Using Mail Chimp for Email Marketing

Over the last year I have been collecting contact details for Sayers Solutions and finally compiled a database.  Mail Chimp was recommended, as it is a free on-line email marketing tool.  I signed in and have been experimenting with it since.

It appears to be a very useful tool

You first create a List for your contacts.  You can manually enter the information one by one or you can import contacts from files on your computer, for example excel sheets or by integrating other services ie Salesforce, Google Docs, Eventbrite.  

You can also create Forms for your Lists, to enable you to collect subscribers via a link, a QR code or by embedding the Form into websites.

Next you create a Campaign; an email sent to the List, or segments or combinations of.

Mail Chimp then enables you to monitor and measure the effectiveness of the campaign in the Report section.  The Report shows you how many emails were sent, how many were opened, unopened, bounced and more importantly who by, providing a potential call list enabling you to follow up on the email campaign.  The report also shows which links in the email have been clicked on and much more.  It also compares all of these measurements to your industry averages.

In theory it sounds easy; gain contact details and send them enough e-mails in the hope of generating conversation, traffic to the website and more importantly sales …..

However Mail Chimp has strict rules on permission marketing.  It is repeatedly stated throughout the website that the service is only for subscribers and not for prospects … but how do you convert prospects to subscribers without soliciting them?  I guess this is the ethical problem every marketer has.  It is okay if you already have a customer base, but when you start off with nothing …

I considered bypassing these rules but as I am positioning my business as one that provides Marketing and Strategy Solutions I can’t be caught cutting corners.  So I need to do some research to help me overcome this obstacle. Keep posted to see what I find out.

If you would like to start using Mailchimp and would like assistance, or would rather someone else manage it for you please give me a call on 07790705223 as I will be happy to help.

5 Comments on “Using Mail Chimp for Email Marketing

  1. Hi, I use MailChimp but got in a bit of bother when I downloaded a list of contacts I made over a few years (I simply wanted to clean the list up) – mailed them to ask if they wanted to remain on my list – if not to unsubscribe – quite few people did and mailchimp picked this up and I got my knuckles wrapped. I did also get an amusing clip from a film! I think it was only about 5% drop out rate too.

  2. Hi Merewyn,
    Like Helen I have used Mailchimp and did find the analytics fascinating- especially to know who had opened / rejected my mailshot. I also noticed that a friend had used it recently to refresh her contacts and to ask if they wanted to remain on her list . I thought it was a really good idea to do so, and it felt ‘ethical just to ask the question.
    I would be interested to know if she gets her knuckles wrapped or ex communicated by Mailchimp. for doing a follow up.

    I initially struggled to develop my lists/ database. But I actually think Mailchimp is a really good tool and a disciplined approach to developing a legal marketing strategy.

    I lapsed recently, and have done little with campaigns on Mailchimp this year, but now feel re- energised to give it another try for some spring offers and to renew acquaintances with my clients

  3. I have been recommended Mail Chip by the IT guy I have used in the past. Till now I haven’t given it ago, but then again I haven’t seriously wanted to create a mailing list. Thanks Merewyn, I will give it a try. Janet, perhaps we can talk/support each other through the process?!

  4. Great breakdown of the software and those ‘permissions’ – all so true. I have been using Mailchimp for a couple of years now and love the simplicity and now with the drag and drop it looks so much better.

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