Email Basics

Creating a new Mailchimp account is the first step toward effective email marketing. As one of the most user-friendly email marketing platforms, Mailchimp makes it easy to connect with your audience and grow your business. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through the process of creating a new Mailchimp account in order to set up a strong foundation. 

Let’s dive into our 6 steps for success!

Want Someone to Do It for You?

If setting up your Mailchimp account makes you want to snap your laptop in half, consider working with a Mailchimp Pro Partner. Pure Firefly offers new account setup as one of our most popular services. We’ll import an audience, add your logo, design a basic signup form, and even create a one-email welcome series. Contact us to learn more!

1. Set Your Defaults & Required Footer Content

To begin, let’s set up your account defaults and configure the required footer content. This information is used on every campaign and is especially important because non-compliant footer content can lead to account suspension. If you noticed a dip in your deliverability after you start sending, consider taking a look at your campaign defaults and footer content. Just follow these steps:

1. Login to your Mailchimp account or create a new account if you haven’t done so already.
2. Once logged in, click on “All contacts” in the left side menu and navigate to “Settings” > “Audience name & defaults”
3. From here, you can customize your default subject line, from name, and reply-to email address. Take the time to ensure these defaults align with your brand and campaign goals.
4. Next, navigate to “Settings” > “Required email footer content.” 
5. Here, you can add the necessary information for your footer, including your physical mailing address. This info is legally required in most countries, so ensure that it’s accurate.
6. Ensure that your opt-in explanation accurately describes how contacts have joined your list. This is one of the most common ways new accounts receive a red flag from Mailchimp’s compliance team.
7. Once you have filled in the required information, click “Save” to apply the changes.

2. Create A Signup Form

Building an engaged subscriber base is crucial for the success of your email marketing campaigns, and can have an impact on deliverability. Mailchimp offers a variety of signup form options to grow your audience, including landing pages and pop-ups, but the basic form builder is one of the most important to understand.

Let’s walk through the process:

1. From the Mailchimp dashboard, click on “Audience” and select “Signup forms.”
2. Select “Form Builder” to preview your basic signup form. This design is the backbone for your signup, manage preferences and unsubscribe forms.
3. Customize the design and fields of your signup form to align with your branding and capture the necessary subscriber information. (Quick tip: Keep the number of fields below 5 to maximize your odds that someone will complete it).
4. Once you’re satisfied with the form’s appearance and settings, click “Save.”

3. Import Your Audience

If you already have a list of subscribers from another marketing platform, Mailchimp allows you to easily import them into your new account via copy-paste or with a .CSV file. Follow these steps to import your audience:

1. In the left side menu, click on “All contacts” and select “Add contacts > Import contacts.”
2. Choose the method you prefer to import your contacts. You can import from a .CSV file, copy-paste from a spreadsheet, or import using an integrated service.
3. Either upload your file or copy-paste contacts into the appropriate window
4. Next, select which audience you’d like to import into and mark the contacts as subscribed (be sure you have opt-in first!).
5. Add a tag to the full import if you’d like, then proceed to assign each column in your import to a field in your Mailchimp audience.

Mailchimp enforces strict compliance with GDPR & CAN-SPAM regulations, so be sure your audience is clean and opted-in before you begin sending!

4.  Set Your Logo & Brand

Adding your logo to your Mailchimp account helps to reinforce your brand identity and create a consistent visual experience for your subscribers. Plus, the default logo and brand kit can be used in Mailchimp’s Creative Assistant. Let’s set a default logo:

1. On the left side menu, select “Creative Assistant”
2. Paste your URL into the field to automate the brand kit creation OR
3. Click on Upload My Logo
4. Import your logo as a .png or .jpg
5. On the next pages, add your brand colors & fonts to establish a consistent look

5.  Authenticate Your Domain

Domain authentication is essential for improving email deliverability and reducing the chances of your emails ending up in spam folders. Essentially, authentication creates a record that travels with every email you send. This record shows that Mailchimp has been approved to send emails on your behalf. This may seem complicated, but the process is actually fairly simple:

1. On the side menu, click on “Domains,” and scroll down to “Email Domains”
2. Click “Add & Verify a Domain” and paste an email address into the field
3. Wait for an email from Mailchimp, and follow the steps to Verify.
4. Your new domain should show up under “Custom Email Domains” with the label “Verified”
5. Click on “Start Authentication” and follow the prompts
6. Mailchimp will provide records tailored to your domain registrar (Bluehost, GoDaddy, Google Domains, etc.)
7. Once you add Mailchimp to your DNS records, you’ll have improved deliverability for all emails sent via your custom domain

6. Create Your First Campaign

With your account settings in place, it’s time to create your first email campaign. Mailchimp offers a variety of campaign types, including regular campaigns, automated workflows, and SMS coming soon. Let’s start with a regular email:

1. Click on “Create” and type an internal email name into the field
2. Select “Add Recipients” and choose the audience you’d like to send to
3. Customize the from name, address, subject line, and preview text as needed
4. Click “Design Email” and build an email from scratch or use a template
5. Finally, schedule your campaign in advance or send it out immediately.

Work with an Expert

If you’re looking to take your email marketing to the next level, working with an expert can provide valuable insights and guidance. Pure Firefly offers expert Mailchimp training to help you optimize your email marketing strategies. We can also set up your account for you, or perform an in-depth audit to ensure your Mailchimp account is set up for success. To see if Pure Firefly is a good fit for you, check out our services or contact us any time.