Introduction Are you a high-volume sender? By MailChimp s definition, a high volume sender is someone who sends at least 4 million emails per month. Sometimes, users who send that much email need special attention. MailChimp was founded on small businesses with DIY ethics, but it s powerful enough to handle the world s largest corporations. We serve more than 7 million customers, who send more than 10 billion emails every month. Those customers use MailChimp features like advanced segmentation, a fullfeatured API, and hundreds of integrations to get the right messages to their growing lists. MailChimp is perfect for companies who have a large list, but would like a little more control over their email marketing than they get with a full-service provider. Whether you re a current high-volume MailChimp sender, or you re interested in switching to MailChimp for your high-volume sending, this guide s for you. We hope to answer any questions you might have and maybe even answer some questions you didn t know you had.
Create a List Creating a list is the first thing you should do in your MailChimp account. Follow these two simple steps to create a new one: 1. Choose Lists, then click Create list. 2. Fill out the setup details, making sure you ve written a good permission reminder. Click Save to finish setting up your list. Importing your list Now that you ve got your list set up, it s time to import your subscribers into it. There are a few ways for high-volume senders to do that. 1. Upload a CSV file. 2. Import directly from other apps like Salesforce, Highrise, Zendesk, and more. 3. Import through MailChimp s API. If your list has more than a million subscribers, we recommend importing it through our API. Our API is completely open, and it s a great resource for high-volume senders. Now that your list is imported, you'll have the opportunity, when importing through our web interface, to set the name and content type for each column. Since you have a large list, we ll ask for your email address, so we can send you the notifications and report back when the list is imported.
List strategies Double opt-in MailChimp highly recommends the double opt-in method for signups. The way this works is that when someone signs up for your email list, you automatically send a confirmation email with a link that they must click before they re added to your list. If they don t click, they don t get added. The reason we recommend double opt-in is two-fold: 1. Our IP reputation is at stake. A handful of bad lists can ruin the party for our four million good users, which is why you hear us talk about double opt-in so much. 2. Although it adds an extra step to the process, it s one you can afford. Cutting corners in list collection tends to generate bounces, blacklisting, spam-trap hits, and all sorts of awful stuff that can ruin your campaigns. In fact, double opt-in will actually improve your opens, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes. We ve got the stats to prove it, too. Import fresh lists You should only import a list to MailChimp if you ve sent to that list within six months. This is important because, quite simply, most people receive a lot of email. Even if they gave you their address through a perfectly legit double opt-in process, if you haven t sent to them recently, they may not remember who you are, which could lead to them marking you as spam. And when people mark you as spam, it damages our IP addresses and makes ISPs think the content you're sending isn't welcome by the recipients. In these cases, ISPs will often throttle or discard your emails entirely. Plus, if some of your addresses are old or not used any more, that can lead to bounces. If you re concerned that you might have a stale list, we recommend using a service like BriteVerify, DataValidation, or LeadSpend to
clean it. For more on cleaning lists, try this Knowledge Base article. Groups, lists, and segmentation Groups are a great way to divide up your subscribers by interest and insure they're only getting campaigns they want to read. If you have multiple lists set up in your account instead of using groups, there's the possibility of ending up with duplicate subscribers across these lists. This can result in a higher overall subscriber count and a potentially larger monthly plan fee, especially with high-volume users. As a result, using groups makes your customers easier to manage and can save you money as well. Segmentation is also helpful when it comes to targeted sending. You can either auto-update your segments so that all subscribers matching your criteria are pulled in before each send, or create a static segment of subscribers you choose that will never change. Inactive subscribers Keeping a clean list will help get you into more inboxes, lower your monthly payment, and improve your report stats. MailChimp recommends you manage your engagement by taking a look at your inactive subscribers every two to three months. Segment the users who haven't opened a campaign in a while, send them a re-engagement email, then remove anyone who doesn't reply to that email.
Create Forms There are many ways to collect subscribers, but forms are essential to the process. Whether you re including a simple embedded form in your newsletter for forwards and Twitter shares, or you re designing a custom form for your company s website, forms are an integral, easy way to collect email addresses. * LIST:SUBSCRIBE * Include this merge tag in campaigns to make it easy for people to subscribe when a friend forwards them your email. If you want to get a little fancier, some of our more advanced merge tags will let you customize the subscribe options. Embedded forms With MailChimp s embedded signup form, you can present a simple, streamlined place for users to sign up in your email archives (for Twitter shares), Facebook page, website, or anywhere else you d prefer a short-andsweet signup process. Customized forms If you prefer a branded option, our custom forms are the way to go. You can add your company s logo, collect as much or as little information as you require, and translate forms into various languages for international users.
Existing forms If you already have a signup form on your website, you can continue to use it. Connect it through MailChimp s API and Webhooks to sync the information, manage subscribes and unsubscribes, and more. If this all sounds like Greek, but you d like to continue using your pre-existing form,
you should talk to your web developer about making that connection. Integration forms MailChimp integrates with hundreds of web services you already use, including some that create interesting forms for acquiring subscribers. Our Wufoo integration lets you add any email address on a Wufoo form to a MailChimp list. Our Unbounce integration lets you send contacts you gathered on landing pages to your list. And with Twitter's Lead Generation Cards, you can sign up new users directly from the popular social network.
Create a Campaign You ve got your list and forms ready to go, so it s time to create your first campaign. In this section, we ll explain how to choose the right template, edit your content, design your email, and avoid spam filters. Choosing a template Your template decision depends on your workflow. If you mostly want to focus on the editorial side of your newsletters, but you have a workable-ifamateurish eye for design, a Theme Template or Basic Template might be best. We have a pretty standard template language, and our WYSIWYG editor is efficient and easy to use, especially if your content will need to be tweaked throughout the campaign process. Plus, our drag and drop editor makes quick work of gorgeous, mobile-friendly campaigns.
Most high-volume senders have access to web designers. If that s you, you ll probably want to create your own template. Simply choose Code Your Own, and use MailChimp s template language to code your own HTML emails. And our template language uses CSS comments and a few special HTML attributes, so you don t have to waste your time learning another language. Our MailChimp for Designers guide goes into more detail about the templatecreation process. It s a must-read for anyone who s creating a custom template in MailChimp. Your company might already use a CMS to publish content. In that case, take advantage of MailChimp s API to push content directly into a MailChimp template. You can also use your own CMS to build everything, host it all on your own server, and then put the URL into MailChimp or push it through with our API. If you re looking for speed and won t need to tweak anything, this is a good option, but the template won t be editable once it s in MailChimp. And of course, as with all things API, if you re not a programmer or don t have one in your company you can bribe, consult our list of MailChimp experts or consider another option instead of the API. For an in-depth look at HTML templates, visit MailChimp's Email Template Reference. Avoiding spam filters If you send email campaigns for long enough, you ll inevitably run into spamfilter issues. According to ReturnPath, you can expect 10-20 percent of your emails to get lost in cyberspace, mostly due to overzealous spam filters. Innocent email marketers who send permission-based emails to people who requested them get spam filtered all the time. Unfortunately, there s not a quick fix, but if you understand what spam is and how the filters work, you ll be best prepared to avoid them. In addition to learning those ins and outs, it's worth familiarizing yourself with Bayesian filters, email firewalls, and challenge/response filters.
Common mistakes Here are a few of the most common mistakes we see email marketers make: Using spammy phrases like Click here! or Once in a lifetime opportunity! Going crazy with exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! USING ALL CAPS, WHICH IS LIKE SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS FOR NO GOOD REASON (This is particularly important to avoid in the subject line.) Coloring fonts bright red or green Creating an HTML email that s nothing but one big image, with little or no text (since spam filters can t read images, they assume you re a spammer that s trying to pull a fast one) Using the word test in the subject line (agencies run into this when sending drafts to clients for approval) Sending a test to multiple recipients within the same company (that company s email firewall will often assume it s a spam attack) Designing HTML email in Word and exporting the code to HTML
Testing Testing your campaigns is important. After all, you wouldn t want to make a mistake in front of your entire list, would you? Getting your message to your list is our goal, which is why we ve done a lot of research on testing. Here are a few general tips for testing your own campaigns, and a few specific features to help your campaigns arrive in inboxes in one piece. General tips 1. Set up some email accounts for testing. Go to all the popular email services like Yahoo!, Hotmail, and Gmail. Consider setting up AOL, Comcast, and Earthlink accounts, if possible. 2. Always use MailChimp s popup preview tool to test plain-text and HTML emails. This will show you if any images are broken and if your general layout is working as it should. 3. In the popup preview window, click View Live Merge Info to see your merge tags in action. This will show you if they re set up properly. 4. Don t rely on popup previews alone they re simply a visual check. Send emails to yourself, and check them in an email program. 5. Send a test email. It's handy for when you're still in the editing stage. Edit, test. Edit, test. 6. If possible, test your campaign on Mac and PC, with different browsers.
A/B split testing A lot of questions may come to mind as you re creating a campaign. What day of the week gets you better open rates? What time of day is ideal for your content? Should your subject line contain your company s name? You can answer all of these with a few clicks. Using our patent-pending A/B Split Tester, you simply decide what test you d like to run and then determine the size of your sample groups. We ll run the test and let you know which option worked best. We can even send the winning campaign to the portion of your list that didn t receive the test. According to our research, people who A/B test their campaigns get 11 percent better open rates and 17 percent more clicks. Not bad. Inbox Inspector Different email clients behave in different ways, and you might be surprised at how many email clients your subscribers use. This is why we developed Inbox Inspector, a feature that ensures your email design will look great in your subscribers 10 most-used clients. It s free for monthly users, so if you want to see more than 10, run as many inspections as you like. In addition to showing you screenshots of your campaign in the different email clients, Inbox Inspector helps you stay out of trouble by looking out for words and phrases that trigger spam filters, then tells you specifically what they are, so you can fix the problem.
Mobile testing With MailChimp's mobile app for iphone or Android, you can push and instant preview to your phone to test your responsive design. Visit MailChimp's mobile-friendly campaigns page for more information.
Comments Sometimes the hardest part of sending an email campaign isn t the writing or the designing it s getting your boss and colleagues to give you the green light to send it. After working hard on a campaign, you send a test to your head honchos and co-workers, and the avalanche of feedback and changes begins. It can be hard balancing all these opinions, and when the design isn t present, requests can get lost in the back-and-forth. If this rings a bell, check out our comments feature. You can see other account users who are working on the campaign, send tests to request feedback, and leave comments.
Sending Your Campaign There are some special concerns that come with high-volume sending. For users with large lists like yours, we recommend scheduling campaigns instead of the send now option. Your campaign will deploy faster this way, since it s already in line ahead of time. We also recommend that high-volume senders avoid scheduling multiple campaigns to go out at the same time. A good rule of thumb for best performance is to stagger them by 30 minutes each, if at all possible. Dedicated IP addresses Because we have some users who send to millions of customers at a time, and because your email reputation is like a credit score, we offer dedicated IP addresses. These require a one-time setup fee of $1000. Dedicated IPs are not for everyone, though, as there are a lot of points to consider before you commit to one.
Time Warp If you have subscribers in different time zones around the country or the world, you might have trouble figuring out the best time to send a campaign. You don t want your campaigns to reach any subscribers in the middle of the night, but you definitely don t want to bother with sending multiple campaigns to make sure your readers get them on time. Time Warp allows you to choose what time you want your campaign to arrive, whether it s your local time zone, or one on the other side of the planet. Just choose the time you d like your campaign delivered, and MailChimp will make sure it arrives at that time in any given time zone.
Tracking and Reporting Once you send a campaign, the reports almost immediately start coming in. How many people opened your newsletter? How many clicked? Did they like the content? MailChimp offers insightful tracking and reporting that can help you improve your campaigns and better serve your readers. Use the tools below to review each campaign you send. List health Regularly removing inactive subscribers from your list is important, but especially for high-volume senders. By making sure your list is free of unengaged users, you'll keep your delivery high, which is good for everyone. Google Analytics If you use MailChimp s Google Analytics integration, you ll be able to see stats about your campaigns performance visits, conversions and sales--in your Google Analytics account. Activate Analytics360, and we ll pull all the data back into MailChimp and mash it up with your campaign stats.
Reports MailChimp s free reports analyze clicks, opens, social activity, and more. Seriously, we have a lot of reports. Our interactive graphs show you how many emails were delivered, how many people opened your campaign, and what percentage clicked. View your list growth in our HTML5 chart, analyze your opens and clicks over time and by location, and compare your stats to other companies in your industry. Dig even deeper with our advanced reports, which display Analytics360 data, a breakdown of your subscribers' top email domains, and much more. For additional information on all things reports, check out our Understanding Reports guide.
AlterEgo Two-factor security solutions are usually expensive and painful to set up, but MailChimp s AlterEgo app is free, and its simple API makes it easy to drop it into any app that needs another layer of security. It generates temporary auto codes only accessible on users mobile devices and requires them for entry. Even if passwords are compromised, AlterEgo blocks account access unless the user has the temporary auto code. We believe in AlterEgo so much, we offer a 10% discount for any MailChimp user that activates it. Think of it like the good-driver discount you d get from your insurance company.
Integrations MailChimp is integrated with all the web services you already use, so it s easy to sync your data, import content from other apps and services, and see how your newsletters are making a positive impact on your business. Browse the directory to find out how to make the most of your MailChimp account. If you d like to integrate with MailChimp, read our API documentation for details. Who knows? We might even pay you for your work. In addition to integrations mentioned elsewhere in this guide (Google Analytics) and some of the more obvious ones (Twitter, Facebook), we ve highlighted a few below that are popular with high-volume users. Salesforce Salesforce is a cloud-computing company which allows you to track all your business information and documents via web browser. MailChimp s integration allows subscribers to access MailChimp within their normal workflow in Salesforce. Mandrill Mandrill is a transactional email service that runs on MailChimp s delivery infrastructure and makes it easy to manage marketing and transactional email in one place, with no extra fees.
Zendesk With our Zendesk integration, you can define filters and seamlessly transfer contacts between Zendesk and any MailChimp list. Eventbrite With our Eventbrite integration, you can easily send invitations for, sell tickets to, and promote events through your MailChimp account. Zapier Create any number of custom rules for syncing information to and from MailChimp using Zapier. Magento Magento is an open-source ecommerce web app. With our free Magento integration, you can ensure your Magento subscribers are in sync with MailChip while supporting multiple lists and interest groups.
Pricing For high-volume senders, MailChimp s monthly plans are based primarily on list size, with a sending limit imposed on each billing tier. If your send volume exceeds the limits of your tier on a particular month, MailChimp will automatically upgrade you to the next one. Billing MailChimp will bill you every 30 days, based on when you sign up, and we accept payment by credit card. We don t send invoices or accept payment via Net 30 trade credit. But if you need a printed receipt for accounting purposes, they re available in the MailChimp app under Billing > Billing information > Show statements. International user? No problem. MailChimp can bill you in many different currencies.