We have been Mailchimp certified for over 10 years now, so we have seen a lot of email marketing setups. But we still learn something new every time we sit in on an onboarding call with a client.
Recently, we helped a client migrate from their old email platform to Mailchimp. We joined their onboarding meeting with a Mailchimp specialist, and I wanted to share some of what came up. If you are thinking about switching email platforms, or just want to get more out of Mailchimp, this might be helpful.
Why They Were Switching
The client had been using another email service for years, but it just was not hitting a lot of the things they needed to do anymore. They were looking for more detailed campaigns, better segmentation, better analytics. They wanted to build out some pretty extensive nurture drip sequences, and the old platform was not really offering that.
That is usually how it goes. You outgrow something. The tool that worked fine three years ago does not do what you need now. So they chose Mailchimp, and we were there to help them get set up right.
One Audience, Many Segments
One of the first things that came up was how to organize all the contacts. The client had a bunch of separate lists on their old platform, probably about 25 of them. The instinct is to bring those over as separate lists, but the Mailchimp specialist recommended against that.
She put it simply: “Usually we recommend going with one overall audience and then using the tagging and segmenting within the audience instead.”
That made a lot of sense. You keep everything in one place and use tags and segments to organize it. It is cleaner and makes reporting much easier down the road.
Tags, Segments, and Groups
Speaking of organization, I got a nice refresher on the difference between tags, segments, and groups in Mailchimp. I knew about tags and segments, but groups were a little fuzzy for me.
Here is how the specialist explained it: “Tags and segments are internal. No one ever sees which tags they are associated with or which segments they are in. But groups can be externally facing.”
Groups are what you use if you want to offer a preferences center with checkboxes, so when somebody subscribes they can opt into certain topics, or if they go to unsubscribe they can say “I just want to change the things I am hearing from” instead of leaving entirely.
That distinction matters when you are planning out your structure.
Authentication is Not Optional
Before you send anything from Mailchimp, you need to make sure your domain authentication is set up correctly. This is the technical stuff like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
The specialist made it clear why this matters: “Gmail, Hotmail, and a lot of those services have much more strict requirements now. That is why this step is so important. It could prevent you from landing in inboxes, which is of course the ultimate goal.”
If it has been a while since you set this up, or if you are not sure whether it was done right, get it checked. It is not glamorous work, but it makes everything else possible. This is something we help clients with regularly.
Your Open Rates Might Change
Here is something interesting. After the migration, the client noticed their open rates were actually higher than before. I asked about that, and the answer was a little surprising.
“Sometimes I hear the opposite,” the specialist said. “Sometimes people say their numbers dropped, and it is because we do filter out by opens. We take that into account, and not all other platforms do. So it is usually more accurate.”
So if your numbers go up, great. If they go down a little, it might just be that you are seeing more accurate data now. Either way, do not panic right away.
The Custom Font Problem
This one came up because the client uses a specific licensed font for their brand. They were having trouble getting it to work in Mailchimp emails.
The reality is that most email clients do not play nice with custom fonts. The specialist explained: “A lot of times they will just convert it into one of the fonts that they recognize. And that can completely change the layout, make boxes show up weird, all kinds of issues.”
The workaround that seems to work best is to use your custom font in images, like a header banner, and then use a standard web-safe font for the body text. It is not perfect, but it keeps your branding visible without breaking everything.
Think About SMS Early
If you are switching to Mailchimp anyway, it is a good time to think about whether SMS makes sense for you. Mailchimp offers it now, and the setup is not complicated.
The main thing is that you need phone numbers with proper opt-ins. If you have not been collecting those, you can start now and build up over time. “Sometimes people start on a small plan and then work their way up as they collect more phone numbers,” the specialist said. “That is completely fine.”
You do not have to have it all figured out on day one.
Keep Records of Everything
This is my own addition, not from the onboarding call. Before you migrate, document where everything lives. Which forms feed into which lists. What automations are running. What your current segments look like.
You will be glad you did when you are rebuilding things on the other side.
We Can Help
We have been Mailchimp certified for over a decade, and we have helped a lot of clients make this kind of transition. If you are thinking about switching to Mailchimp, or you are already on Mailchimp and want to make sure you are getting the most out of it, give us a call. We are happy to take a look and point you in the right direction.
