How to use the mailchimp customer journey builder

Understanding Mailchimp Customer Journey Builder

Mailchimp’s Customer Journey Builder is a powerful tool for automating your marketing and nurturing leads. It allows you to create personalized experiences for your subscribers based on their behavior and engagement with your brand. This article will guide you through the intricacies of using the Customer Journey Builder effectively, from setting up your first journey to optimizing it for better results.

Key Concepts Before You Begin

Before diving into the technical aspects, it’s essential to grasp the core concepts that underpin the Customer Journey Builder:

• Entry Points: These are the triggers that initiate a customer’s journey. Common examples include subscribing to your email list, making a purchase, or clicking a specific link.
• Rules: Rules define the conditions that determine which path a contact takes within the journey. They allow you to personalize the experience based on factors like demographics, purchase history, or engagement level.
• Actions: Actions are the steps taken within the journey, such as sending an email, adding a tag, or updating a contact’s field.
• Branches: Branches create different paths within the journey based on rules. This allows you to tailor the experience based on individual customer behavior.
• Delays: Delays introduce time gaps between actions, preventing overwhelming contacts and allowing for a more natural interaction.

Setting Up Your First Customer Journey

Let’s walk through the process of creating a simple welcome journey for new subscribers:

1. Navigate to Automations: In your Mailchimp dashboard, click on “Automations” in the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Create a New Automation: Click the “Create Automation” button.
3. Choose “Customer Journey”: Select the “Customer Journey” option.
4. Name Your Journey: Give your journey a descriptive name, like “Welcome New Subscribers.”
5. Select Audience: Choose the audience you want to target with this journey.

Configuring the Entry Point

The entry point defines how contacts enter your customer journey. For a welcome journey, the most common entry point is a new subscriber joining your list:

1. Select “Joins Audience”: Click on the “Joins Audience” entry point.
2. Choose Audience: Confirm the audience you selected earlier.
3. Configure Trigger: Specify whether the journey should start immediately upon subscription or after a delay. Consider a slight delay (e.g., 15 minutes) to ensure the subscriber is fully added to your list.
4. Save Entry Point: Click “Save Starting Point.”

Adding Actions: Sending Your First Welcome Email

Now, let’s add the first action – sending a welcome email:

1. Drag and Drop: Drag the “Send Email” action from the sidebar and drop it onto the canvas after the entry point.
2. Configure Email: Click on the “Send Email” action to configure it.
3. Design Your Email: You can either choose an existing email or create a new one from scratch. Focus on creating a warm and engaging welcome message that introduces your brand and sets expectations.
4. Customize Email Settings: Configure the sender name, subject line, and preview text.
5. Set Send Time: Determine when the email should be sent after the contact enters the journey. You can send it immediately or schedule it for a specific time.
6. Save Action: Click “Save.”

Introducing Delays: Giving Subscribers Time to Breathe

Adding delays between actions is crucial for preventing subscriber overwhelm. Let’s add a delay after the welcome email:

1. Drag and Drop: Drag the “Time Delay” action from the sidebar and drop it onto the canvas after the “Send Email” action.
2. Configure Delay: Click on the “Time Delay” action to configure it.
3. Set Delay Duration: Specify the length of the delay (e.g., 1 day, 3 days, or 1 week). The appropriate duration depends on your industry and target audience.
4. Save Delay: Click “Save.”

Adding a Second Email: Nurturing the Lead

After the delay, let’s send a second email to further nurture the lead. This email could provide valuable content, offer a discount, or highlight a specific product or service:

1. Drag and Drop: Drag another “Send Email” action from the sidebar and drop it onto the canvas after the “Time Delay” action.
2. Configure Email: Click on the new “Send Email” action to configure it.
3. Design Your Email: Create an email that builds upon the welcome message and provides value to the subscriber.
4. Customize Email Settings: Configure the sender name, subject line, and preview text.
5. Set Send Time: Determine when the email should be sent after the delay.
6. Save Action: Click “Save.”

Using Rules and Branches for Personalization

The real power of the Customer Journey Builder lies in its ability to personalize the experience based on rules and branches. Let’s add a branch to our journey based on whether the subscriber opened the first welcome email:

1. Drag and Drop: Drag the “If/Else” action from the sidebar and drop it onto the canvas after the first “Send Email” action.
2. Configure Rule: Click on the “If/Else” action to configure it.
3. Select Rule Type: Choose “Email Activity” as the rule type.
4. Specify Email: Select the first welcome email you sent.
5. Choose Activity: Select “Was Opened” as the activity.
6. Save Rule: Click “Save.”

Now, you have two branches: “Yes” (the subscriber opened the email) and “No” (the subscriber did not open the email). You can now add different actions to each branch to tailor the experience:

• “Yes” Branch: For subscribers who opened the email, you might send a follow-up email with more specific content related to the topics they showed interest in.
• “No” Branch: For subscribers who did not open the email, you might resend the welcome email with a different subject line or offer a different incentive to encourage them to engage.

Other Available Actions

The Customer Journey Builder offers a variety of actions beyond sending emails and adding delays. Here are some other useful actions:

• Add/Remove Tag: Add or remove tags from contacts based on their behavior. This allows you to segment your audience and target them with more relevant campaigns.
• Update Contact Property: Update contact fields, such as their name, location, or job title. This helps you maintain accurate contact information.
• Send SMS: Send text messages to contacts who have opted in to receive SMS communication.
• Trigger Webhook: Trigger a webhook to send data to an external application. This allows you to integrate Mailchimp with other marketing tools.

Testing and Optimizing Your Customer Journey

Before launching your customer journey, it’s essential to test it thoroughly. Mailchimp allows you to send test emails to yourself and other members of your team to ensure that everything is working correctly.

Once your journey is live, it’s important to monitor its performance and make adjustments as needed. Pay attention to metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Identify areas where you can improve the journey to better engage subscribers and achieve your marketing goals.

Advanced Strategies

Once you’re comfortable with the basics of the Customer Journey Builder, you can explore more advanced strategies:

• Abandoned Cart Journeys: Create journeys to recover abandoned carts by reminding customers about the items they left behind.
• Post-Purchase Journeys: Nurture customers after they make a purchase by providing helpful resources, asking for feedback, or offering exclusive deals.
• Engagement Journeys: Re-engage inactive subscribers by sending them personalized messages and incentives to encourage them to re-subscribe.

Conclusion

Mailchimp’s Customer Journey Builder is a powerful tool for automating your marketing and nurturing leads. By understanding the key concepts, configuring entry points and actions, and personalizing the experience with rules and branches, you can create engaging and effective customer journeys that drive results. Remember to test and optimize your journeys regularly to ensure they are performing at their best.