MailChimp For High Volume Senders

MailChimp for
High-Volume
Senders

©2001-2011 All rights reserved. MailChimp® is a registered trademark of The Rocket Science Group.
1

Table Of Contents Hello.
Are you a high-volume sender? By MailChimp’s definition, “high volume”
means two million emails sent every month (give or take), and a dedicated
IP address. Sometimes, users who send that much email need special
attention.

Hello....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
MailChimp was founded on small businesses with DIY ethics, but it’s
Create a List............................................................................................................................................................ 4
powerful enough to handle the world’s largest corporations. MailChimp
Importing Your List.................................................................................................................................................................. 4
is perfect for companies who have a large list, but would like a little
List Strategies......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
more control over their email marketing than they get with a full-service
Create Forms............................................................................................................................................................ 5
provider. Whether you’re a current high-volume MailChimp sender, or
Create a Campaign.................................................................................................................................................... 6
you’re interested in switching to MailChimp for your high-volume sending,
Choosing a Template................................................................................................................................................................ 6
this guide’s for you. We hope to answer any questions you might have—
Avoiding Spam Filters............................................................................................................................................................... 6
and maybe even answer some questions you didn’t know you had.
Common Mistakes.................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Co-branding............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Testing.................................................................................................................................................................... 7
General Tips............................................................................................................................................................................ 7
A/B Split Testing...................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Inbox Inspector....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
OnStage................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Sending Your Campaign............................................................................................................................................ 8
TimeWarp................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Tracking and Reporting............................................................................................................................................. 9
Google Analytics...................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Reports................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Sharing and Rebranding Reports............................................................................................................................................... 9
AlterEgo................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Integrations............................................................................................................................................................ 10
Salesforce............................................................................................................................................................................. 10
Eventbrite............................................................................................................................................................................. 10
Mandrill................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
SurveyGizmo......................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Magento............................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Pricing and Billing.................................................................................................................................................. 10
Monthly Pricing..................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Billing.................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

2 3

Create a List Create Forms
Since creating a list is the first thing you should do in your MailChimp After the import, you’ll be able to review all the emails that were or were There are many ways to collect subscribers, but forms are essential to
account, we create one for you when you fill out your account information not added to your list. Just click the links to view more details. Since you the process. Whether you’re including a simple embedded form in your
on your first login. You can use the list we created for you, or follow these have a large list, we’ll ask for your email address, so we can send you the newsletter for forwards and Twitter shares, or you’re designing a custom
two simple steps to create a new one. notifications and report back when the list is imported. form for your company’s website, forms are an integral, easy way to collect
email addresses.
1. Choose Lists, then click the Create list button on the left.
LIST:SUBSCRIBE
2. Fill out the setup details, making sure you’ve written a good Permission Include this merge tag in campaigns to make it easy for people to
Reminder. Click Save to finish setting up your list. 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
Importing Your List List Strategies the subscribe options.

Now that you’ve got your list set up, it’s time to import your subscribers Double Opt-In Embedded Forms
into it. There are a few ways for high-volume senders to do that. MailChimp highly recommends the double opt-in method for signups. With MailChimp’s embedded signup form, you can present a simple,
The way this works is that when someone signs up for your email list, you streamlined place for users to sign up in your email archives (for Twitter
1. Upload a CSV file automatically send a confirmation email with a link that they must click shares), Facebook page, website, or anywhere else you’d prefer a short-
before they’re added to your list. If they don’t click, they don’t get added. and-sweet signup process.
2. Import directly from other apps like Google Docs, Salesforce, Highrise, The reason we recommend and strongly enforce double opt-in is two-fold:
and more.
1. Our IP reputation is at stake. A handful of bad lists can ruin the party
3. Import through MailChimp’s API for our million good users, which is why you hear us talk about double
If your list has more than a million subscribers, we recommend importing Customized Forms
opt-in so much.
it through our API. Our API is free to use, and it’s a great resource for If you prefer a branded option, our custom forms are the way to go. You
high-volume senders. can add your company’s logo, collect as much or as little information as
2. Although it adds an extra step to the process, it’s one you can afford.
you require, and translate forms into various languages for international
Cutting corners in list collection tends to generate bounces, blacklisting,
Now that your list is imported, we’ll help you set the name and content users.
spam trap hits and all sorts of awful stuff that can ruin your campaigns. In
type for each column—we call it mapping. Use the pull-down menu above fact, double opt-in will actually improve your opens, clicks, bounces and
each column to set the field name and type. Once you’ve mapped your unsubscribes. We’ve got the stats to prove it, too.
fields, click All done to complete the import.
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 fine
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.
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 freshaddress.com to clean it.

Hairball
Sometimes we get complaints from customers who want to run really
complex segmentation criteria in MailChimp, but they keep bumping into
our segmentation limits. The truth is that we put those limits in place to
keep a few apples from destroying our servers for everyone else. Which
is why we created Hairball, an Air app that you install on your computer.
It syncs with your MailChimp list, and allows you to go nuts building all
kinds of segments on your own system. When you’re finished, just sync it Pre-Existing Forms
back up to MailChimp, and you’re all set. 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.

4 5

Create a Campaign Testing
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 select your list, choose the
Avoiding Spam Filters Testing your campaigns is important. After all, you wouldn’t want to make
Inbox Inspector
a mistake in front of your entire list, would you? Getting your message to
right template, edit your content, and design your email. your list is our goal, which is why we’ve done a lot of research on testing.
If you send email campaigns for long enough, you’ll inevitably run into Different email clients behave in different ways, and you might be
Here are a few general tips for testing your own campaigns, and a few
spam-filter issues. According to ReturnPath, you can expect 10-20 surprised at how many email clients your subscribers use. This is why we
Choosing a Template percent of your emails to get lost in cyberspace, mostly due to overzealous
specific features to help your campaigns arrive in inboxes in one piece.
developed Inbox Inspector, a feature that ensures your email design will
spam filters. Innocent email marketers who send permission-based look great in your subscribers’ 10 most-used clients. It’s free for monthly
From your Dashboard or Campaign tab, click Create campaign. emails to people who requested them get spam filtered all the time. General Tips users, so if you want to see more than 10, run as many inspections as
Unfortunately, there’s not a quick fix, but if you understand what spam is you like. In addition to showing you screenshots of your campaign in the
Choose the type of campaign you’d like to create. (Start with Regular ol’ and how the filters work, you’ll be best prepared to avoid them. 1. Set up some email accounts for testing. Go to all the popular email different email clients, Inbox Inspector helps you stay out of trouble by
campaign.) services like Yahoo!, Hotmail and Gmail. Consider setting up AOL, looking out for words and phrases that trigger spam filters, then tells you
Comcast and Earthlink accounts, if possible. Or find volunteers (friends, specifically what they are, so you can fix the problem.
In Step 1 of the Campaign Builder, select the list you want to send to.
Common Mistakes family, co-workers) you can send test emails to.
Once you’ve selected the list, use the Next button to move forward, or just 2. Always use MailChimp’s pop-up preview tool to test plain-text and
Here are a few of the most common mistakes we see email marketers
click Send to entire list. HTML emails. This will show you if any images are broken and if your
make:
general layout is working as it should.
You’ll have options to name your campaign, set up a subject line, 3. In the pop-up preview window, click View live merge info to see your
* Using spammy phrases like “Click here!” or “Once in a lifetime
from name, reply-to email, and personalize your your “To:” field with merge tags in action. This will show you if they’re set up properly.
opportunity!”
*|MERGETAGS|*. You’ll also find options for tracking, authentication, 4. Don’t rely on pop-up previews alone—they’re simply a visual check.
* Going crazy with exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
analytics tracking, and social sharing. Again, use the Next and Back Send emails to yourself, and check them in an email program.
* USING ALL CAPS, WHICH IS LIKE SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF YOUR
button to navigate through the steps. Which is to say: Don’t use your 5. Use the Send a test button. It’s handy for when you’re still editing
LUNGS FOR NO GOOD REASON (This is particularly important to avoid in
browser’s back button. content. Edit, send. Edit, send.
the subject line.)
6. If possible, test your campaign on Mac and PC, with different browsers.
* Coloring fonts bright red or green
Choosing a template depends on your workflow. If you mostly want to focus
* Creating an HTML email that’s nothing but one big image, with little
on the editorial side of your newsletters, but you have an workable-if-
amateur eye for design, a Pre-designed template or the Start from scratch
or no text (since spam filters can’t read images, they assume you’re a A/B Split Testing
spammer that’s trying to pull a fast one)
might be best. Or you can click Design genius, and we’ll walk you through
* Using the word “test” in the subject line (agencies run into this when A lot of questions may come to mind as you’re creating a campaign. What
the styling process. We have a pretty standard template language, and our
sending drafts to clients for approval) day of the week gets you better open rates? What time of day is ideal for
WYSIWYG editor is efficient and easy to use, especially if your content will
* Sending a test to multiple recipients within the same company (that your content? Should your subject line contain your company’s name? You
need to be tweaked throughout the campaign process.
company’s email firewall will often assume it’s a spam attack) can answer all of these with a few clicks. OnStage
* Designing HTML email in Word and exporting the code to HTML
Most high-volume senders have access to web designers. If that’s you,
Using our patent-pending A/B Split Tester, you simply decide what test Sometimes the hardest part of sending an email campaign isn’t the writing
you’ll probably want to create your own template. Simply choose Code
you’d like to run and then determine the size of your sample groups. We’ll
custom templates, and use MailChimp’s powerful-yet-simple template Co-branding run the test and let you know which option worked best. We can even send
or the designing—it’s getting your boss and colleagues to give you the
language to code your own HTML emails. And our template language uses green light to send it. After working hard on a campaign, you send a test
the winning campaign to the portion of your list that didn’t receive the to your head honchos and co-workers, and the avalanche of feedback and
CSS comments and a few special HTML attributes, so you don’t have to You can easily make MailChimp feel more like home by giving it your
test. changes begins. It can be hard balancing all these opinions, and when the
waste your time learning another language. Our MailChimp for Designers own colors, logo and background image. And if you’re a creative agency
guide goes into more detail about the template-creation process. It’s a managing accounts for your clients, it’s a great way to make their accounts design isn’t present, requests can get lost in the back-and-forth.
According to our research, people who A/B test their campaigns get 11
must-read for anyone who’s creating a custom template in MailChimp. feel more professional. Learn more on the co-branding feature page.
percent better open rates and 17 percent more clicks. Not bad. If this rings a bell, check out OnStage for MailChimp. Visit onstageapp.
Your company might already use a CMS to publish content. In that com, log in with your MailChimp credentials, and select the campaign
case, take advantage of MailChimp’s API to push content directly into a you want to put on stage for feedback. Invite your audience via email, and
MailChimp template. TED’s CMS-to-MailChimp integration improved their they can click on the email where they want changes, and annotate those
workflow, and it makes for easy editing within a system the publishers to-dos where everyone can see them. You can even live chat with them in
already know. The Peanut Gallery. Make any needed changes, and invite the same people
(or new ones, depending on your workflow) to view the next act. OnStage is
You can also use your own CMS to build everything, host it all on your own free for anyone to use.
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.

6 7

Sending Your Campaign Tracking and Reporting
There are some special concerns that come with high-volume sending. Once you send a campaign, the reports almost immediately start coming
Sharing and Rebranding Reports
For users with large lists like yours, we recommend scheduling campaigns in. How many people opened your newsletter? How many clicked? Did they
instead of the “send now” option. Your campaign will send faster this like the content? MailChimp offers insightful tracking and reporting that
If you manage a MailChimp account for a client or boss, or you’re a web
way, since it’s already in line ahead of time. We also recommend that can help you improve your campaigns and better serve your readers. Use
developer or designer, you might want to show someone a MailChimp
high-volume senders avoid scheduling multiple campaigns to go out at the the tools below to review each campaign you send.
report without giving them full access to the account (because that can be
same time. A good rule of thumb for best performance is to stagger them
scary). Our VIP reports allow you to customize your campaign reports so no
by 30 minutes each, if at all possible.
Google Analytics one will even be able to tell they came from MailChimp. You can rebrand
them, choose the sections you want to include, print them, and share
TimeWarp If you use MailChimp’s Google Analytics integration, you’ll be able to see them online.
stats about your campaigns’ performance—visits, conversions and sales—
If you have subscribers in different time zones around the country or in your Google Analytics account. Activate Analytics360, and we’ll pull all For additional information on all things reports, check out our
the world, you might have trouble figuring out the best time to send a the data back into MailChimp and mash it up with your campaign stats. Understanding Reports guide.
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
AlterEgo
sending multiple campaigns to make sure your readers get them on time.
TimeWarp allows you to choose what time you want your campaign to
Two-factor security solutions are usually expensive and painful to set up,
arrive, whether it’s your local time zone, or one on the other side of the
but MailChimp’s AlterEgo app is free, and its simple API makes it easy
planet. Just choose the time you’d like your campaign delivered, and
to drop it into any app that needs another layer of security. It generates
MailChimp will make sure it arrives at that time in any given time zone.
temporary auto codes only accessible on users’ mobile devices and
requires them for entry. Even if passwords are compromised, AlterEgo
And don’t forget Hairball—it’ll save you a few headaches if you want to
blocks account access unless the user has the temporary auto code.
segment large lists.

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.

8 9

Integrations Pricing
MailChimp is integrated with all the web services you already use, so it’s
Monthly Pricing
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.
For high-volume senders, MailChimp’s monthly plans are based primarily
Browse the directory to find out how to make the most of your MailChimp
on list size, with a sending limit imposed on each billing tier. If your send
account.
volume exceeds the limits of your tier on a particular month, MailChimp
will automatically upgrade you to the next one.
If you’d like to integrate with MailChimp, read our API documentation for
details. Who knows? We might even pay you for your work.
Billing
In addition to integrations mentioned elsewhere in this guide (Google
Analytics) and some of the more obvious ones (Twitter, Facebook), we’ve MailChimp will bill you every 30 days, based on when you sign up, and
highlighted a few below that are popular with high-volume users. we accept payment by credit card or eCheck. We don’t send invoices or
accept payment via Net 30 trade credit. But if you need a printed receipt
Salesforce for accounting purposes, they’re available in the MailChimp app under
Billing > Statements. International user? No problem. MailChimp can bill
Salesforce is a cloud computing company which allows you to track all you in GBP or EUR.
your business information and documents via web browser. MailChimp’s
integration allows subscribers to access MailChimp within their normal
workflow in Salesforce.

Eventbrite
With our Eventbrite integration, you can easily send invitations for, sell
tickets to and promote events through your MailChimp account.

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.

SurveyGizmo
Sending survey invitations to your subscribers is easy with MailChimp’s
SurveyGizmo integration. Click on the link in SurveyGizmo and you’ll be
taken straight to a specially designed email template that you can send to
your list.

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.

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MailChimp For High Volume Senders

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