Getting Started

From an empty account to a sent campaign, in four steps.

1. Create a list

Lists → New list. A list is where your contacts live. Most people need one ("Newsletter") and add more only when the audiences genuinely differ. Everything is scoped to your organization — another organization never sees your lists.

2. Add contacts

Three ways, depending on where they come from:
SourceHow
A few, by handOpen the list, Add contact — email required, first name optional
An existing audienceImport — upload a Mailchimp CSV export
A funnel or lead magnetThe API, with a key created under API keys
The import keeps tags and unsubscribe status, ignores malformed rows, and reports what it did. Run it twice with the same file and nothing is duplicated.
An unsubscribed contact never silently comes back. Re-importing or re-adding someone who unsubscribed keeps them unsubscribed. That is deliberate.
Tags let you segment inside a list — client, beta, whatever you need. You will use them to target a campaign at part of a list.

3. Write a template

Templates → New template. A template is an HTML file: the design lives in it, so two templates can look nothing alike.
  • Paste HTML from anywhere — including an existing Mailchimp template
  • The code is on the left, the live rendering on the right
  • Personalize with merge tags: {{firstName}}, {{lastName}}, {{email}}, {{currentYear}}
Your template must contain {{unsubscribeUrl}}. Without it the campaign is refused at send time — nothing is added to your HTML on your behalf. Start from the seeded template if you want a working base.
Pasting a Mailchimp template converts its *|TAGS|* on save, and tells you about any it could not convert. See Merge Tags Cheat Sheet.

4. Send a campaign

Campaigns → New campaign.
  1. Name it and write the subject — it accepts merge tags too
  2. Pick the template
  3. Pick the target: a list, optionally narrowed to one tag
  4. Check the recipient count — only subscribed contacts are counted
  5. Send, or schedule it for later
Unsubscribed and suppressed contacts are excluded at the moment of sending, not when you drafted it.
A sent campaign cannot be sent again. Duplicate it if you want to send a variation.

Then what

  • Campaign stats — opens, unique clicks, clicks per link, bounces
  • Suppressions — addresses that bounced or complained, excluded from every future send
  • Sequences — a series of emails sent automatically after a trigger, like a tag being added
Before a first real send, try a campaign on a small segment. Deliverability depends on your sending reputation, and a large first send to a cold list is the fastest way to damage it.