Whether you’re sending one-off email campaigns or automating follow-up communications, combining Wherewolf with Mailchimp can take your guest engagement to the next level.
In this post, we’ll walk you through the basics of setting up this integration and starting a campaign, and share some best practices for getting the most out of your email marketing efforts.
Integrating Wherewolf with Mailchimp
Wherewolf makes it easy to send guest information—like names, emails, and other fields—straight to your Mailchimp Audience. Once you’ve set up the integration, you can use that data to create personalized email campaigns that keep your guests engaged long after their visit.
First, create your Mailchimp account.
You can start setting up the integration between Wherewolf and Mailchimp as soon as your account is live by following these instructions (you’ll still need to contact us before any guest information is sent to your account).
When your account is live, you can start designing a template for your company’s emails.
This template can be re-used across multiple audiences and campaign types, and a great way to get to know the Mailchimp email builder (scroll down for more information and links on Templates and Campaigns).
Next, narrow down your goals and how Wherewolf can help.
Some common examples are:
- Sharing all guests to your Mailchimp audience, and using Mailchimp to send automated follow-up emails after their tour.
- Use the “where are you from” responses to separate your local guests, for remarketing experiences or offering discount codes. You would have one Audience for guests who selected your state/region, and a separate Audience for your other guests.
- Promote intermediate-level activities to participants of a “beginner” level experience by filtering by their activity type or indicated experience level. You would have an Audience set up for each experience level.
- Find out why your guests came to you, and send them some more information on how you cater to their events or other local providers you partner with. For example, guests of a birthday party can all be sent one list, and provided information on your birthday packages. Guests for a bachelorettes weekend can be sent to another Audience and receive a discount voucher to a local vineyard.
- Growing a master Audience in Mailchimp to send holiday specials, shoulder season discount codes, or new tour promotions.
Based on your chosen approach, create your Audience/s in Mailchimp, and retrieve the Audience ID for each audience you wish to integrate with.
Contact our team and tell us which guests to send to each audience – when this is authorised, any future guests are sent to your Mailchimp account. You can download any historic guests from Wherewolf and upload them as a CSV, if you need to.
Now, you’re almost there!
Create a campaign for your Mailchimp Audience using your template, with customised content and merge tags. Send test versions to yourself until it’s just right.
Set the email to auto-send to new subscribers at the chosen delay – for example, a number of days after their tour.
Take into account your Wherewolf follow-up email and when this is sent too, so you can time these emails effectively.
If this is a one-off campaign, like a Holiday Season Special Offering, you can send at your chosen time/date (instead of based off the guest’s attendance).
Continuously monitor the results and adjust the campaign as needed.
Mailchimp has a lot of handy reporting tools you can use to refine things based on real customer engagement.
Tip 1 – Your Mailchimp Audience:
Your Mailchimp Audience is essentially your list of contacts. Depending on your business needs, you can create a single audience or multiple audiences for different guest segments.
For instance, you might have:
– One audience for out-of-state guests, where you send invites for online reviews.
– Another for local guests, where you promote referral discounts.
This allows you to send targeted messages that are relevant to each group. Check out Mailchimp’s guide for more on setting up an audience.
How Does Wherewolf Populate Your Audience?
Simple—you decide! You can either send all your guests to one list, or create separate audiences based on business needs. Just let Wherewolf know which audiences you’d like to use, and we’ll handle the rest.
Examples of Mailchimp Audiences in Action:
Geo-targeting: Use guest data like “where are you from” to market to locals with special offers.
Experience Level: Promote higher-level activities to guests based on their past bookings.
Review Generation: Create a master audience to design follow-up emails asking for reviews.
Language Preferences: Set up multilingual email campaigns for international guests by filtering audiences based on nationality.
Tip 2 – What is a Mailchimp Template?
A Mailchimp Template is a reusable design you can use across multiple emails, keeping your branding consistent. You can build one from scratch using Mailchimp’s drag-and-drop editor, or customize one of their pre-designed templates. Once you’ve created a template, it’s easy to apply it to multiple campaigns.
Tip 3 – What is a Mailchimp Campaign?
A Campaign is the actual email you’re sending to your guests. For example, an email targeting local customers with a referral discount would be one campaign, while an out-of-state review email would be another. Campaigns use templates to maintain consistent branding and structure.
Personalizing Emails with Mailchimp Merge Tags
Merge Tags allow you to personalize your emails by inserting guest-specific information, like their first name, automatically. Wherewolf sends guest data to Mailchimp, making it easy to add personalized touches to your emails with merge tags!
The Recipe For A Successful Email Campaign:
- Subject Lines Matter: Your subject line is the first thing recipients see, so make it count. Keep it concise and engaging—adding urgency or personalization can boost open rates.
- Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Every email should have a clear goal. Whether it’s encouraging guests to leave a review, book a tour, or refer a friend, make sure your CTA stands out and is easy to follow.
- A/B Testing: Experiment with different subject lines, email layouts, or CTAs to see what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing helps you optimize your emails based on real results.
- Track Metrics: Pay attention to key performance indicators (KPIs) like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Use these insights to refine future campaigns for even better engagement. Mailchimp has a lot of great tools ready for you to use!
With the right combination of Wherewolf and Mailchimp, your email marketing can become a powerful tool for driving guest engagement, encouraging repeat business, and growing your brand’s reach.
Ready to get started? Reach out to support@getwherewolf.com to set up your Mailchimp integration today!