Push Customer data to Mailchimp

This article covers pushing Customer data from Distil into Mailchimp.

Before pushing data to Mailchimp, make sure you have read and understood the Key Distil Concepts and Other Considerations sections within our introduction article. You will also need to have created a connection to Mailchimp as described in our article Create a Connection to Mailchimp.

How It Works

First create a connection to Mailchimp. Then select a Distil Segment to sync with Mailchimp.

Distil automatically keeps Segments up to date by applying the rules defined for the Segment to select Customers. So if new data comes in that changes the Customers in a Segment (for example a Customer makes a purchase), Distil will automatically update your Segments.

Next create a new Destination, and select the Attributes from Distil that you want to push to Mailchimp. Distil pushes data automatically every six hours, so any updates to the Segment you have selected for a Destination will be applied in Mailchimp within six hours.

Create a Customer Segment to Send to Mailchimp

Before you can push Customer data into Mailchimp, first you need to create or select a Customer Segment that contains the Customers you want to push. You can create a Segment using any of the standard or custom Attributes available in Distil.

Distil automatically keeps Segments up to date, meaning that any new customers added to a Distil Segment will get automatically added to the Mailchimp Audience, equally, customers removed from a Distil Segment will get automatically removed from a Mailchimp Audience.

If you want to use a Segment in a Destination, make sure that the Segment is Shared. This is because Destinations are visible to all users of your Distil Account, and therefore any Segments used in a Destination must also be shared. To validate this, navigate to Customer Data Studio > Segments, select the Segment from the left menu panel, and then click Edit Segment on the top right. For a Segment to be shared, the check-box under the heading Private Segment must be clear (not checked). 

Also, if a Segment is used in a Destination that is set to Auto-sync, that Segment will be locked and cannot be edited (Auto-Sync is explained in this article below). This is because if the Segment rules change, this may trigger multiple updates to Mailchimp, which in turn could cause issues with your campaigns. If you need to edit the Segment, first turn Auto-Sync off, then edit the Segment and verify that you are happy with the changes, and then turn Auto-Sync back on. 

Set up a Mailchimp Destination

Once you have created a Segment to sync, create a new Destination by selecting Destinations from the left menu bar, and then click to Create Multi-Channel Audience.

Select Segment

On the next screen enter a meaningful Title and a brief Description for the new Destination. Select a Segment to use in the new Destination, by selecting an available Segment from the list at the bottom of the page.

Click the filter icon to sort the list of Segments by date created or Segment name. You can also search for a specific Segment by entering search terms in the search bar.

You can only select Segments that are Shared. You can easily identify Shared Segments as they have an icon with two people. This is explained in the section above on Creating a Segment.

When you've selected a Segment, click the Next button on the top right.

Select a Connection and Attributes

On the next page you will see a list of available connections. In the example below there are two connections: Shopify and Klaviyo.

If you haven't already set up a connection, then follow the instructions in our article on setting up a connection to Mailchimp.

Click to select a connection, and then click Choose Attributes to sync... These are the Attributes that will be sent to Mailchimp.

Select one or more Attributes from the pop-up. You can bulk select all Attributes in a category, or search for a specific Attribute by entering search terms in the search bar.

Once you have pushed non-Mailchimp Attributes from a Distil Segment into a Mailchimp Audience, then those same Attributes will be pulled back into Distil as Merge Fields. This is explained in more detail in the previous article. If you are merging Mailchimp Audiences, then you may want to select all of the Attributes under the Mailchimp category.

We highly recommend that you sync the Distil Customer Tracking ID, as explained in the Key Distil Concepts section of our introductory article. This is explored further in our article on how to Create a Mailchimp Template using Merge Fields.

When you have made your selections click Save Changes to close the pop-up. Check you selections on the next page, and click Next.

Finalise and Activate

Nearly finished!

You can click Previous on the top right to check the selections made in previous steps.

Once you are happy with your selections, click Create Campaign to finalise and activate the Destination.

Distil will immediately sync the selected Attributes to the Destination. Distil will repeat this sync every six hours.

Manage an Existing Destination

To view your existing Destinations, click Destinations in the left menu panel. Your existing Destinations are listed underneath Create Multi-Channel Audience. Click on an existing Destination to manage it.

After choosing a Destination to edit, you can edit the Destination's source Segment and Attributes by selecting either of the Click to Edit buttons on the right of the page.

At the top of the page you have four options, including Sync Now (run the sync now) and Delete (delete this Destination).

You can also turn this Destination on and off by toggling Enable/Disable Campaign. Use this when you want to pause the Destination without deleting it. Setting this to Disable Campaign will keep the Segment and Attributes configured for this Destination.

By default, Distil will set a newly created Destination to Auto-Sync: this means that Distil will automatically sync with Mailchimp every six hours. When this option is set to Auto-Sync, you will not be able to edit the linked Segment - this is explained in more detail in the section above Select a Customer Segment.

Next Step

Create a Mailchimp Template using Merge Fields