Mailchimp and Shopify no longer integrating – what you need to do about it (episode 212)

22nd April by Chloë Thomas

On May 12th the Mailchimp integration with Shopify will stop working – what does that mean for you? Do you need to leave Mailchimp? Are there other ways to link them? How should you go about deciding which email marketing platform to move to? Host Chloe Thomas will take you through the answers to all these questions PLUS give you some tips on how to take your automated marketing and email marketing up a level at the same time.

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With Mailchimp and Shopify going their separate ways, the eCommerce world is spinning. In the wake of the historic split, Chloe has taken some time to give advice to eCommerce MasterPlan listeners about what to do if they are Shopify and Mailchimp users.

For those not affected by the Shopify/Mailchimp debacle, this conversation still has a lot of relevant information. If you’re considering switching email platforms, looking for automation startup tips or wondering what the best email marketing platform for your business is, this conversation has you covered.

What’s Happening

Mailchimp and Shopify have had a major falling out. You might be wondering whose side do you take? Chloe’s advice is to stay out of it! If you want to know the background of the falling out and all the juicy details, Kurt Elston did a great summary on his Unofficial Shopify Podcast, which you can listen to here. Or, you can get your news straight from the source with the Mailchimp official statement, which you can read here.

When is the Breakup Happening?

Starting May 12th, or possibly before, the Mailchimp integration app will stop working on Shopify. This means that all data flows that go through the integration app will stop flowing.

What are your Options?

If you’re using the Mailchimp integration app in your Shopify store you are going to have to make some decisions about what to do. You could leave Shopify altogether or you could do nothing—but neither of those options is likely to do you any good. Which leaves you with a couple of ways to go:

Find a different email marketing platform.

The silver lining to this uncoupling is that migrating to a new email marketing platform is a great opportunity to revamp your email marketing strategy. Taking the time to step back, evaluate and decide the best platform for your business is a great opportunity. Read more below about great potential platforms for your business.

Install a different integration app.

If you aren’t ready to take the leap, or you want a stop gap solution to keep things running smoothly until you are ready to switch providers, there are other ways to make Shopify and MailChimp work together. If you are going to continue using both you will need to find a new app to integrate all your data. Shopsync is the free app that MailChimp is recommending, but there are other options.

Zapier – Shopify is considered a premium app so the cost for Zapier is $20 a month.
Shopsync – Free and recommended by MailChimp. You can download it here.
Automate.io – Shopify is considered a premium app so the cost for Automate.io is $25 a month.

This breakup doesn’t mean you have to stop using Shopify or Mailchimp! The worst thing you could do is nothing—which will have your data stagnating and backing up in both Shopify and Mailchimp.

What should you do?

The best place to start is by asking yourself: What are you currently syncing?

If you just use the link inside Mailchimp to send the same message to your entire list every week, then you aren’t syncing a lot of information between the two providers. If this is the case, using one of the alternative plugins will be fairly straight forward.

If you are a business with full on integration going including things like recommendations, product selections, automated emails and various triggers then your migration will take quite a bit more effort.

Luckily, it’s not a difficult process, but it is a time consuming one.

Is now a good time to switch email providers?

The answer to this question depends on your business. If you sell swimwear, the answer is probably no, given the upcoming swim season. If you’re someone who sells Christmas items, the timing might be perfect. It’s important to recognize that this is a time consuming process if you haven’t been keeping up with your optimisation. If you’ve been doing only batch and blast, this might be just the kick in the pants you’ve needed to improve your marketing.

Is this an opportunity to improve your marketing?

Switching providers is a great opportunity to improve your marketing! Two of the best things you can do are integrating with more channels and improving automation.

Integrate with more channels: If your customers are interacting with you on more than one channel they are typically more valuable to you.

Improve automation: By making automation part of your email marketing plan, you can ensure that your messaging is getting in front of the right people at the right times. If you aren’t yet automating, it’s crucial that you start.

In order to help eCommerce Master Plan listeners with this conundrum Chloe is holding a live Q&A on April 29th for members of the Get More Customers Club. In the Get More Customers Club, there are a lot of resources to help you make email marketing more beneficial for you including:

How to use Zapier to do the same thing the Mailchimp integration
In depth explanation of how to select your email marketing software provider
Multiple training videos on improving your email marketing, and other channels you might want to integrate in the future.

If you want to become a member of the Get More Customers Club, it’s typically £49+vat per month (about $65 for those in the USA), BUT if you sign up before May 12^th (mailchimp shopify integration d-day) you can get your first month for JUST £10!!!

To get the offer click: “Get More Customers Club for a Tenner”

How to pick a new email marketing system

There are several great email marketing systems out there and you’ll need to find the right match for your business. If you’re ready to optimize email marketing for your business, ask yourself these questions:

What do you need?

Look at what you are currently using in your email marketing platform. Are you using automation? Triggers? See what you have, what’s working to ensure you don’t take a step back when you sign up with a new platform.

What do you want to use in the future?

Consider what channels you’d like to be on to increase your sales. What automations might help you? How can you optimize your email marketing strategy to maximize your sales?

What integrations do you need?

Obviously Shopify if you’re a Shopify client, but it’s important to look at any other integrations you might need.

What channels do you want to control from the one place?

As we’ve learned, being present on multiple channels has the best possibility for success. Showing up for your customer in multiple places will make them much more likely to engage with and buy from you.

Create your shortlist

Once you’ve done this research, you’ll probably have a short list of email marketing platforms to try. Take advantage of the demo and free trials and make sure you and your entire team are comfortable with the new platform.

Plan your shift

Once you’ve made a decision, you’ll need to start making a plan and implementing your move. Make sure to clean up as you go and make room in your marketing schedule. You’ll need to plan for the following elements:

Data migration with a clean as you go strategy
What tool or tools you will use for integration
Where the move will fit well in your marketing plan

Chloe’s Email Marketing Platform Recommendations

Dotdigital: If you’re an enterprise business, check out the Dotdigital platform (formerly Dotmailer).
Omnisend – Omni channel focused. If you want to get other channels into the mix, Omnisend is a great choice. To learn more, listen to Chloe’s conversation with Omnisend CEO Rytis here.

Omnisend is currently running an offer for Shopify merchants migrating from MailChimp – 50% off your first three months and then 20% off for nine months. You can access the offer here: https://www.omnisend.com/blog/mailchimp-shopify/

Klaviyo – Often mentioned on the podcast, Klaviyo is focused on email marketing, has a great integration with Shopify and has a robust automation structure for you to easily fill in the blanks.

Chloe’s Automation Top Tips

Ad-audience integrations:

This refers to when you integrate the database of your email marketing system with your facebook or google ad audiences. It means you broadcast the same messages on your ad platforms that you are giving people in their emails. Automatic segmentation updates across your primary platforms is so important.

Use multiple channels:

If you’ve got customers hearing from you on 3+ channels, they are worth 90% more to you than a person who hears from you on one channel. Keep consistency on your channels to avoid confusion.

SMS:

SMS is an underutilized channel. Think about it as weighted more towards service and assistance than traditional marketing. SMS is a place to deliver helpful messages.

Abandoned basket:

If you don’t have an abandoned basket email, you need to get one! People tend to not have one only because they don’t have systems integrated and working together. If you don’t have this integration setup you are missing out. All the email marketing platforms mentioned above integrate this function seamlessly…so no excuses!

Existing customer abandoned browse:

Abandoned browse is when someone whose data you already have, comes onto your website, browses and leaves. With email marketing platforms you can set up abandoned browse emails that are highly personalized and highly segmented. If you haven’t yet, consider setting this up with people who have purchased from you.

Welcome Campaign:

Customer retention starts from the very first interaction you have with your customers. A good welcome campaign has a great impact about who you are right away. The customers who have the best emotional connection with your business are most likely to buy more from you.