Integrating MailChimp into RealtimeCRM

You can add and remove Contacts to your lists in MailChimp direct from RealtimeCRM, saving you time and making it easier to get value from your connections. All you need is for your Contact record in RealtimeCRM to have a valid email address, and an existing MailChimp account.

Connect RealtimeCRM to MailChimp

To connect RealtimeCRM to MailChimp you need to have your MailChimp API key to hand. If you have never used your MailChimp API key you will have to create one. The process only takes a few clicks and you can find out how MailChimp API works here.

Within RealtimeCRM, follow these steps to begin the integration process.

• Click on your Username in the top right hand corner then from the drop-down menu select ‘Settings’
• Then click on the ‘Third party integration’ panel and under the MailChimp heading click the link ‘Click here’
• This will then open a new tab in your browser taking you to MailChimp directly to the page where you can either find or create your API key, you may be prompted to first log into MailChimp if you have not already done so
• If you don’t have an API key in MailChimp then you will have to generate one by clicking Create A Key this will then generate an API key you can use to link MailChimp to RealtimeCRM
• Once you have found or generated your API key you must copy and paste it into the box back in RealtimeCRM and then click the Save button
• In our example above we have generated the API key shown below in MailChimp, so we will copy and paste it into the API key box back in RealtimeCRM.

RealtimeCRM will now be connected to MailChimp and you will see all of your MailChimp lists appear below the API key box in RealtimeCRM

Note: If you want to change your API key to a different API key, you must first clear the API key box by deleting the original API key and then click the button. Once you have done that then enter your new API key and again click the Save button to link your RealtimeCRM to this new API key.

Displaying your MailChimp lists in your RealtimeCRM Contact records

Once you’ve connected RealtimeCRM to MailChimp you will see that next to each MailChimp list that appears under the API key box you will see the symbol Not displaying. This means that the MailChimp list will not appear in any of your Contact records and therefore you will not be able to add that Contact to that MailChimp list. To change that so that it does display the MailChimp list in every Contact record simply click on the Not displaying button so that it becomes Displaying. You will now see that list next to each Contact record.

In this example we will begin in the Contact record ‘Francis Bacon’. You will notice that no MailChimp lists appear in the record. We will change that via the following steps:

• We begin on the Contact record ‘Francis Bacon’
• Click on your Username in the top right hand corner then from the drop-down menu select ‘Settings’
• Then click on the ‘Third party integration’ panel and under the MailChimp heading you will see your MailChimp lists
• Click on the list that you wish to appear in all Contact records enabling you to add Contacts to said list, you’ll know that it’ll be displayed in all Contact records as the Not displaying symbol will change to Displaying
• Now go back to any Contact record – or as in this example the Contact record ‘Francis Bacon’ – and you will see that now that MailChimp list appears in the Contact record ready for you to add the Contact to the MailChimp list if they have not already been added to it.
• If you want to stop displaying a MailChimp list then simply follow the above steps and then click on the MailChimp list you no longer wish to see displayed and you’ll know that it is no longer displaying as the symbol will change to Not displaying

Note: The MailChimp list(s) will only appear for RealtimeCRM Contact records which have an E-mail address.

Subscribing and unsubscribing a Contact to a MailChimp list 

Once you are displaying the MailChimp lists you want, it’s time to add Contacts direct from RealtimeCRM onto those lists. The Contact may be in one of three possible states for each of the lists that are visible:

1. ‘not in list’ This means this Contact has never before been added to the MailChimp list
2. subscribed  This means the Contact is currently subscribed to this MailChimp list and receiving emails from any mailing campaigns you have associated with this list
3. unsubscribed This means the Contact is currently unsubscribed from this MailChimp list and not receiving any mailing campaigns you have associated with this list

The process of subscribing and unsubscribing Contacts to MailChimp is similar to the process required to display MailChimp lists as above. Simply click on the list to toggle between subscribing and unsubscribing the Contact to the relevant MailChimp list.

In our example we will subscribe the Contact ‘Moanna Fygord’ to the MailChimp list ‘Training List’ for the first time, you will notice when we first enter the Contact record Moanna Fygord that her status on the MailChimp list ‘Training List’ is ‘not in list’.

Once we’ve subscribed him we will unsubscribe him as well, the procedure will be described below:

• Click on the Contacts panel in the left hand sidebar
• Select the Contact record you wish to add to your desired MailChimp list
• Once inside the relevant Contact record simply click the list you wish to add this Contact to under the MailChimp heading
• You should see the MailChimp list status change to subscribed, the Contact is now subscribed to this MailChimp list
• To unsubscribe the Contact from a MailChimp list simply click the relevant list until its status changes to unsubscribed, the Contact is now unsubscribed to this MailChimp list