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6.7. Our step-by-step guide

Clients can use the Mailchimp integration however they choose using the guidance in our other articles.

However, we understand that sometimes integrations like this can be big and complicated. This step-by-step guide with clips is designed to help you get going with the integration.

Please note this guide is how we recommend you use the integration using Mailchimp best practices and how we feel the integration should be used.

 

 

Step 1 - Connect Mailchimp with RubiCRM

We first want to get Mailchimp and RubiCRM talking. To do this you will want to create an API Key in Mailchimp and add it to RubiCRM. Watch below to see how.

 

 

Step 2 - Create a report to retrieve the contacts in RubiCRM

We want to retrieve the contacts within your RubiCRM and then pass them to an audience in Mailchimp.

To do this in RubiCRM navigate to Main Menu > Data Management > Reports. Once the Reports module is open we advise creating a new folder to file your soon-to-be-created report into.

To create a new report folder navigate to Main Menu > System > Lists and search/open the list "Saved Reports Folder". Use the "Add new item" field to type in a folder name such as "Mailchimp". To create the folder press the "↵ Enter" key on your keyboard.

You can now close the System List side panel by clicking ().

Now that we have a folder to save the report into let's create the report. You should still be on the Reports module but if not navigate again to Main Menu > Data Management > Reports. If you then open the "Report Builder" tab .

Now that the report builder is open we can start making the report. This report is going to be very straightforward as ultimately we just want to return all the contacts in RubiCRM. This is regardless of whether they are a member, non-member, have "Do Not Contact" ticked or have "Contact Left" ticked. We want all the contacts!

The reason we include contacts who have "Do Not Contact" and "Contact Left" ticked is so that the Mailchimp integration itself can archive those contacts in Mailchimp. If we don't provide those contacts in the report then we aren't telling the Mailchimp integration to actually archive them.

When creating the report you will want to use the following Outputs and Filters:

Outputs

Filters

 

Don't worry you will be able to filter your contacts within Mailchimp itself so that you can target specific groups of users such as members or contacts with certain interests. This filtering is called "Segments" in Mailchimp which we will discuss in another step.

 

Having created the report you will want to save it. Before you can save a report you must first run the report to ensure it runs without any issues/errors. To run the report scroll down on the report builder and under "Report Type" choose "Grid".

That will run the report providing results in the grid. When you are happy results are being returned you can save the report by clicking "Save Report" at the top right-hand side of the report builder .

A popup will display where you can select the "Report Folder" you created earlier, the "Report Name" and a "Report Description" if you so wish.

Please note the "Report Name" must be prefixed with "Mailchimp - ". You can then save the report by clicking "Submit".

 

Watch the clip below showing what to do in Step 2 as described above.

 

 

Step 3 - Create an audience in Mailchimp

The next stage is that we want to create an audience in Mailchimp. Of course, you may have an audience in your Mailchimp account already but we personally advise creating a new audience which will be populated with the contacts you currently have in your RubiCRM.

This just creates a fresh start for the integration. If you have contacts in an existing Mailchimp audience(s) and you would like to keep these contacts we can import these contacts for you into RubiCRM. Log a support request providing us with an export of the contacts from the given existing audience.

Now onto creating a new Mailchimp audience. If you log in to Mailchimp (https://login.mailchimp.com/) and use the left-hand navigation menu to open the "Audiences" dropdown. Select the "Audience dashboard" option. This will open the audience dashboard where we will then want to navigate to "View audiences" from under the "Manage Audience" button located on the top right-hand side of the page.

 

This will show you all your current audiences in your Mailchimp account. From there click the "Create Audience" button again located on the top right-hand side of the page.

You will see that Mailchimp suggests the best practice is to have one audience and use segments and tags to organise and target your contacts. This is the best practice we follow in this guide.

 

Fill in the applicable information under the "Audience Details". We advise calling your new audience "All Contacts". Once you have filled in all of the audience details scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create audience".

That will create an empty audience ready to be filled with contacts from your RubiCRM system.

 

Watch the clip below showing what to do in Step 3 as described above.

 

You may choose to have more than one audience in Mailchimp. The only real benefit of having more than one audience in Mailchimp is that if a contact unsubscribed from one audience they will still be subscribed to the other audience.

Some clients may wish to have an audience purely for a newsletter and another for important updates/offers.

Mailchimp advises clients to have only one audience as it makes it easier to visualise your contacts as a whole out of one audience.

 

 

Step 4 - Change RubiCRM settings to create tags in Mailchimp

Part of the best practice of Mailchimp is to use tags. These tags are then used to create segments which essentially will be your different groupings of contacts in Mailchimp. For example of segment/grouping of member contacts, a segment/grouping of contacts with the interest "e-Newsletter" etc.

We need to set RubiCRM to pass the contacts to Mailchimp with the contacts' different tags.

By this take it you have a contact in your RubiCRM called John Smith. John Smith is part of a primary record (company record) that has a membership status of "Full Member", a membership type of "Silver", has the contact type "Billing" and a few different contact interests such as "e-Newsletter", "Networking" and "Health & Safety".

If your RubiCRM is set to pass tags alongside the contact to Mailchimp this would pass the following tags associated with John Smith:

Tag differences

"Rubi MS" refers to Rubi Membership Status

"Rubi MT" refers to Rubi Membership Type

"Rubi CT" refers to Rubi Contact Type

"Rubi CI" refers to Rubi Contact Interest

"Rubi BC" refers to Rubi Business Category

 

To set RubiCRM to pass tags to Mailchimp navigate to Main Menu > System > Settings. From the "Settings" card search "Mailchimp". This will filter down to 5 different properties.

We advise setting the following properties to "True":

The fourth property "Export Contact Address Information to MailChimp" allows you to export the contact's address. For more information on exporting a contact's address as a tag please refer to the the Mailchimp Setup article.

 

Watch the clip below showing what to do in Step 4 as described above.

 

 

Step 5 - Sync RubiCRM and Mailchimp

The next step is the step you will continually do whilst you use the integration. Step 5 relates to syncing the contacts within RubiCRM to Mailchimp.

To start navigate to Main Menu > Marketing > Mailchimp. From there pick the Mailchimp account you wish to connect to.

You will then want to choose the single RubiCRM Mailchimp report you created in Step 2 and choose the Mailchimp audience created in Step 3 to compare against. Once you have selected the RubiCRM report and the Mailchimp audience click "Compare Contacts".

Please note this comparison can take some time if your systems contain a large number of contacts so please be patient as the comparison is being carried out.

 

Once the contacts from the Mailchimp audience and the contacts retrieved from the RubiCRM report are displayed on the screen you can simply click "Synchronise All Contacts".

 

When you "Synchronise All Contacts" the following process executes:

  1. RubiCRM passes any contacts to the Mailchimp audience.
  2. RubiCRM updates any contact information and associated tags in the Mailchimp audience.
  3. RubiCRM marks any contacts in the Mailchimp audience as archived if they are marked as "Do Not Contact" or "Contact Left".
  4. If any contacts have been deleted in RubiCRM the contact is marked as archived in the Mailchimp audience.
  5. Mailchimp updates any contacts that have been marked as archived to have "Receive Email" unticked in RubiCRM.

 

Please note the process can take time to complete if your systems contain a large number of contacts so please be patient as the process is being carried out.

The process is carried out in batches so you will see the progress of these batches and how long you have left to wait.

You can continue to use RubiCRM in the background but please continue to keep the Mailchimp tab open.

 

Watch the clip below showing what to do in Step 5 as described above.

 

 

Step 6 - Creating segments in Mailchimp

Now that your contacts are in your Mailchimp audience you can begin to segment them.

Watch the clip below showing how to create segments in Mailchimp.

 

 

 

Step 7 - Creating a campaign in Mailchimp and selecting a segment

We are on to the final step of creating a campaign and selecting which segment of contacts you want to send the email to.

Watch the clip below showing how to create a new campaign and how to select a segment of contacts you want to send the email to.

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