MailChimp for E-Newsletters

Newsletter Editors Workshop

June 2, 2014

MailChimp for E-Newsletters

Presenters: Ann Cotter

[[email protected]] Jeanne Nugent

[[email protected]] Thank-you for assistance:

Susannah Maxcy - Administrative Asst., Communications and Planning Kim Brathwaite - Communications Associate

Table of Contents

Pages 3

– 4

Email Blasting with MailChimp

Pages 5

– 7

Accessing MailChimp Support

Pages 8

– 16

Setting Up a MailChimp Account

Pages 17

– 23

Creating and Sending a Campaign

Pages 24

– 29

Creating an Email List

Pages 30

– 33

Using a Sign Up Form on the District Website

Email Blasting with MailChimp

MailChimp is an online email blasting program. An email blast, called a Campaign in

MailChimp, sends identical messages (e-newsletters) by email to a defined list of

subscribers.

MailChimp can be used on a computer or mobile device. There is nothing to download.

Setup a MailChimp account

at:

http://mailchimp.com

Uses of MailChimp

● Database, i.e. a list of the email for your members

● Generated Sign Up form to post on your website

● Unsubscribe form at the bottom of each email

● Update Your Preference form in each email

● System for grouping your members for targeted communications

● Newsletter editor with templates or auto design

● Newsletter testing

● Email campaigns

● Statistics on each email sent out

● Autoresponder

Pick and choose the uses that meet your needs! MailChimp apps are available

for iPad and Android, with limited functionalities.

Accessing MailChimp Support

MailChimp Tutorials

When you click Video Index, this list will appear

.

Click on a title to view the video.

MailChimp System Requirements

● Compatible browsers - Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer

(8 and above), Google Chrome. (The MailChimp Editor seems

to work best for us when using Mozilla Firefox.)

● Browser settings: enable cookies, pop-ups and JavaScript

● Latest version of Flash

•

There is various pricing listed on the website.

•

We use Entrepreneur which is free and you can send at one time to up to

2,000 subscribers.

Pricing

Remember you can sign up for free on MailChimp website,

http://mailchimp.com

1. any valid private or public domain email address that you access

2. some information about yourself and the organization the MailChimp account will be used for. All fields are required.

3. a website for your organization. E.g. http://district7.rto-ero.org/

You may also use a social media account, such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or a blog.

eg. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtoero-district7/

http://www.facebook.com/ann.cotter

Signing up for MailChimp is very easy.

To sign up, click the Sign Up Free tab.

This screen will come up.

You will have to check the email that you signed up with in order to

activate your MailChimp account.

I used my District email

address to sign up with.

eg.

[email protected]

I chose my username as

‘lanark rto’.

Once you have activated your account, filled in the code to show you are a human, and logged in, you will be asked to fill in your profile. This page, and the following pages, contain information you will be asked to fill in. You will need to enter your district’s website to use MailChimp.

I used my District email address.

For first name I used ‘RTO Lanark’

District Name example:: Retired Teachers of Lanark District 29

District website address. example:

http://district29.rto-ero.org/

Address that will be shown at the bottom of your email.

I have used my own, but you may have a district contact address you would prefer, such as the President’s address or if you are fortunate to have a District office, you could use that.

Profile Photo is

optional. I

uploaded an

RTO Logo.

Video Review:

http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/whats-the-best-way-to-get-started-with-mailchimp/#signup

Creating and Sending a Campaign

Support found on MailChimp:

How can I create a campaign using the Campaign Builder?

Most common campaign

When Regular ol” Champaign is chosen, you will have three template

choices to choose from

Example of using a

template with columns

for a campaign

You can choose from ready made templates or create your own.

Use the overall design bar. Unlimited possibilities

Includes photo editor

User-friendly word processor Shortcut function enabled e.g. CTRL+X, CTRL+C, CTRL+V.

Show Video on Creating a Campaign.

http://kb.mailchimp.com/video-index/

Considerations for an effective e-communication:

Remember: your reader is looking at a computer screen or a mobile device screen

● Have an identifiable logo ● Include Contact information

● Keep information brief, concise and relevant. ● Format entries for easy reading

● Use visuals: pictures, graphics or video ● Make effective use of colour

● Use a white background, two columns, text font size a minimum 13 point and titles of 18 points

● Include a link to your website and to your District social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.

● Use white space effectively. Let the eyes rest!

A Fast Way of Getting a List of Emails to Import…..

You can obtain a CSV file of all your District members from your District Membership Chair or President. (Support is available for District Membership Chair or President to show them how to download the membership list.)

You can provide a sign up sheet at District events for members to give you their name and email address. This is especially helpful if members have changed their email and not notified the RTO

Provincial Office. Through this e-communication, website and hard copy newsletter, you can encourage members to contact RTO Provincial Office of any changes.

* Under Add Subscriber select Import Subscribers. You can upload from a CSV or TXT file or Copy/Paste from Excel.

Subscribers can

be added

manually, one at a

time under

heading Add

subscriber.

MailChimp provides a way for you to send out e-communications to a segment of your subscribers. This is referred to as targeted communication.

In order to send a campaign (email) to a segment of your subscribers, you will need to create groups and segments. MailChimp provides instructional videos with examples of grouping and of segmenting.

What are Groups & How to Add Them to Your List: http://kb.mailchimp.com/category/getting-started/

Working with Segments: http://kb.mailchimp.com/category/getting-started/

Example of Segments

Campaign statistics example

Signup form choices

These forms can be added to your District websites so members are

able to sign up to your e-communications.

District Webmasters can create a signup link to your e-communications.

Example of a members’ signup link, created on District 29 for MailChimp District 29 subscriber list. A link is provided when you create a signup form in ‘General forms’. * Support is available to help District

Webmasters link the Subscribe page on the website.

Clicking on Subscribe to list leads to this form, created in General forms. Subscribe to list was linked to this signup form.

Alternately, your District Webmaster

create a signup page on the District

website.

After creating a form in General

Forms, click Embedded forms,

choose the fields you want filled in,

copy and paste the code into your

webpage source code. Presto, when

someone clicks on my sign up link the

Subscribe to our mail list appears.

*Support is available to help District

Webmasters link the Subscribe page

on the website.

There is lots to learn, which we are still discovering.

We encourage you to explore with MailChimp - try things, look at the support section

and tutorial videos.

A copy of this presentation can be found in RE-Net2 under the Newsletter Editors’

Conference in the MailChimp folder. Here you are invited to share your ideas and ask

questions.

If you have any questions or need some help, we can supply support through email,

TeamViewer or by Skyping.

Contact:

Laurie Fountain -

[email protected]

(Chair)

Jeanne Nugent -

[email protected]

Ann Cotter -

[email protected]