The Ultimate Guide to Using Mailchimp with WordPress (2024)

Hey there! Are you ready to supercharge your email marketing game using Mailchimp and WordPress together? You‘ve come to the right place.

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In this Ultimate Guide for 2024, I‘ll walk you through exactly how to connect these two powerful platforms to grow your business. From creating signup forms to automating personalized email journeys, you‘ll learn all my insider tips and strategies.

But first, let‘s talk about why this matters for your WordPress site and online success.

Why Email Marketing is Essential for Growth

Picture this:

There are over 4.3 billion email users worldwide. That number will grow to 4.6 billion by 2025. (Statista)
37% of brands are increasing their email budget, and just 1.3% are making cuts. (Litmus)
The average expected ROI is $36 for every $1 spent on email marketing. (Litmus)

In other words, email is still the most direct and profitable way to engage your audience. When it comes to your WordPress site, building an email list lets you:

✓ Drive repeat traffic to your content
✓ Promote products and offers
✓ Build one-on-one relationships with readers
✓ Own your audience (unlike social media)
✓ Automatically send targeted, timely messages

Simply put, email helps you make money and grow your business faster. And when you do it right, your subscribers will thank you for landing in their inbox!

Why Mailchimp is the Best Email Marketing Tool

Now, you might be wondering, "But which email service provider should I use?" With so many options out there, it can feel overwhelming.

Here‘s why Mailchimp is hands-down my favorite tool, especially for WordPress users:

Forever Free Plan – Mailchimp lets you have up to 500 subscribers and send 1,200 emails per month, totally free. This gives you plenty of runway to grow your list without paying a dime.
Easy to Use – You don‘t need any technical wizardry to create professional emails. Mailchimp‘s drag-and-drop builder and pre-designed templates make it a breeze.
Marketing Automation – From welcome series to abandoned cart recovery emails, Mailchimp comes with built-in automation recipes to save you serious time.
Robust Integrations – Mailchimp plays nicely with over 300+ tools, including WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, and more. This lets you sync customer data and create seamless multi-channel campaigns.
Insightful Analytics – With clear reports, you can see exactly how your emails are performing and make data-driven improvements. Split testing is also a breeze.

In their 2022 Annual Report, Mailchimp noted they send over 350 billion emails per year. They‘ve maintained industry-leading delivery rates above 96-99% for several years.

While Mailchimp isn‘t the cheapest option, it‘s the most versatile and beginner-friendly ESP that scales with your needs. You get the crucial email features you need without extra bulk.

How to Sign Up for Mailchimp

Ready to harness Mailchimp‘s superpowers for your WordPress site? Let‘s start by creating your account.

Go to mailchimp.com
Click the "Sign Up Free" button
Enter your email, username, and password
Confirm your email address
Provide some basic info about your business
Verify your website domain
Customize your default email footer (unsubscribe links, etc.)
Activate your account and log in!

See, easy peasy. You should now land in your dashboard that looks something like this:

We‘ll cover each section in a bit. But first, we need to connect Mailchimp to your WordPress site.

Option 1: Embed Mailchimp Forms in WordPress

One of the simplest ways to start collecting email leads is by using Mailchimp‘s pre-built embeddable forms. Here‘s how to set it up:

From your Mailchimp dashboard, click "Create" and then "Signup form"
Choose "Embedded forms"
Select your form type (classic, condensed, horizontal, unstyled)
Customize the form fields and options
Click "Generate Code"
Copy the form code
Log in to your WordPress dashboard
Go to Appearance > Widgets
Add a "Custom HTML" widget where you want the form to appear
Paste the signup form code
Click "Save"

And bam! Your Mailchimp form should now appear live on your WordPress site. Here‘s an example of what it might look like:

Pretty simple, right? You can embed Mailchimp forms on any post, page, or widget area in WordPress.

Pro tip: Avoid generic calls-to-action like "Sign up for updates." Instead, lead with a specific benefit or incentive to entice more submissions. For example, "Get my free 5-day course to double your traffic" or "Join 10,000 subscribers for weekly WordPress tips."

Option 2: Build Custom Mailchimp Forms with Plugins

While quick and easy, Mailchimp‘s native forms are fairly basic. They lack advanced styling and marketing options to maximize conversions.

If you want sleeker, on-brand forms, you‘ll need a dedicated WordPress plugin. The two I recommend are WPForms and OptinMonster.

WPForms

WPForms is the most user-friendly WordPress form plugin. While mostly used for contact and payment forms, it also integrates perfectly with Mailchimp.

To create a custom signup form:

Install the WPForms plugin (free version works great)
From your WordPress dashboard, go to WPForms > Add New
Name your form and choose the "Newsletter Signup Form" template
Customize the form fields, style, and settings using the drag-and-drop builder
Click "Marketing" and then "Mailchimp"
Enter your Mailchimp API key and connect your account
Map your Mailchimp list fields to the signup form fields
Configure other settings and save your form

Then to display your WPForms Mailchimp form, you can either:

Go to the form embed options and copy the shortcode. Paste it on any page, post, or widget in WordPress.
Use the pre-made WPForms block in the WordPress editor.

The end result will be a clean, professional email signup form like this:

WPForms is perfect if you want a low-cost, beginner-friendly way to create Mailchimp forms in WordPress. The styling options aren‘t as advanced as OptinMonster, but you still get important features like:

Mobile responsive designs
Spam protection
GDPR compliant forms
Instant email notifications

OptinMonster

Now if you‘re ready to unleash the most powerful Mailchimp signup forms possible, you need OptinMonster. It‘s the premier lead generation plugin for WordPress.

OptinMonster lets you build all kinds of high-converting campaigns like:

Lightbox popups
Floating bars
Gamified spin-to-win wheels
Content locks
Fullscreen welcome mats

But what really sets OptinMonster apart is its smart targeting and triggering engine. You can display dynamic Mailchimp forms based on conditions like:

Exit intent (when a user is about to leave)
Specific pages or blog posts
Time on site
Scroll percentage
Previous pageviews
Geolocation
New vs. returning visitors

This level of personalization ensures the right offer reaches the right person at the right time. For example, a first-time visitor might see a welcome popup on their 3rd pageview:

Or if a user is about to leave your product page, you can rescue the conversion with a last-second coupon code popup:

This is just scratching the surface. OptinMonster comes with 50+ stunning templates and a codeless drag-and-drop builder to design your own campaigns.

Connecting OptinMonster with Mailchimp only takes a few clicks:

From your OptinMonster account, go to Integrations
Click "Add New Integration"
Choose Mailchimp from the list
Log in with your Mailchimp credentials
Select the list you want to grow
Finish the setup process

Then you can create your first OptinMonster campaign:

From your dashboard, click "Create New Campaign"
Choose your campaign type and template
Modify the design using the builder
Set your targeting rules and triggers
Publish the campaign on WordPress

By following OptinMonster‘s proven best practices, I‘ve seen clients double and even triple their Mailchimp signup rates.

While OptinMonster is a premium tool, they offer a 14-day money-back guarantee. I think it‘s a no-brainer investment for serious bloggers and marketers.

How to Automate Mailchimp with WordPress

So you‘ve created some beautiful signup forms and the new Mailchimp subscribers are rolling in. That‘s awesome!

But what should you do next? How can you engage these fresh faces on your email list? The secret lies in marketing automation.

Mailchimp lets you set up automated email sequences that get sent based on subscriber data and behavior. Some key examples:

Welcome series for new subscribers
Post-purchase thank you and onboarding emails
Personalized product recommendations based on past purchases
Reminder emails for inactive customers
Re-engagement campaigns for cold subscribers

According to Campaign Monitor, automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated ones. By triggering relevant emails exactly when a subscriber is most engaged, you can build rock-solid relationships and increase customer lifetime value.

But what if you want to get even more granular with your email automations based on what people do on your WordPress site?

That‘s where Uncanny Automator comes in. It‘s the ultimate plugin to connect WordPress with Mailchimp and 5000+ other apps.

To get started:

Install the free version of Uncanny Automator on your WordPress site
Go to Automator > Add New to create a recipe
Choose your trigger from hundreds of WordPress options, like a user filling out a form, making a purchase, or registering for a webinar
Select Mailchimp as the action and connect your account
Set up the automation, such as "Add user to Mailchimp list" or "Send email to Mailchimp segment"
Turn on the recipe and let it run automatically!

Some juicy WordPress-to-Mailchimp automations you can create:

Send a coupon code when a user abandons their cart
Add a purchaser to a new customer email sequence
Notify a segment of your list when you publish a new blog post
Automatically unsubscribe a user when their membership expires
Remove a tag when a subscriber clicks a link

By syncing WordPress activity with your Mailchimp account, you can create highly targeted, timely campaigns.

Instead of blasting your entire list with the same generic emails, you can send ultra-personalized messages that subscribers actually want to read. In fact, studies show segmented campaigns drive a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor)

Bonus Mailchimp Growth Tips

Want to skyrocket your email list growth even faster? Here are 5 rapid-fire tips to boost your Mailchimp subscriptions:

Use multiple signup forms – Don‘t just stick to a sidebar form. Add forms to your header, footer, blog posts, and more to increase total conversions.
Create content upgrades – Offer bonus downloads within your blog posts, like checklists or templates, in exchange for an email address. Hello, laser-targeted subscribers!
Run viral giveaways – Partner with brands for a high-value giveaway that people enter by signing up for your list. Just make sure the prizes are relevant to your ideal subscriber.
Embed signup forms on YouTube – Add links to your Mailchimp landing pages in your YouTube descriptions and cards to capture viewers.
Design with conversion best practices – Use high-contrast colors, social proof, strong calls-to-action, and 1-2 form fields max. These are all proven ways to increase form completions.

Mailchimp and WordPress: The Perfect Combo

Email marketing remains one of the best ways to engage your audience and drive more revenue for your business. And with WordPress and Mailchimp, you have everything you need to grow your list on autopilot.

By embedding Mailchimp signup forms in WordPress using the methods we covered, you can turn your website into a lead generation machine. Then with automated email sequences, you can deliver massive value that keeps subscribers hungry for more.

The key is to put your visitor‘s needs first. Treat your email list like VIPs by sending relevant, engaging content on a consistent basis. Be generous and aim to help them as much as possible.

Over time, you‘ll build a loyal tribe of fans and customers that can‘t wait to open your emails. That‘s when the magic of email marketing really pays off.

So what are you waiting for? Connect Mailchimp with WordPress today and start growing your most valuable business asset.

For more tips and strategies to 10X your email list and revenue this year, check out my other popular guides:

And feel free to reach out with any questions! I‘m here to help you win at email marketing and grow your business.