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Target Marketing Using MailChimp

Use Cobot's Mailchimp Add-on to automatically grow your list and reach the right people.

Laura avatar
Written by Laura
Updated today

This is an image showing the integration between Cobot and Mailchimp. On the left is the Cobot mascot, a blue and white robot-like owl wearing a bow tie. Next to it is a red plus sign, followed by the Mailchimp mascot on the right, a brown monkey wearing a blue hat with the letter M. Together, the image represents the connection between Cobot and Mailchimp for email and newsletter management.

Cobot's integration with MailChimp allows you to link the two accounts so that:

  • Existing active space members are added to the list - called 'Audience' in Mailchimp - immediately.

  • New members are added as soon as they register with your space (and if they opt-in on the signup form).

  • Members stay in your Mailchimp list until they unsubscribe themselves from the newsletter.

Note: If a member cancels, they will still receive Mailchimp newsletters from you until they unsubscribe from Mailchimp. If they change their email in Cobot, they will still receive emails at their old address as well until they - you guessed it - unsubscribe from Mailchimp.

Information Synchronized Between Cobot & MailChimp

When your members are added to your MailChimp list from Cobot, it automatically brings in a few data points:

  • Email Address

  • First Name

  • Last Name

  • Address

  • Phone Number

  • Birthday

  • Plan

You can view this within MailChimp under Audience » All contacts » [Manage contacts].

This is an image of a Mailchimp subscriber list that has been synchronized with Cobot. At the top, there are menu options for managing subscribers, adding subscribers, signup forms, and settings. Below that, there is a button to export the list and filters for segments and subscriber groups. The main table shows subscriber details with columns for email address, first name, last name, plan, member rating, last changed, and date added. Some of the subscribers listed include people with Cobot email addresses. The plan column shows the membership type pulled from Cobot, such as employee, part-time, or full-time. The member rating column shows stars indicating engagement levels. The last changed column displays the last update date and time, while the date added column shows when the subscriber first joined. Pink arrows highlight the Plan, Member Rating, Last Changed, and Date Added columns, drawing attention to the synced Cobot membership details that appear in Mailchimp.

This list will serve as the base for creating your targeted marketing lists. When a member changes their plan, it will automatically update in MailChimp and adjust the date changed field.

Creating Targeted Marketing Lists

Now that you have a list of all past and present members of your space, how can you accomplish targeted marketing to specific groups of members?
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MailChimp defines a targeted marketing list as a segment.

To define and save a segment, you can follow these simple steps:

1. Select Segments » Create a Segment

This is an image of the segmentation section in Mailchimp, used for organizing subscribers. At the top, there are dropdown menus for Segments and All Subscribers. The main part of the screen states that no segments have been created yet. It explains that segments can be used to target subscribers by location, engagement, activity, and more. There is a link to learn more about segmentation. At the bottom, there is a button labeled Create A Segment. Pink arrows highlight the Segments dropdown menu and the Create A Segment button.

2. Select the sorting type (in this case, plan) and the value it should match (in this case, part-time)

This is an image of the segmentation setup in Mailchimp, showing how to create a targeted subscriber segment based on Cobot membership details. A dropdown menu is open on the left, and the option Plan is selected. To the right, a condition is being set so that the plan is equal to Part-time. This means that only subscribers with a part-time plan from Cobot will be included in this segment. At the bottom of the screen, there are options to add more conditions, preview the segment, or cancel.

3. Preview the segment to ensure it includes the correct information, then click Save as Segment.
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This is an image of a filtered subscriber list in Mailchimp after creating a segment based on Cobot membership plans. At the top of the screen, there is a message in a green box that says 7 subscribers match your conditions. In the table below, the Plan column shows that all the matching subscribers are on the Part-time plan. The table also displays columns for email address, first name, last name, member rating, last changed, and date added. On the right side of the screen, there is a red box around the Save as segment button, indicating the option to save this group of subscribers as a reusable segment.

4. Name the segment and make sure to keep the auto-update box selected.

This is an image of the Save Segment window in Mailchimp. At the top, there is a field labeled “What would you like to name your segment?” and it has been filled in with the name Part-time. The section below explains that the segment is being saved with the condition that the plan is Part-time. Near the bottom, there is a checkbox labeled Auto-update, which is turned on. This means the segment will automatically update whenever new subscribers match the condition. At the bottom of the window, there are two options: a gray Save button on the left and a blue Cancel link on the right.

Done! Now when you create your MailChimp email campaign, you can set it to send to your specific segment.

Creating A Date-Based Targeted Marketing List

To create a date-based list, the steps are the same as above, except that in step 2, you will select the sorting mechanism of date before / date after. This will allow you to differentiate between long-time members and members who recently signed up (for auto-welcome emails, for example).

This is an image of the segment creation screen in Mailchimp. At the top, it says Create a new segment. The settings shown define a condition for filtering subscribers. The first dropdown menu is set to Date Added, meaning the filter will use the date each subscriber was added to the list. The next dropdown is set to is before, and the final field specifies a date of December 31, 2015. Together, this condition creates a segment of all subscribers who joined before that date. At the bottom, there are options to add more conditions, preview the segment, or cancel.

💡 Pro Tip: Improve Your Email Replies

Members often reply to info at cobot dot me thinking they're writing to you, when actually we get it. For this, we highly recommend checking out our guide to improve your delivery success.


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Connecting Cobot to Mailchimp
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Embedding Membership Plans on Your Website
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