How To Set Up Your Mailchimp For Salesforce Integration (With Features)

Before You Get Started

Did you set up your SyncApps account? If not, start here:

Setting up your SyncApps Account

Want the bird's eye view first? Check out some critical differentiations between MC4SF and SyncApps!

How Salesforce Works with Your Marketing Automation

Are you testing how the Mailchimp Campaign Marketing Metrics sync back to Salesforce with SyncApps? See the guide here:

Mailchimp with Salesforce Guide for Group(s) or Tag(s) Segmentation and testing Marketing Metrics Flow

Before setting up the integration, here are some important integration points:

Salesforce Classic and Lighting Edition are both supported.
SyncApps supports all built-on Salesforce AppExchange Apps.
Make sure that your Salesforce account is API-enabled.
Create a test List View(s), Campaign(s), or records for testing purposes.
Create a test Audience in Mailchimp (this test Audience will be specified in Step 2 of the Set Up where you want your Salesforce records to be synced)
Scheduling of a Set-Up is available on Free Trial and plans. (Step 5)

Let’s Get Started!

How to Set Up Your Mailchimp for Salesforce Integration

If you are setting up the integration, you will enjoy 4 full weeks to test out all your use cases and use all our features and integration capabilities.

Sync 1 - 1,000,000+ records such as Contacts, Leads, and Accounts between Salesforce and Mailchimp
Sync 1 - 1,000,000+ Opt-Outs to and from Mailchimp, which is automatically managed by SyncApps between Salesforce records
1 or 1,000,000+ Salesforce Campaigns/List Views/Segments sync for Mailchimp Audience segmentation
Sync 1 - 1,000,000+ Campaign Metrics such as Opens, Clicks, Bounces, and links Clicked from Mailchimp back to Salesforce
Sync on Demand is included for easy testing of your integration scenarios
Scheduling of a Set-Up is available on Free Trial, and plans

General Pre-Integration Steps

You can just log into your SyncApps account. This will land you in the SyncApps Dashboard. Head to Set-Ups, and once you’ve selected the Set-Ups tab, tap the “Create Set Up” button.

Enter a name for your new Set Up as your identifier. Then for the Sync Type, select Mailchimp for Salesforce.

Step 1: Salesforce Configuration

Here's how to configure your Salesforce account and get it ready for integration with Mailchimp via SyncApps:

Select the Connect to Salesforce button using oAuth and enter the credentials.
A Salesforce Sandbox is a test account type that can be used in SyncApps. When syncing, it will not affect your live or production records. You can use this option if you are testing records or requirements and want your production records to remain unaltered.
Select the Object Type to use.
You can only use 1 Object Type per Set Up. For example, if you select Contact as the Object Type, only these records will be synced to/from Constant Contact.

If done in Step 1 of the Set Up, hit next to save the configurations.

Step 2: Mailchimp Configuration

Connect your Mailchimp account in this step by tapping the “Connect” button. You will then be directed to the oAuth page to log in to Mailchimp. Enter your Mailchimp credentials here.
Generate a new API Key, copy, and paste it into Step 2 of the Set Up into the API key box.
To obtain a Mailchimp API key, you can just log into Mailchimp and press the Top Menu: Account > Extras > Your API Keys. Create a new API Key or copy an existing API Key into SyncApps.
Enter the name of your Main Audience Now. A Mailchimp Audience can be selected from the dropdown of available Mailchimp Audiences.

What is the Main Audience, and why must we define it in Step 2?

You must define the Main Audience because Mailchimp needs it to create, update, and remove records using its API.

If you want to sync to a different Audience in Mailchimp, you'll need to create another Set Up for that use case.

Full Sync

(2022 onward plans, all Add-Ons are included in Steps 1 & 2)

The Full Sync applies to CRM and eCommerce platforms and can be used in our trials and plans. The CRM must have List integration to be able to use Full Sync.

Please read more about how the Full Sync Feature can automate your contact management today in our article here.

The Full Sync can be scheduled to Manual, Daily, or Weekly.

It allows you to keep your systems trued up with ease.

Step 3: Field Mapping

Field Mapping is optional. Basic fields such as Email address, First Name, Last Name, and Email Opt Out are already pre-mapped even if you haven’t enabled this Step. Otherwise, if you have more additional fields to map, you must set these fields up in Step 3.

Generic Field Mapping Guide

If you map any Salesforce physical address fields to Mailchimp, please review the article below:

Update mailing address fields to and from Mailchimp

Step 4: Filtering and Segmentation

This is one of our most powerful features, which is why most of our subscribers use it intensely. Let's say you have thousands of records in NetSuite, and you only want to pull out the records with specific criteria. With SyncApps, only these records will be synced to your Mailchimp Main Audience.

Find more information on how it works.

Filtering and Segmentation Guide

Step 5: Scheduling

Finally, the very last step. You can select the time when you would like to sync your data automatically.

Sync Scheduling Guide

Tap the "Finish" button and then Sync Now. If you have any questions or encounter any snags, please feel free to contact our 24/7 Support Team.

Tap the "Finish" button and then Sync Now.

More Options for Your Mailchimp for Salesforce Integration

Want to Use a Campaign or List View to Sync Campaign and List Members to Mailchimp? Select This Feature

Why do you need this feature? This will help you segment your Salesforce Campaign(s) or List View(s) into Mailchimp and may help if you target specific Mailchimp Audiences.
A Group or Tag will be created in Mailchimp for each Salesforce Campaign or List View.

Note -- Only those in the List View or Campaign will be synced if checked. If this option is not checked, all Contacts or Leads will be synced directly to the specified Main Audience in Step 2 of the integration setup.

Are you using Person Accounts? SyncApps will know that your Salesforce instance uses Person Accounts, so please select this Object Type in Step 1 to sync.
Not using Salesforce Campaign(s), or List Views, but would you need to segment your Salesforce records in Mailchimp? Use our Filtering and Segmentation Feature in Step 4 of the Set Up

Use Salesforce Checkbox Field(s) for Mailchimp Group Segmentation

You can create each of your Groups (checkboxes on your Mailchimp form) as checkboxes on the Lead or Contact record in Salesforce, then set up your Set-Up to match them in Step 1.
Each Checkbox field must be named verbatim and spelled correctly to match existing Groups in Mailchimp.

Want to upgrade? It takes less than a minute! Check out our pricing options here.

Note -- If this option is selected, please disable the Mailchimp Tag Segmentation Option in Step 2, as this feature only works bidirectionally on Groups.

For more details, please take a look at the CRM Checkbox Fields Guide for Mailchimp Groups.

Want to Track Marketing Metrics Such as Opens, Clicks, and Bounces Back to Salesforce from Your Mailchimp Campaign(s)? Select this feature

What exactly is Sync Campaign Response?

Sync Campaign Responses means we will bring back unlimited marketing metrics to your CRM from your Marketing Automation solution. You can even sync only records with opens or clicks activity to allow lead nurturing in CRM and what they clicked on in your drip marketing campaigns. Email Marketing Campaigns are synced back to CRM every time a sync runs or every 24 hours based on your sync schedule settings.
Need to enable the feature of Campaign Response for Person Accounts? Check out this article: Set up Campaign Responses for Salesforce Accounts Used as Person Accounts

Tap "More Options" for more options. Hover over the SyncNotes tooltips to learn more about the features.

More Options in Your Mailchimp for Salesforce Integration

Salesforce to Mailchimp Data Flows

Don't Want to Sync Contacts, Leads, or Accounts to Your Mailchimp Audience? Select This Feature

You can enable one-way sync to sync only the new or existing records from Mailchimp. No records will be synced from Salesforce.

Want to Create a New Record If an Email Address Is Updated in Salesforce Instead of just Updating the Email Record in Mailchimp? Select This Feature

By default, SyncApps updates Mailchimp when you edit any Salesforce record’s email and does not create a new record in Mailchimp, thus preserving all the email marketing history on the Mailchimp side.

However, this feature can change all that.

If the use case below happens frequently on your team, you could benefit from this feature, which always creates a new record in Mailchimp instead of editing the existing email record.

Example:

A Salesforce record is entered and then synced to Mailchimp.
On the next email, it hard bounces, and Mailchimp writes back to your custom “hard bounce” field in Salesforce as TRUE.
A Salesforce user sees this and notices it likely bounced because of a typo in the email address. The user fixes it in Salesforce.
The Sync seems to correct the email address in Mailchimp, but no new record is created; it simply uses the same record. And because this record is CLEANED (hard bounced in Mailchimp), the corrected email address can never be mailed.
Now we have a cleaned record displaying a perfectly valid email address.

Feature Reminder: If an email address is updated in Salesforce, create a new record instead of just updating the email record in Mailchimp.

Want to Unsubscribe Contacts, Leads, or Accounts from Your Mailchimp Main Audience If a Record Unsubscribes/Opts Out in Salesforce? Select This Feature

If this option is enabled, SyncApps will Unsubscribe Contacts or Leads from Mailchimp's Main Audience that are flagged as Opted-Out in Salesforce.
If the Contact or Lead Email Opt Out (HasOptedOutOfEmail) checkbox is checked in Salesforce, the email address will be Unsubscribed from your Mailchimp Audience.
If this option is not checked, Opted-Out Contacts, Leads, or Accounts in Salesforce are ignored (Opt-Out is not synced to Mailchimp). So, the record in Salesforce is already Unsubscribed/Opte-Out, but in Mailchimp, it’s still Subscribed/Opted-In, yet it will not be updated every time the sync runs.

Opted-Out from Salesforce to Mailchimp default behavior

Any records that are Opted-Out in Salesforce will not sync to Mailchimp. If the record already exists in Mailchimp, we will not update it if it is Opted-Out in Salesforce.

Unsubscribed from Mailchimp to Salesforce default behavior

If a record in Mailchimp is marked as Unsubscribed, we will update the corresponding record in Salesforce by flagging it as Opted-Out, provided that the record already exists in Salesforce. However, if the record does not exist in Salesforce prior to being marked as unsubscribed in Mailchimp, we will not sync it back to Salesforce.

Need to Remove the Contact, Lead, or Account Record(s) from Your Mailchimp Main Audience If the Record(s) Is Deleted in Salesforce? Select This Feature

If a Contact, Lead, or Account is deleted in Salesforce, SyncApps will remove the email address from your Mailchimp Main Group.
Need to remove the record on a matching Audience when using Salesforce Campaign(s), List Views? Use our Full Sync now!

Delete Records with a Blank Email Address in Mailchimp

If this option is checked, when a Lead or Contact that has been previously synced is updated with a blank email address, the Contact will be removed from Mailchimp.

Need to Store Other Email Address Fields in Mailchimp? Select This Feature

SyncApps will still use the standard email address field for record creation and updates by default. If you still want to sync the other email address fields like work email, personal email, and other email address fields outside the standard email address field, please enable this feature and then map the email address fields in Step 3 of the Set Up.

Note—The mapped email address fields in Step 4 of the Set Up will still be treated as text fields and will not be used as targeted Marketing Automation Campaign recipients.

Are You Using the Namespace Prefix in Your Salesforce Account?

Please input your 1 to 15-character namespace prefix.

Please do not include the trailing 2 underscores.

Check Personal, Work, and Alternate Email for New Records Creation from Mailchimp

When new records are created from your specified Main Audience, we'll check the native Email Address or Preferred email field in Salesforce first if the email address already exists. After that, we check the non-preferred if that email address already exists; if so, we will not match or connect the record.
If you use Salesforce NPSP, please enable this feature, especially for record creation, to prevent duplicates.
Any opt-outs from Mailchimp will flow only back to the Preferred email address in Salesforce.

Create Organization Affiliation Only for New Records Creation from Mailchimp

When enabled, SyncApps will create an Organization Affiliation based on the Company name from Mailchimp.
This will create a Household Account with the Company from Mailchimp as an affiliation only. This is only applicable to Salesforce NPSP.

Mailchimp to Salesforce Data Flows

Which Type of Record Would You Like to Create in Salesforce for New Records?

Please select which Salesforce Object Type to create when a new subscriber is in Mailchimp.
If no Object Type is selected, then SyncApps will use the above Object Type (Object Type to Sync).

Just so you know, by default, SyncApps will always search for the email record in Salesforce, both in Leads and Contacts, and then only create a Lead or Contact if no email exists in Salesforce for both Leads or Contacts. Also, the email template from Mailchimp is attached to the Salesforce Campaign that SyncApps creates, not attached per Contact.

SyncApps will default the "Company" to "Individual" when creating new leads in Salesforce. Since SyncApps does not set the Company name from Mailchimp unless this field is mapped in Step 4, it uses the Salesforce default ("Individual").

Create a New Contact or Lead in Salesforce Even If a Matching Email Record Exists for Either

Enabling this will allow SyncApps to search for duplicates on the same object type only as of the "New Subscriber Object Type" and create a record.
Example: If a record already exists as a Contact and you select Lead as the new subscriber object type, SyncApps will ignore the duplicate and will create a new Lead.

Note -- SyncApps uses the email address to check for duplicates. This means that no 2 records with the same email address and the same object type will be created by SyncApps.

Do Not Create a New Account If The Contact's Company Name Cannot Be Found in Salesforce

By default, SyncApps will create a new Account if the company name does not exist in Salesforce.

Use "Unknown" as the Last Name If Blank, Use "Unknown" as the First Name If Blank

If syncing new Contacts / Leads from Mailchimp and the First name is blank, Salesforce will automatically reject the record to be created if you require the First Name field to be a required field.
By default, the last name is a required field in Salesforce. So, if this field is blank, the record will not be synced and will throw an error. Enable either option that matches your Salesforce record creation rules to avoid this.

If done in Step 1 of the Set-Up, hit next to save the configurations.

Campaign Response Sync Selection (aka Marketing Metrics)

Each Mailchimp Campaign syncs back to a Salesforce Campaign, Activity, Note, or even just metrics for each record sent to the Campaign from Mailchimp.
By default, SyncApps will only retrieve Campaign Responses 30 days after the Campaign is sent. If you need to retrieve Campaign Responses beyond this 30-day limit, upgrade to our Enterprise Plan for this feature.
A/B Subject Line and Automations (Journeys) are not supported in the Mailchimp API yet; however, when they are supported, SyncApps will support the API as well.

Tap "More Options" for more options. Hover over the SyncNotes tooltips to learn more about the features.

Need to use Multiple Group Categories on a Mailchimp Audience? Select This Feature

A List View or Campaign must be selected in Step 1 under "Sync Campaigns or List Members to Mailchimp Groups" to be used in this setting for this feature.
If you want to change which Group Category a List View or Campaign should map to, please check the checkbox after the Mailchimp Group Category name.
Next, you can enter the Mailchimp Group Category you want to use to sync from the List View or Campaign.

Segmentation Method

Automatically creates Mailchimp Groups or Tags into your Mailchimp Audience from Salesforce List Views or Campaigns.

"Use Groups" Under the Segmentation Method

This field is optional. Each Salesforce Campaign or List View is synced to a Mailchimp Group, and new subscribers from Mailchimp will be synced to each Campaign or List View with the same name as the Mailchimp Group name.
SyncApps will, by default, use the "My Groups" Group Category with a Hidden type (not displayed in the Mailchimp form). You can override the category of the Group by putting it in a different Group Category.
To display Groups in the Mailchimp signup form, create new Groups with a checkbox type and specify the Group Category in this field.

Note: "My Groups" will automatically be created in your Mailchimp Audience by SyncApps on the first sync if you use Step 1 or Step 5 segmentation features. If renaming the "My Groups" Group Category in Mailchimp, you will need to also specify the new name of the Group under "Group Category to use" in Step 2 of the Set Up setup so that Syncapps will connect to it:

If you rename the "My Groups" Group Category without updating the steps mentioned above, SyncApps will recreate the "My Groups" Group Category and sync to it.

“Use Tags” Under the Segmentation Method

Check out this article for more information about automatically adding and removing Mailchimp Tags in your configuration.

“Use GDPR” Under the Segmentation Method

This allows the possibility to map any checkbox field on your Salesforce records to GDPR fields (by default, each checkbox name will need to match the GDPR field 100%, or it will not sync over to Mailchimp GDPR fields).
List Views and Campaigns will also work to map to the GDPR Fields in Mailchimp.

Want to Remove Records from Your Mailchimp Audience When They No Longer Meet the Segmentation Criteria in Step 1 or Step 5 (Filtering and Segmentation) of the Set Up? Select This Feature

If you use Full Sync, then this feature will delete the record(s) from the Mailchimp Audience each time a Full Sync is run in your integration.

Don't Want to Sync Unsubscribed Status to Salesforce When They Unsubscribe in Mailchimp? Select This Feature

By default, SyncApps will set the Opted-Out status in Salesforce for unsubscribed emails. Please check this checkbox if you do not want Unsubscribed emails to be synced.

Need to Add Back Archived but not Unsubscribed or Deleted Records to Your Mailchimp Audience? Try This Feature

By default, when a Contact or Lead that was synced by SyncApps is Archived in Mailchimp, that record will no longer be updated in Mailchimp on the next sync.
If you want Archived records to be added back to the Audience and Unarchive the records in Mailchimp automatically so that they will be updated on the next sync, please enable this feature.
Please note that SyncApps will not update the Opt-Out field in Salesforce for the unsubscribed and archived records in Mailchimp.
When getting Unsubscribe records from Mailchimp, the Mailchimp API does not return the Archived records, only those that are Unsubscribed but not Archived nor Deleted.

Note—This will only work for SyncApps-synced (cached) records. If they are marked as archive prior to the sync and SyncApps hasn’t initially synced(cached) the records to Mailchimp, they will not be updated.

Also, SyncApps can't Resubscribe "Unsubscribed/Cleaned Archived" records. The API will return an error that the record is in a compliance state due to unsubscribe, bounce, or compliance review and cannot be Subscribed.

Need to Update Salesforce When Subscribers Update their Profiles in Mailchimp? Select This Feature

This will use mapping configuration to update Mailchimp Update Profile Form data. Please ensure you configure the mapping correctly in Step 3 of your Set-Up.
A webhook will be set up in the specified Mailchimp Audience by SyncApps if this option is enabled.
Update Salesforce on any new subscription if the email address already exists in CRM.
If a record Resubscribes on your specified Mailchimp Main Audience, it will then recheck to see the Group membership on the Mailchimp side and update any Checkboxes on the record in Salesforce.

Want to Prevent Syncing Mailchimp Subscribers to Salesforce? Select This Feature

Do you have a mixed Mailchimp Audience with records that exist in both your Salesforce and Mailchimp and some records that do not yet exist in Salesforce?

This feature will not sync any records back to Salesforce from your Main Audience but only match those that exist between your Salesforce and Mailchimp Main Audience for our internal cache for marketing metrics flow back from Mailchimp.
If you select the feature "Need to update Salesforce when subscribers update their Profiles in Mailchimp," then anytime an existing subscriber in both Salesforce and Mailchimp changes some data, it will flow back to Salesforce.
New Mailchimp Subscribers will not sync back to Salesforce, allowing you to manage only those that exist today between your Salesforce and Mailchimp Main Audience.

If you've done this in Step 2 of the Set-Up, hit next so that the configurations will be saved.

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