So far, so good. But here’s the prob: The type and specificity of merge tags vary from ESP to ESP. Plus, who’s got the time to read up page after page of documentation? On average, ESP documentation runs over a hundred to thousand pages. Plus x2, even if you read it all, how many times are you going to switch tabs mid-campaign just to check again?

But then, there are ESP-specific experts like us, specializing in more than 50 ESPs, and always here to help you. 

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Mailchimp merge tags. 
As Mailchimp pro partners, we have helped many clients over the last 12 years with their Mailchimp requirements. So, let’s tee off! 

How Merge Tags Work in Mailchimp

Mailchimp merge tags are of two types:

1. System Merge Tags: These pull data from your Mailchimp account. They allow you to include elements like RSS content, social sharing links, and account details. Additionally, system merge tags can be used to translate emails and add links for updating profiles, unsubscribing, or forwarding emails.
   
2. Audience Merge Tags: These pull data from your audience records. Audience merge tags enable you to include information such as email addresses, signup form URLs, first and last names, company names, and other audience-specific details.

Each audience field in Mailchimp corresponds to a specific merge tag. When a merge tag is included in an email, it is replaced with the content stored in the respective audience field (ensure all your contact information is uploaded correctly). For example, |FNAME| automatically inserts the recipient’s first name into the email. 

Some merge tags are linked to additional content, such as text or images, via URLs. 

To link an image to a merge tag, use the hyperlink tool found in the editor toolbar to embed the merge tag in the URL. When subscribers click on the linked image, they’re directed to the URL specified by the merge tag. Whenever you send an email containing merge tags, Mailchimp retrieves the latest data from the corresponding audience fields. So, here’s an overview of some commonly used merge tags and their functions:

• *|ARCHIVE|*: Creates a “View in browser” link, directing subscribers to your email campaign page.
  
• *|BRAND:LOGO|*: Inserts a default logo placeholder, useful for custom templates as a substitute for an image URL.
  
• *|MC:TRANSLATE|*: Adds links that let subscribers translate your email into different languages.
  
• *|DATE:X|*: Displays the date in a specified format. Replace X with your desired date format.
  
• *|SURVEY|*: Generates a one-question survey with a set no. of responses for subscribers to select from.
  
• *|FNAME|* and *|LNAME|*: Display the subscriber’s first name and last name, respectively.
  
• *|EMAIL|*: Shows the subscriber’s email address.
  
• *|UNSUB|*: Inserts an unsubscribe link, typically placed in the email footer.
  
• *|FORWARD|*: Adds a “Forward to a friend” link, enabling subscribers to share your email with others.
  
• *|TWITTER:PROFILEURL|*: Includes a link to your X profile in the email.

So much for Mailchimp merge tags in general. Let’s learn how to use the Mailchimp first name merge tag. 

How to Add Name in Mailchimp Email 

To add a name in Mailchimp emails, follow these steps:

• Create a List: Start by ensuring you have a list containing all the required contact information.
  
• Design Your Campaign: Choose to either create a new campaign or edit an existing one.
  
• Select Your Audience: Specify the recipients for your email campaign in the “To:” section, as shown below. 

• Personalize the “Send To” field: You can either choose to include just the first name or the full name of the recipient. 

Next, add Mailchimp merge tags in the subject line.

How to Add Mailchimp Merge Tags in Subject Lines 

You successfully personalized the email in the last section. Follow these steps to add the subject line:

• Define the subject line: Write the subject line and include the appropriate merge tag to personalize it, as shown. 

• Set the Send Time and Edit Email Content: Select the send time for your campaign, and customize the content.
  
• Insert Merge Tags: In the campaign editor, place your cursor where you want the merge tag to appear. You can either type merge tags directly into your email content or choose them from the Merge Tags drop-down menu. You can customize merge tags and define default values. Use the first name tag (|FNAME|), click the “Merge” tab and select the desired tag.
  

Typing Merge Tags Manually: When typing a merge tag directly, ensure it is enclosed within asterisks (*) and pipes (|). Avoid typos, as errors can cause the tag to display incorrectly, leading to a poor user experience. For instance, an email starting with “Hello, |FNAME|” would appear unprofessional if the tag fails to resolve.

Using the Merge Tag Toolbar: To prevent syntax or typing errors, it’s recommended to add merge tags via the Merge Tags menu. Simply click the Merge Tags drop-down in the editor toolbar and select the required tag. 

The screenshot below shows an example from a custom-coded email template editor.

Send a test email to verify that your email content is displaying correctly.

Speaking of testing, how can you test merge tags in Mailchimp? Let’s learn that in our next section. 

How to Test Merge Tags in Mailchimp

Mailchimp has provided us a way to test merge tags. Here are the details of the process. 

• Since merge tags won’t populate in a test email, there is no point in sending one for that. Instead, use Preview mode and toggle on the “Enable live merge tag info” option, and then send a live email to your team.
  
• For testing merge tags on signup forms and response emails, fill up the form, and when you receive the email, check if the merge tags are working properly.

Bear these points in mind while testing Mailchimp merge tags:

1. Check Merge Tag Syntax: Ensure that the merge tags are correctly formatted, with each tag enclosed between an asterisk (*) and a pipe (|). Tags will not render if the syntax is incorrect.
   
2. Verify Case Sensitivity: Merge tags must be written in uppercase letters, as they are case-sensitive. Avoid using lowercase letters to prevent errors. For greater accuracy, it’s best to select merge tags from the Merge Tags menu to minimize human error.
   
3. Review Formatting: Merge tags are style-sensitive; therefore, double-check for unintended formatting, such as italics, bold text, or other errors, that could affect their appearance.
   
4. Send or Schedule: Once you’ve inserted and customized all necessary merge tags, tested their functionality thoroughly, and verified their formatting, send your email or schedule it for a future date. 

For more information, consult Mailchimp’s dedicated resource. 

Conditional Merge Tags in Mailchimp

The secret to dynamic, personalized emails is the conditional merge tag. In Mailchimp, conditional merge tags help you determine “who sees what” in their emails. You set conditions for each subscriber according to which your emails show/hide certain content. 

As an example, Mailchimp illustrates how a wine brand would employ conditional merge tags in their promotional email so that the latter’s content will not be visible to recipients below 21 years of age, in the following way: 

Not to quibble, but Mailchimp’s illustration is faulty in that there should be no subscriber below age 21 on the contact list of a wine brand in the first place, so the question of using conditional merge tags with respect to age does not arise. But you get the point: Conditional merge tags help you achieve dynamic personalization. Feel free to consult Mailchimp’s guide on this. The rest of the scenarios or examples covered there are bang-on. 

Wrapping Up! 

Now that you know how to add and test Mailchimp merge tags, you should be good to go. Keep the best practices and potential misapplications in mind, and your email marketing in Mailchimp is sorted. For more info on all things Mailchimp, visit the blog.

The post How to Use Mailchimp Merge Tags: The Complete Guide appeared first on Email Uplers.

Just like your skin acts as the first line of defense for your body, signup forms are the first line of lead generation strategy for your business. Once you can get your signup forms right, you can pave the way for enhancing your business.

To make the task easy for you, we will be sharing how to create a Mailchimp email signup form and signup forms in Campaign Monitor. Let’s start with Mailchimp first.

How to Create A Mailchimp Custom Signup Form

Once you have created your mailing list in Mailchimp, you can customize the Mailchimp signup form according to your branding principles and add exclusive Offers to woo new customers. If it gets too technical for you, just hire Mailchimp email expert from Email Uplers and make your lives easier.

How to Initiate the Process?

First of all, modify your Mailchimp email signup form and the response emails with the help of <Form Builder>, before generating the embedded form code.

You have 5 embedded signup form design options:

1. Classic: It is similar to hosted Mailchimp signup forms

It is useful if you wish to go for a traditional signup form. You can create a signup form in Mailchimp with additional fields or options you wish to add, that includes form title and width, visible and required fields, groups, and other formatting options.

For professionals who use JS on the webpage, it is recommended that they check the box <Disable JavaScript>.

2. Super Slim: Can be used as a sidebar on the website

The Super Slim Mailchimp custom signup form templates come in handy when you wish to have only an email address field in your Mailchimp email signup form. It is easy to customize the title and width of the form too.

3. Horizontal: Pan out as footers

The horizontal form is almost similar to the Super Slim form with minor changes. You can customize the title and figure out whether you need it or not.

4. Naked: No defined styles

The Naked form is just like the Classic form without any CSS or JS. The advantage of these forms is that it gives you more control and flexibility. It is possible to include a form title, change the form width, add or remove form fields and even link to your campaign archive.

5. Advanced: Host Your Own Signup Form – Using API.

Just check out your hosted ‘Mailchimp form’ for form action, user ID, list ID, and input name elements from the page source. Merge these details in the form hosted on the website and you’re all set!

The advantage of using this method over other Mailchimp signup form design options is that it allows you to select whether you want to have ‘single opt-in’ or ‘double opt-in’ for your subscribers who fill up this sign up form. With the conventional method, Mailchimp, by default, will apply double opt-in which might reduce the lead conversion up to certain extent. This method helps you decide whether you want a single or double opt-in.

Note: The embedded forms take up the style sheet of your website, so the form may look different in Mailchimp and the website. To make sure that your website design and form are visually in sync, you will have to modify the form code after adding it to your site.

How to Get Embedded Form Code?

Now let’s look at how to create a Mailchimp embed signup form. 

Select “form option” after creating your signup form. Customize the settings and generate the form code that you wish to add to your website.

Steps to get the form code:

1. Go to the Lists page.
2. Click the drop-down menu adjacent to the list and <select Signup forms>.
3. Go to Embedded forms.
4. Select a form type- Classic, Super Slim, Horizontal, or Naked and customize the Form Options.
5. Copy the code from the Copy/paste onto your site field and paste the entire code into the HTML of your website where you wish to see the Mailchimp embed form.

Done! That’s how you create a Mailchimp embed signup form. 

Form Options

In addition to the types of forms, Mailchimp also gives you the option to include reCAPTCHA so that there are no spam signups. By enabling reCAPTCHA, subscribers will have to check a reCAPTCHA box in a pop-up window once they click the link in the confirmation email.

How to Create A Pop-up Form in Mailchimp?

You can’t neglect pop-up forms while learning how to create a form on Mailchimp. So, to create a pop-up form, follow these steps: 

• You need to access the pop-up form builder. For that, click Audience, then select Signup forms.

• Click Create new form, followed by Create pop-up form

• Name your form, then click Audience again, and choose your preferred theme.
  
• Click Begin. 

Now you have successfully created a pop-up form. You can now customize it. 

How To Add Tags to Mailchimp Signup Forms

In this section, we’ll learn how to use WP forms and Mailchimp to add tags to signup forms. To begin with, you need to add WPForms to your WP website. 

Next, go to the WPForms page and select Add New. Enter a name for your form and choose your preferred template as shown below. 

Having chosen your preferred template, you can go on to customize your form. But the next important step is to connect the form to your Mailchimp instance. 

Go to Marketing, then select Mailchimp as shown in the screenshot below. 

Next, go to your Mailchimp account to locate the API key. Click your profile photo on Mailchimp, and select Extras. Choose API keys from the Extras dropdown. 

Generate a new API key, then copy and paste it into WPForms. Click on Add New Connection, and enter a name for your connection with Mailchimp. Click Ok. 

Now, you just need to add Mailchimp tags to your signup form. On the same page, click on the Actions to Perform dropdown, and select Subscribe. 

Next, click on Select Tags, and select how you want to tag your subscribers.

Voila! You have successfully added tags to your Mailchimp signup form. 

How to Add Form to A Third-Party Website?

You have to embed the code under a container/div to get its functionality right.

Check out the preview of the code below.

Mailchimp supports third-party platforms enlisted below:

1. Blogger and Blogspot
2. WordPress
3. Jimdo
4. Weebly
5. Webs
6. Yola

That’s all folks, for Mailchimp!

Moving on to Campaign Monitor now…

How to create signup forms in Campaign Monitor

So we’ve looked at how to create a signup form in Mailchimp. Now, have a look at the steps below to create a signup form in Campaign Monitor.

1. Go to Lists & Subscribers.

2. Select the list for which you are looking for signups.

3. Click <Signup> forms in the right sidebar, on the list page.

4. Select Copy or paste a form to your site on the Signup forms page

5. You can add and remove form fields by checking the box against it. If you wish to reorder the field, you can do so by clicking and dragging the handles.

6. Click on Get the code.

7. Copy and paste the HTML code into your website.

Bingo! You have just “created” a signup form on Campaign Monitor.

Some Additional Actions

1. Add, remove, and reorder form fields

Only the “Name” and “Email” fields will be included in default form. Besides, you can add or remove form fields and even change the order of display. To add custom fields, you only need to select the checkbox next to those fields. To reorder the fields, click and drag the handles.

2. Multiple lists to single signup form

You can even allow people to opt-in to multiple lists at the same time. Say for example, if you have newsletters as well as marketing emails, you can give the subscribers the provision to sign-up on multiple lists according to their preferences.

While using Mailchimp multiple signup forms, keep in mind that the selected lists should all be either confirmed opt-in or single opt-in. Subscribers will receive a single confirmation email even if all the lists are confirmed opt-in.

3. Make signup form fields required

A simple code can set a field as “required” which means that the subscribers will have to compulsorily fill that field.

Here’s the code:

<input id=”fieldiddtyu” name=”cm-f-iddtyu” type=”text” required />

Safari versions older than 10.1 on MacOS and Safari on iOS don’t support this feature. A workaround is to use Hyperform or html5 Forms..

4. Use HTTPS to make the signup form secure

Use the below mentioned code to use HTTPS instead of HTTP.

<form action=”https://accountname.createsend.com/t/i/s/tikpjy/” method=”post” id=”subForm”>

5. Add CAPTCHA to the Mailchimp email signup form

Add CAPTCHA as a verification step to ensure that there are no spambots corrupting your list. All the non-human responses will be eliminated by doing so.

To add CAPTCHA, search for input id=“fieldEmail” in the generated code.

Change the name=“cm-[unique identifier]” to name=“email”.

This successfully adds CAPTCHA to the signup form.

Campaign Monitor also allows you to host your own signup form through an API just like Mailchimp.

Wrapping It Up

Many enterprise ESPs like SFMC, HubSpot, Marketo too support similar logic to get lead form created on your assets and use them to bring all your leads to one platform and trigger emails helping your subscriber get the information they need. 

Wanna try out creating signup forms for your website? Get in touch with us and Email Uplers would be happy to help.

The post How to Create Signup Forms in Mailchimp & Campaign Monitor appeared first on Email Uplers.

Are you taking up a customer-centric approach for your email marketing so as to deliver what subscribers are looking for? If yes, you’re on the right track. The cut-throat competition has made it imperative to live up to the expectations of your subscribers/ customers. In this article, we are going to explain how to create a survey in Mailchimp and how you can embed polls in your email campaigns.

You can stand true to the customer’s expectations by keeping them engaged and asking for their reviews and feedback – that is best done through email marketing.

Table of Content:

• Importance of customer feedback
• How to collect customer feedback through email?
• How to Embed Polls to an Email Campaign?
• How to Add Surveys to an Email Campaign?
• Some Useful Tips for Polls and Surveys
• How to View the Poll Results?

I. Importance of customer feedback

1. To know your customers better

When you embed surveys in a newsletter, you are essentially giving your customer an opportunity to share exactly what they like or dislike about a service/product. The information can be helpful in improving operations and customer satisfaction.

2. To retain and recover customers

If your customer is happy, it is obvious that you are less likely to lose them to a competitor. Customer feedback helps to retain customers, as you can act on the suggestions identified in feedback surveys. If an issue is resolved in the customer’s favor, there is a 70% chance of return.

3. To manage the negative reviews

A negative review online is always a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the service industry. With the MailChimp survey tool, you can provide the customers with direct feedback options, thus reducing the amount of negative feedback on review websites (which can hurt you financially. Direct feedback gives you a chance to solve your customers’ issues, thereby strengthening your relationship with them.

4. To establish a link

If you have run a feedback program for a year or more, it will be possible for you to compare financials to determine whether an enhanced customer experience results in a better business outcome or not. More often than not, it does.

II. How to collect customer feedback through email?

You can collect customer feedback in two different ways in email marketing.

1. Web-based or Traditional

Many email marketers redirect the subscriber to the respective landing page or Google Forms so that the recipient can hop on to the webpage and fill the Mailchimp survey. This is known as web-based feedback email. Here’s an example by Dairy Queen.

The advantage of using this approach is that you can put in the questions of your choice without stressing over the limitations of the email client or ESP.

However, it adds an extra click for the subscribers who want to share their feedback… and it is quite likely that they skip the step altogether. Generating a response from the subscribers would become a challenge if you cannot convince the visitors to go to the landing page.

Consequently, you would end up missing out on a sizable section of potential subscribers.

According to GetResponse email marketing benchmarks, your average click-through rate can be somewhere between 5-7%. Going by this statistic, the success rate of your email campaign would be merely around 2-3%.

Moreover, proper landing page and ESP integration is of paramount importance if you choose to go by this approach; and it naturally takes more effort and resources to create a dedicated landing page.

Need help with Email Design & Coding?

Avail of our cost-effective custom email template production services.

Download rate card

2. Email-based or Embedded

An email-based feedback email consists of survey questions embedded right there. According to a study, embedded feedback emails enhanced the survey engagement by 210% in comparison to the traditional feedback email.

For instance, take a look at this email by brooklinen.

III. How to Make a Poll Newsletter?

• Go to the Design step of the Campaign Builder.
• Edit the text content block you wish to work upon by clicking on it.
• Use the syntax given below to place the poll merge tag into the editor.

*|POLL:RATING:x|*
<Your Poll Question Here>
*|END:POLL|*

• Click on “Save & Close”.

You’ll be able to determine the orientation of the poll in your campaign by the x value in the merge tag. It can be either H or V. If you want to display the poll horizontally, replace x with H. Replace x with V for vertical placement.

Close each and every *|POLL:RATING:x|* tag with a corresponding *|END:POLL|* to get separate responses.

You won’t be able to change the lowest and highest labels in the simple poll.

The merge tags get converted into a clickable rating scale when the subscriber receives your poll campaign, as shown below.

You’ll be able to view the total votes that each option received, its percentage, and the last vote that was recorded in that poll. By using the poll merge tag, you can check how many subscribers voted for each of the numbers 1-10. To see which subscriber clicked on which number, go to the response numbers in the Option column.

Check out the below image:

Points to Remember

• When you use a poll merge tag, it redirects the subscribers to the survey landing page on answering every poll question. If you’ve added multiple poll questions, subscribers will need to come back to the email to answer the next question.
• Polls will work even if you haven’t enabled click tracking.

Applications of Polls in Email

Now that you know how to make a poll newsletter, here are some of its applications:

• Determine the likeliness of customers to recommend your product or service.
• Gauge the level of your customer service.
• Ascertain whether your customers are satisfied with your offerings.
• Ask for feedback about the quality of content in your resources.
• After a product delivery, eCommerce websites can get feedback on the product quality and delivery, gathering valuable insights about their overall checkout experience.
• Companies can ask for feedback about a newly launched product.
• Travel, food, hotel, and retail industries can make use of polls in emails to solicit feedback about their services, products, and amenities.
• The automobile industry can determine how efficient its manufacturing and maintenance programs are with the help of a MailChimp survey in email.

IV. How to Add Surveys to an Email Campaign?

• Go to the Design step of the Campaign Builder.
• Edit the text content block to create the email survey template.
• Place your survey question into the editor.
• After the survey question, add the *|SURVEY:|* merge tag into the editor. Type in the survey response after the colon.

Make sure you use a separate *|SURVEY:|* merge tag for each and every response.

Let’s take an example:

Q. What do you prefer as a beverage?

*|SURVEY: Tea|*
*|SURVEY: Coffee|*
*|SURVEY: None of these|*
*|SURVEY: Both of these|*Click on “Save & Close”.

• Click on “Save & Close”

The merge tags get converted into a survey question when the subscriber receives your survey campaign.

This is how it’ll appear:

The survey results will appear as below:

Points to Remember

• Your subscribers can vote only once.
• You can add only one survey in a single campaign. The system will link every response option you add to the first question, as it can’t discern the *|SURVEY:Response|* tags in the campaign. Subscribers will see every question but only be able to answer one.
• Make sure each of your survey responses is unique. For example, don’t include *|SURVEY:None of these|* more than once in the same campaign.
• Survey merge tags take up the link style for the campaign section they’re added to. Even when you style the links separately, you should preview and test the campaign without fail so that the changes you made are in sync with the back-end code for the survey merge tags.

Applications of Surveys in Email

• Get information on customer behavior.
• Know their interests and preferences.
• You can identify buyer personas through surveys.
• Employees can ask employers about their opinion on the latest services introduced.
• Ecommerce industry can take the help of surveys in emails to understand what kind of products customers like and leverage the information mined to personalize their emails.
• Companies operating in the travel industry can send out surveys in emails to understand which time of the year their subscribers deem the fittest for going on a vacation.
• Players in the education industry can send a survey to their students and act on the insights provided to enhance their course modules and teaching methods.
• Surveys are invaluable for the electronics industry to identify the diverse buyer persona that interacts with them and send them customized product recommendations accordingly.

V. Some Useful Tips for Polls and Surveys

• ONLY subscribers on your list can vote in the poll or survey. Mailchimp’s system can’t record the responses received through a forwarded email.
• Mailchimp can record the results only if the recipient responds to the poll or survey from their email inbox. Subscribers can’t respond to the poll or survey if they visit the campaign archive page.

Once the subscriber votes on a question, they are redirected to a “Thanks for voting” message.
If the subscriber tries to vote again, they will be brought to the message “Sorry, you can only vote once per poll”.
You can edit these messages from the “Translate it” tab for the survey landing page.

VI. How to View the Poll Results?

Mailchimp’s system stores the captured responses in the campaign report whenever a poll or survey campaign is emailed to your list.

• Go to the Reports page.
• Click on the View Report button for that campaign.
• Go to Analytics360.
• Scroll down to the Poll Results section on the page.

All the information regarding the poll question- votes cast, pending votes, last vote cast and a table with all results- is displayed under Poll Results.

Creating Segments According to Results

You can segment your list on the basis of responses received on a poll or the specific responses received in a survey. Whether the subscriber has responded to the poll or survey can also be a parameter to segment the list.

Wrapping It Up

Despite the slight limitations of using polls and MailChimp surveys in emails, it’s a convenient and cost-effective method to understand how your products and services are being perceived by your customer. Ask the right questions through polls and surveys to discover the right direction toward business growth.

Are you ready to use polls and embed surveys in newsletters? You can add polls in Mailchimp Templates to boost ROI.

Let me rephrase that.

How likely are you to recommend the usage of polls and surveys in email for your business?

Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Helpful FAQs

Q) When to plan a poll or survey email? How long does the planning to execution process take?

A) The objective of email surveys and polls is to get into your readers’ opinions. In the service industry, usually, brands roll out their surveys at-least once in a month. This helps organizations to work upon the feedback received from a monthly survey email. 

Other than that, a poll can be planned on an event that might have taken place around your business recently. For instance, if you have updated your website design, you may politely ask your subscribers about the feedback of the new changes. Similarly, a mailchimp survey can help you better understand the taste of your audience’s preferences. You can also use it to compare your old and new services efficiently.

Q) I received low audience interaction using Mailchimp survey tool and polls. What might have gone wrong with my email campaign?

A) There are a number of things that might go wrong resulting in low audience participation. However, to quickly summarize the causes, we can assume the following reasons:

• Low readers engagement could be due to a festival or holiday season
• Your email got lost in the inbox
• Your email went into spam folder
• Email subject line failed to engage the reader
• Email content wasn’t compelling enough to engage the user in taking action
• Your emails have rendering problems across email clients and are probably not responsive

Q) Should we hire a freelancer or a dedicated resource for handling our Mailchimp email campaigns?

 A) Working with freelancers and dedicated resources can be both productive and challenging depending upon the project requirements, available budget, and business understanding. Whatever sources you choose, make sure it is legally documented and accountability for the resource is owned. 

Hiring a dedicated resource for your email campaigns can offer you multiple benefits. Read more. 

Q) Can you help me find budget-friendly Mailchimp template production services?

A) Sure, at Email Uplers we offer email template productions services at an affordable price. For instance:

• PSD to Email conversion starts at $59
• Custom Design and Email Coding starts at $159
• Email Template Audit starts at $499

Want more details on pricing? Visit our email marketing pricing page. 

The post How to Create A Survey in Mailchimp: Boost Your Email Campaign ROI appeared first on Email Uplers.

The word “custom” can be confusing. Two years ago, one of our clients who had not the slightest idea about development or coding, was quite shocked to learn that “custom coding” does not refer to DIY coding. 

Because our developers had been custom-coding templates in Mailchimp, the venerable client had to wait beyond his apparently self-appointed TAT.

On the surface, it may seem there’s no difference between the two. But probe deeper, and you’ll find that “custom” means both “tailor-made” and “conventional.” In other words, custom coding an email template on a particular ESP requires a thorough practical understanding of said ESP’s technical convention/ecosystem. 

So if you want to know how to create a template in Mailchimp, you need to work within the technical compass of Mailchimp. This would involve knowing how Mailchimp works, what the ESP allows or prohibits, how it reacts, whether or not it sheds code, etc.

And that’s where experts like us come in. In this developer guide, we’re putting out all the stops to show you how to code Mailchimp HTML templates. From the top! 

• Take A Goal-centric, User-friendly Approach
  
• Embed CSS Styles into The HTML Code
  
• Arrange Content Blocks within Rows
  
• Coding for Image, Text, And CTA Button
  
• Adding The Email Footer
  
• Upload Your Template to Mailchimp
  
• Test Your Email for Rendering across Clients 

Read more: A Complete Guide to Mailchimp’s New Email Builder

How to Code Custom Mailchimp Templates

1. Take A Goal-centric, User-friendly Approach

To begin with, identify your goal. What is it you’re trying to achieve with a custom coded email template? Much of coding depends on having a prior idea about the placement of various components in your email. 

For instance, if you’re creating a promotional email which offers a gift card, it would contain a CTA button either on the hero image or just after. Again, if you’re showcasing a brand’s product line, you’re thinking of multiple CTAs across the email.

Perhaps you want to embed the images and CTAs in a Z-pattern to improve readability, and so on. All this is part and parcel of knowing how to code a Mailchimp template. 

2. Embed CSS Styles into The HTML Code

Mailchimp automatically incorporates the CSS styles in your code into the HTML code of the email template. So there’s no need for a separate CSS file. This reduces code bloat. 

Consider the following code snippet. When you save this code in Mailchimp, the CSS styles defined in the <style> tag will be integrated or “inlined” into the HTML code of the email template. Besides limiting code bloat, this also ensures consistent rendering across email clients that may not support CSS stylesheets. 

Read more: How To Embed Mailchimp Survey & Polls In Emails To Boost Your Campaign ROI

3. Arrange Content Blocks within Rows

Like we mentioned earlier, having a prior idea about the placement of various components in your email is crucial while coding. This idea will guide your coding, ensuring each block operates as intended within the layout. Now, to give a structure to your code, you need to think about how the content blocks in the email will operate. 

Take editable blocks, for instance. These are sections within your email that the designer can modify without needing to fiddle with the code. Likewise if the designer wants to change the order of these editable blocks. These blocks should be placed within rows for better organization, as shown below. 

4. Coding for Image, Text, And CTA Button

Keep in mind that whenever coding Mailchimp HTML templates, you’ll need to add mc:edit. In the following example, the attribute is added within the <image> tag. 

(mc:edit is not part of standard HTML. It’s a custom attribute that is used within Mailchimp email templates. In this regard, feel free to read Mailchimp’s proprietary Template Language documentation.) 

N.B. Mailchimp tends to strip out the attributes that define the height and width of images. Now this creates a problem if you want to use retina images i.e. images that have twice the number of pixels per inch than regular images. In the absence of attributes, the images will appear larger than intended, leading to disrupted viewing. There are two ways to deal with the problem. One, you can scale down the retina images before uploading them to Mailchimp. Two, you can add the image size attributes manually after editing the Mailchimp template.

Like images, you can add an editable section for the body copy as shown below. 

Finally, the CTA button. Note that you can only use padded buttons in custom Mailchimp templates. Any styles you may have applied to the anchor tags of your custom button might be removed by Mailchimp’s rendering environment. This once again reminds us of the importance of adhering to an ESP’s native penchants. 

The click real estate will be limited to the CTA text. The viewer can’t click on the space surrounding the text. Outside the text, the pointing hand will resolve into the default cursor. Below is an example of HTML code for adding a padded CTA button in a Mailchimp email template.

5. Adding The Email Footer

You might not have to make the footer section editable if the legal information doesn’t require changes. However, if the designer wishes to incorporate a creative footer, ensure you include “mc:edit=footer” in your code. 

Also, remember to insert *|UNSUB|* in the code to generate the unsubscribe link, which is a legal requirement.

Speaking of merge tags, make sure you always add the following merge tags in your code:

• *|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* : To generate the appropriate preview text mid-campaign-setup
  
• *|ARCHIVE|* : To generate the ‘View Online’ link
  
• *|UPDATE_PROFILE|* : To give your subscribers the option to update their personal information or manage their email preferences
  

*|TWITTER:FULLPROFILE|* : Or any other social media channel integration for that matter. In the present case, the “FULL PROFILE” argument will populate the email with your brand’s X avatar, followers, follow link, and the latest tweets. 

6. Upload Your Template to Mailchimp

Once the HTML code is ready, 

• Log in to your Mailchimp account
  
• Go to ‘Content,’ and choose ‘Email templates.’ 

• Click ‘Create template’

• Select ‘Code your own’

• Choose ‘Import Zip’ to upload a zip file with your template code

• Name your template, and click ‘Upload’
  
• Make changes to your code or design
  
• Once you’re done editing your template, click ‘Save and Exit’

7. Test Your Email for Rendering across Clients

Testing is the key to understanding how an ESP operates. In particular, examining how an ESP naturally behaves in coding provides valuable insights for developers to navigate around any limitations of the builder in future projects.

From removing code to ensuring proper rendering, it’s essential to test your emails before sending them to your design team. In Mailchimp, you can easily test your template by sending a test email to your own email address. Learn more about previewing and testing your emails in Mailchimp. 

Order Custom Coded Mailchimp Templates for A Decent Buck! 

As official Mailchimp partners, we’ve been delivering pixel-perfect custom Mailchimp templates to businesses worldwide for over ten years. Share your design brief with us. Our coding services begin at just $59. Rest assured, all templates undergo rigorous testing for rendering and responsiveness before delivery. Hustle!

The post How to Code Mailchimp HTML Templates appeared first on Email Uplers.

The benefits of email segmentation include:

• Improved campaign performance: More relevant content will lead to greater engagement, resulting in higher open rates, clicks, and conversions.
  
• Improved email deliverability: Higher engagement with emails signals sender authenticity to email service providers.
  
• Improved targeting: Distinguish between loyal and and not-so-loyal customers to create relevant, targeted emails for each segment.
  
• Improved customer experience: Offering customers exactly what they’re looking for leads to better CX. 

The process of segmentation varies from ESP to ESP. In this guide, we’re going to learn how to do audience segmentation in Mailchimp. Later, feel free to learn how to create and send an effective Mailchimp drip campaign. 

• Mailchimp audience segmentation steps
  
• Segmentation by demographics
  
• Segmentation by behavior
  
• Segmentation by interest
  
• Segmentation by buyer journey
  
• Launching your campaign 

1. Mailchimp Audience Segmentation Steps

By breaking down your subscriber list into smaller, more specific groups, you can tailor your messages to suit the unique needs and interests of each segment. 

Follow these simple steps to create audience segments in Mailchimp:

1. Log in to your Mailchimp account using your credentials. Once logged in, navigate to the Audience tab.

2. Select the audience you wish to segment from the drop-down menu.

3. Once you’ve chosen your audience, click on the Manage Audience dropdown and select “View Contacts” to access the Audience dashboard.

4. On the Audience dashboard, locate and click on the “Create Segment” button to initiate the segmentation process.

5. In the segment creation window, define the conditions that will determine how your audience is segmented. This could include factors such as demographics, interests, or past interactions.

6. After setting your segment conditions, preview the segment to ensure it accurately captures the desired audience subset.

7. Once you’re satisfied with the segment preview, click on the “Save Segment” button to save your segmentation settings.

Segmentation by Demographics

This is the most common method of audience segmentation—and usually the easiest one. Age, income level, job type, and geographic location are all demographic criteria you can use to sort your audience. 

One way to segment customers based on location is by targeting them when they’re most likely to want your product. For instance, a farming business might buy equipment during harvest time. In some places like the American South, this could be nearly all year, while in other regions, it might be in summer or fall.

Important note: You can group people by different categories like where they live or how old they are, but only if you’ve gathered that info from them.

For instance: If you didn’t ask where your subscribers are from, you can’t sort them by country at first. But with Mailchimp, you can guess where they’re from after sending some emails using the ‘predicted’ feature.

Segmentation by Behavior

Customer behavior segments require e-commerce data in your account from version 3.0 of Mailchimp API. This data can come from integrations like Mailchimp for Magento, Mailchimp for BigCommerce, or a custom API 3.0 integration.

This approach goes beyond just splitting people by basic details like age or location. Instead, it delves into how people behave when they shop. It means examining what they buy, how often they buy it, and why they make those purchases. 

For instance, someone who regularly makes small purchases needs different messages than someone who only buys big items occasionally. This is because their needs and reasons for buying are different. With behavioral segmentation, your message is crafted to reach customers when they’re most likely to make a purchase. 

Examples of these groups include potential buyers, first-time purchasers, regular customers, and those who’ve switched to a different brand.

Segmentation by Engagement

Create segments based on how subscribed email contacts have interacted with your emails. For example, use a combination of segmenting criteria to target contacts who were sent recent emails but didn’t open them.

Here are some examples of how email interaction segments work.

• Email interaction | did not open | Any of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who did not open 1 or more of your last 5 emails

• Email interaction | did not open | All of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who opened none of your last 5 emails

• Email interaction | opened | Any of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who opened 1 or more of your last 5 emails

• Email interaction | opened | All of the Last 5 Campaigns

Subscribed email contacts who opened all of your last 5 email

Segmentation by Interest

Everyone has unique interests, from the things they find visually appealing to the activities they love. By targeting customers according to these interests, you can divide your audience effectively and tailor your messages accordingly. 

For instance, if many of your customers are passionate about a specific sport or team, you can design personalized and captivating ads for them. You can also segment your audience based on their preferred aesthetic, whether it’s a sleek, contemporary style or a classic, traditional one.

Note: To aim your messages directly at specific interests, you’ve got to have those interests saved in your audience list. Alternatively, you can link up your store to gather that info and target your audience based on it.

Segmentation by Buyer Journey

With this strategy, you customize your messages according to where your customer is in their buying process. 

If you’re not familiar, the buyer’s journey typically consists of three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. At the start of their journey, a buyer might only be realizing they have a problem to solve. But toward the end, they already know what they want and are ready to decide. 

Instead of sending everyone the same message, segmentation allows you to address each buyer’s unique needs and address any questions they might have.

Read more: How To Leverage Email Segmentation To Maintain Customer Relationship?

Launch Your Campaign

Now that you’ve saved your segment, you can customize your email campaigns to reach this particular audience group. Create personalized messages that connect with their interests and preferences to boost interaction and increase conversions.

Hire A Mailchimp Pro Partner for Your Next Campaign!

Mastering audience segmentation on Mailchimp is key to delivering targeted and relevant content to your subscribers. 

We are a team of dedicated Mailchimp email pros, developers, campaign managers, automation experts, and migration specialists. 

Looking to launch a new email campaign? Learn how to choose the right Mailchimp experts. Or, get in touch with our Mailchimp crew right away, and make a date with success! 

The post Pro Guide: How to Do Mailchimp Audience Segmentation appeared first on Email Uplers.

Mailchimp, one of the leading marketing automation and email marketing platforms, can do wonders for your business in tandem with ChatGPT. Being Mailchimp email experts ourselves and having delivered tangible results for our clientele across the board, we can more than vouch for the platform’s wherewithal in relation to integration. 

In this guide, we will learn how to integrate ChatGPT into Mailchimp so that you can lubricate the cogs of email marketing and deliver frictionless customer experiences. As a bonus, we will also be exploring Mailchimp’s rendezvous with AI. So, on with the motley! 

1. Generate API Keys

To set the ball rolling, you need to first generate API keys for both ChatGPT and Mailchimp. To obtain the API key for ChatGPT, follow these steps:

• Visit the Open AI platform. Navigate to the sidebar, and select API keys as shown below.

• Click API keys and create a new secret key, as shown in the following image. (You may be asked to verify your phone number first.)

Now, follow these steps to obtain the API key for Mailchimp. 

• Log in to your Mailchimp account. Go to the Account page.
  
• Click the Extras tab and choose API keys as shown here. 

• Click Create A Key. Then copy the generated API key.

2. Set up A Dev Environment

Now, you need to set up a development environment. It’s a safe workspace for developers to make necessary changes without upsetting anything in the live environment. 

You can use any programming language of your choice. We will be using Python. So we have pip already installed. Now, we will install requests and mail_chimp packages. 

3. Create Email on ChatGPT

Now, we will generate email content using the API key for ChatGPT. Feel free to use the following Python script. Remember to replace YOUR_UNIQUE_API_KEY with your actual key. 

4. Send an Email on Mailchimp

Now, we will use Mailchimp’s API key. Take a good look at the following Python script. Once again, replace the API key and the list ID with your unique values. 

5. Tacking It Together

You are almost done. Now, you can use both functions in a single Python script, as shown below. We want to generate email content in ChatGPT and then send it in Mailchimp. 

Reinforcing The Integration

Now that you know how to apply the integration, you would need to reinforce it by importing more advanced features and functionalities, such as audience segmentation and personalization, from both ChatGPT and Mailchimp. 

For instance, in the case of personalization, you can add relevant tokens to ChatGPT prompts. The most obvious one would be {first_name}. 

You can then leverage Mailchimp’s native segmentation tools to create uber-targeted campaigns. 

For each segment, you can generate unique ChatGPT prompts and send the right message to the right people. 

Another instance could be A/B testing. You can implement it in your Python script once you create multiple campaigns with different subject lines (or any other variable you choose to test). You can then pick the winner from Mailchimp’s reports. 

Mailchimp’s Rendezvous with AI

Ever since the advent of AI, Mailchimp’s team has been quick to adopt it and leverage it to expand the potential of the platform. It all began with Mailchimp’s acquisition of the automated design platform, Sawa, in 2019. Following this, Mailchimp acquired Inspector 6 in 2020 to help brands create “more effective marketing content.”

Today, Mailchimp boasts more than 20 “AI and data science features in-app.” Mailchimp’s stated goal is to enable marketers to save time, build and deliver more effective marketing campaigns, and transfer data-driven insights to their collective decision-making. 

Of course, generative AI plays a big role in making all this possible. As Jon Fasoli, Chief Design and Product Officer at Mailchimp, puts it, “We see generative AI fundamentally changing the landscape of creative work, and we’re here to help our customers apply it to their day-to-day marketing in meaningful ways so that they get more done and reach their goals faster.”

From Send Day and Time Optimization, Content Optimization, and Alt-text Generation to Journey Builder Recommendations, Stock Image Suggestions, and Product Recommendations, Mailchimp’s AI-powered Email Content Generator is an all-in-one unraveling of the potential of email marketing combined with AI. 

To illustrate how ambitious Mailchimp is toward leveraging gen AI, in February 2023, the brand utilized ChatGPT to deliver minute-by-minute highlights of a game at the Super Bowl. 

Christened “Play by AI,” Mailchimp aimed to give fans an “AI-generated, live tweeting experience.” 

Jeremy Jones, Group Creative Director of Advertising at Mailchimp, says, “Culture is made in an instant at the Super Bowl, but for marketers who want to capitalize on it, all the noise can feel overwhelming. That’s why Mailchimp—a marketing platform that markets to marketers—created Play by AI to highlight the fun and practical ways AI can help generate compelling and effective content for email and beyond.”

The point of it all is partly to emphasize Mailchimp’s commitment to AI and partly to reassure marketers. Mailchimp has put their money where their mouth is. With time, we can expect them to announce more such fraternizing with AI – all ultimately for the benefit of businesses, small and large. 

Wrapping Up!

AI-powered digital marketing is all the rage, and not for nothing. More and more businesses are starting to realize its potential in transforming how they can traverse the customer-scape across multiple touchpoints. Speaking of AI-integrated email, it is one of the more dynamic offshoots of the industry-wide revolution. 

With Mailchimp’s well-attested integration capabilities, coupled with ChatGPT’s globally celebrated utility, your next email campaign enjoys all the necessary ingredients to succeed. 

The post A Step-by-Step Guide to Integrate ChatGPT into Mailchimp for Maximizing Engagement appeared first on Email Uplers.