview
11

12. Create New List
12

13. Create New Campaign
13

14. Get started with
Mailchimp
14

15. To get started with Mailchimp
• Create your own Mailchimp
account and then get invited to
your shared account by or
someone who can send the
account keys.
Shared Account? What’s this?
• Digital agencies should have one account that is
shared with multiple clients. You can play safely
with your own account and switch to the shared
account for managing campaigns.
• Clients can’t have their own access to Mailchimp
as they would be able to see all the campaigns
and lists of other clients.
15

16. How to access a shared Mailchimp account for the first time
1. Once invited to your shared account, you’ll
get sent a verification email.
2. Logout of your Mailchimp account first.
3. The verification email has a tendency to go
into the junk folder so make sure you check the
junk folder, then move it into the inbox and
click on the verification link.
4. Once you click on “Account Keys” after clicking on the verification link sent to
you via email, you should see the above. Click on “login” which will take you to
the shared account
16

17. Accessing a Shared Account account
You will only need to
click on the verification
link once, however you
will need to go to
Account, Account Keys
and then login to your
shared account every
time you need to use
the Mailchimp account.
17

18. Create a New List
18

19. 9 steps to success with a new List
To create a new list you will need:
1. List name (mandatory)
2. Default from name eg Company Name
3. Valid from email (don’t use a bogus
email address)
4. Default subject
5. Company Address
6. Company Phone Number
7. Website URL
8. Short description of the list (why did you
end up on this list)
9. Want Google Analytics – you need to
have the clients GA Profile as part of
your own Gmail account.

20. Don’t ever use a cold e-mail list ...
Please.
• YOUR MAILCHIMP ACCOUNT (will automatically) can be
suspended because
– of a bounce rate to bad email addresses above 5%
– A complaint rate above 0.1%
– An unsubscribe rate above 1%
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21. Valid Default Email Address
• No one likes receiving emails from noreply@ …
• Many email filters automatically move these to
Junk or Spam folders
• Don’t reduce the success of your campaign even
before its sent. Use a valid from email address
• If this is a new client or you are using a new internet domain, it will need to be verified
inside Mailchimp before sending out the email.
21

22. Start a New List
•Select Create List for a
new client
• Use Create Groups for
Existing Client Lists

23. Create New List
23

24. Success – New List
24

25. Import your List
• Two easy options
• Import from CSV
• Cut n’ Paste from XLS
• Choose add people to manually add
someone
25

26. Create a Template or HTML?
• THINK - Templates are re-usable
26

27. Templates vs Campaigns
• Think of templates that you want re-
use or make usable within the
WYSIWYG editor.
• You should try to use a template –
this means its easier for you to re-
use the same email layout and not
have to get a new one designed
(which saves time and money).
• Campaigns can have a specific
HTML template (but are linked to
that 1 campaign).
27

28. Templates - Import any HTML or Do
It Yourself
• You can easily import any
existing HTML newsletter as a
template.
• Select My Templates and Import
HTML
• You must include a link in the footer to
unsubscribe or the Mailchimp footer will get
added.
• Code to add to your footer:
• <a href="*|UNSUB|*">Unsubscribe</a>
*|EMAIL|* from this list.<br />
• See also:
• http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/html-code-for-
footer-tags 28

29. Templates for WYSIWYG Editor
• mc:edit="header" - used to name the header of
your email.
• mc:edit="header_image" - used to name an
editable header image.
• mc:edit="sidecolumn" - used to name an editable
left- or right-side column.
• mc:edit="main" - used to name the main content
space of your email.
• mc:edit="footer" - used to name the footer of
your email.
Be sure to include the merge tag for *|UNSUB|*
and at least the *|FNAME|* for first name. 29

30. Templates – Design your Profile &
Sign-up forms
• Mailchimp is all about engagement.
• Other than the HTML template you will
need to change and setup a number of
forms:
• Sign-up Form
• Welcome Email
• Your Profile
• Unsubscribe form
• Fortunately, you set default fonts and
colours and all these forms are styled. 30

31. Create a campaign
31

32. Campaign Builder
• Most campaigns will just be
regular ol’ campaigns
• But if you’re keen
experiment with A/B split
• Repeating a campaign?
• If you’re sending to the
same list & use the same
template – just replicate the
campaign. 32

33. Campaign Builder
• It’s good practice to create a template
first & then create your campaign.
• Fill in the basic details
• Make sure to select Tracking and
Analytics
33

34. HTML for a specific campaign
• It’s ok to create an HTML for a specific campaign.
• Just save it all in a ZIP file ... and choose Import.
CHECK - Have you included the merge tag for *|UNSUB|*
34

35. Test then Schedule then send
• If everything on
this page looks
GREEN your
almost good to
go!
• When everything
is Green – you’ve
passed
Mailchimp’s
internal tests and
probably don’t
need to pay for
testing.
35

36. Test then Schedule then send
• Use the FREE Delivery Doctor
– if everything is fine then you don’t need the £££ inbox
inspector.
• Now that everything is ready – send some test
messages – to yourself and colleagues
36

37. Help & Guides
37

38. Resources – Good Guides
• http://mailchimp.com/
resources
• Ones to Read
• Email Marketing Field Guide
• Mailchimp Mobile
• Common Rookie Mistakes
38

39. Resources – more technical
• 3rd party plugins and integrations
–http://connect.mailchimp.com/
• Mailchimp’s API for programattic integration
–http://apidocs.mailchimp.com/
39

40. Trends in digital
marketing
Ol’ Skool Nu Skool
• Print Ads • Social Media • Automated
• Magazines • E-mail Marketing
• Expos & Trade Shows • CRM • Location based
• How to Videos • Time-limited deals
• Tele-sales
• Banner Ads • Re-targeting
• Direct Mail
• Search • Online-Offline
• Radio Targetting
• SEO
• TV
• Viral
• Data Analytics
40

41. marketing needs
Bri8sh
Interac8ve
Media
Associa8on
-­‐
Member
single-mindedness.
so you can do more
with your time.
This
work
is
licensed
under
the
Crea8ve
Commons
A;ribu8on-­‐NonCommercial-­‐ShareAlike
License.
To
view
a
copy
of
this
license,
visit
h;p://
crea8vecommons.org/licenses/by-­‐nc-­‐sa/3.0/;
or,
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94105,
USA.

42. Want to read
more?
click to visit
damiensaunders.com
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