Automating Marketing and Communications with MailChimp

Prerna Sampat

Website and Communications Manager at The Worker Institute and ILR Outreach

 

@prernasays

ps828@cornell.edu

Aaron Froehlich

Technical Lead for the web team here at the ILR School

 

 

@aaronfroehlich

a-fro on Drupal.org and github

Drupal blog at a-fro.com

Business Opportunity

  • Using MailChimp and Drupal enables us to
    • Leverage quality content to generate leads and
    • Distribute content produced by faculty
    • Promote ILR courses, resources and products to professionals
    • Deepen engagement with key audiences

Faculty Needs

  • A platform to distribute original content

 

  • Use digital marketing to promote projects and resources

 

  • Enroll professionals in trainings and workshops

Professional Needs

  • Easily accessible resources that can help them succeed

 

  • Expertise and insights relating to their field of work

 

  • Specialized training that can help them become more effective at work

 

The opportunity lies in fulfilling the the needs of both the faculty and our target audience, deepening their connection, increasing their engagement and converting them into customers

The Opportunity

RSS-Driven Campaigns in MailChimp

User Journey

How website visitors convert into subscribers and referrers

RSS FEEDS

EMAIL DIGESTS

Drupal Demo

MailChimp Module

MailChimp PHP API

< code >

< code >

MailChimp Demo

RSS-Driven Campaigns in MailChimp

Step 1: Setting URL and Timing

RSS-Driven Campaigns in MailChimp

Step 2: Setting Up Recipient Targeting

  • In this case, the subscriber signup form sets a custom field called "MAI Subscriber" to "Yes"

  • A simpler option might be to add the subscriber to a "Saved or pre-built segment" using the API

  • Another option is to add your user to a group using the MailChimp Automations

RSS-Driven Campaigns in MailChimp

Step 3: Setting the Subject Line

RSS-Driven Campaigns in MailChimp

Step 4: Setting Up the Content

RSS-Driven Campaigns in MailChimp

Step 4: Setting Up the Content

*|FEEDBLOCK:http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/rss/rss.xml?category=mobilizing+against+inequality&types[]=post&types[]=news_item&site=mobilizing-against-inequality |*


*|FEEDITEMS:[$count=4, $constrain_rss_img=Y,$content=full ]|*


*|FEEDITEM:CONTENT_FULL|*


*|END:FEEDITEMS|*

RSS-Driven Campaigns in MailChimp

Step 5: Testing and Launching

Utilizing Mailchimp Automations for Content Marketing

User Journey

How a visitor becomes a qualified lead and eventually a student or customer

Landing Page

Auto Upsell Email

MailChimp Demo

MailChimp Module

GitHub Pull Request

MailChimp API Docs

MailChimp Automations

 

  • API based automations are the most flexible and what we are using in this example for lead generation

 

  • There are several different types of automations available which are easier to set up but less flexible

 

 

Drupal Demo

Conclusion

The best is yet to come

Imagine the Possibilities

  • Welcome emails
  • User onboarding 
  • Event instructions and reminders
  • Admissions workflows
  • Course materials
  • Related product specials
  • Automated newsletters
  • Membership renewal
  • Gamified solutions
  • Birthday wishes

Multiple Accounts!

Questions?

Automating Marketing and Communication with MailChimp

By a-fro

Automating Marketing and Communication with MailChimp

  • 2,239