Let us explore how you can integrate Mailchimp with WhatsApp, following which you will be able to send new Mailchimp subscribers WhatsApp messages automatically.
This automation requires a one-time setup, for which we will use Pabbly Connect.
We will first link Mailchimp with Pabbly Connect to capture subscriber data, then link Pabbly Connect with WhatsApp and send a WhatsApp message using the captured details.
Steps to Automatically Send WhatsApp Messages to New Mailchimp Subscribers
1. Sign In / Sign Up to Pabbly Connect and Create a Workflow
2. Establish a Connection between Mailchimp and Pabbly Connect
3. Setup WhatsApp Cloud API as the Action App to Send Messages
4. Compose a Message Template
5. Map the Necessary Fields
Step 1:- Sign In / Sign Up to Pabbly Connect and Create a Workflow
A. Sign In / Sign Up
To begin this process, visit Pabbly Connect and create your account by clicking on the ‘Sign Up Free’ button. You can also click on Sign In if you already have an account.
Click on the Pabbly Connect ‘Access Now’ button
B. Create Workflow
To create a new workflow, click the ‘Create Workflow’ button.
Name your workflow, and click on ‘Create’.
Step 2:- Establish a Connection between Mailchimp and Pabbly Connect
We will now look at the steps through which we will establish a link between Mailchimp and Pabbly Connect. This will help us capture the data of Mailchimp subscribers.
A. Trigger App
Trigger allows us to choose the application that will receive the data for Pabbly Connect. In our case, it would be Mailchimp.
Choose ‘Mailchimp’ as the Trigger App and select ‘New Subscriber’ as a Trigger Event.
B. Webhook URL
A new Webhook URL will get generated. You will use this Webhook URL to create a connection with your Mailchimp account. Copy the Webhook URL.
As soon as you Copy the Webhook URL, Pabbly Connect will start looking to capture data from Mailchimp, as indicated by the rotating Waiting For Webhook Response button.
C. Connect Mailchimp Account
To connect your Mailchimp account, go to your Mailchimp Audience page, and click on ‘Audience dashboard’ > ‘Manage Audience’ > ‘Settings’.
Scroll down and click on ‘Webhooks’ > ‘Create New Webhook’.
Paste the Webhook URL we copied earlier, uncheck all Type of Updates options other than ‘Subscribers’, check mark ‘Via the API’ and click on ‘Save’.
D. Test the Connection
To test the established connection, we will add a subscriber to Mailchimp and check for the received response.
Click on the ‘Re-Capture Webhook Response’ button and add a Mailchimp subscriber.
We have established a link between Mailchimp and Pabbly Connect. Pabbly Connect will now automatically capture the data of each new Mailchimp subscriber.
Step 3:- Setup WhatsApp Cloud API as the Action App to Send Messages
Upon capturing the subscriber details from Mailchimp, we essentially want to send WhatsApp messages to those subscribers. Therefore, WhatsApp Cloud API will be our Action App.
Note: Follow steps 1 to 3 of this blog to create a new Whatsapp Business Cloud API account if you don’t already have one.
A. Action App
Choose ‘WhatsApp Cloud API’ as your Action App, select ‘Send Template Message’ as an Action Event, and click on ‘Connect’.
B. Connect WhatsApp Cloud API Account
To connect with your WhatsApp Cloud API account, select ‘Add New Connection’. You will be asked to enter your Permanent Token, Phone Number ID, and WhatsApp Business Account ID.
Go to your Facebook Developer dashboard, and copy the Phone Number ID and WhatsApp Business Account ID.
Paste both in their respective fields.
The Token visible on your dashboard is a temporary one that expires every 24 hours. For our workflow, we need a Permanent Token. You can generate a Permanent Access Token by following the steps given in this post.
Paste the Permanent Token, and click on ‘Save’.
Step 4:- Compose a Message Template
You will be asked to fill up a few fields. You can either select your Template Name directly from the list if you already have one ready or create a new message template by following these steps.
A. Create a Message Template
Switch to your WhatsApp Cloud API dashboard, and click the ‘here’ hyperlink. You will be redirected to a new page.
Click on ‘Create Message Template’.
Select a Category, Name the template and pick a Language. Click on ‘Continue’.
B. Body with Dynamic Data Tags
Type in your message in the Body field. To personalize your message, include Dynamic Data Tags in your template.
Dynamic Data Tags help us to include variables in our template, these variables will be replaced with actual data in your message. The actual data can be a name, an email address, date, time, ID number, etc. To add a dynamic tag to your template, write your variables between double curly braces {{variable}}.
‘Submit’ your message and ‘Confirm’.
As you submit your template, it could be approved right away or go to Facebook for a manual review. This process may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Reload your page to see if your template is approved and available, as indicated by the green color.
Step 5:- Map the Necessary Fields
Now that you have connected your WhatsApp Cloud API account, all you need is to map the necessary details from the step above.
Select your Template Name.
Map the Recipient Mobile Number from the step above.
Remember the Dynamic Data Tags we talked about? Those tags will be replaced by the data present in Body Fields.
In Body Field, enter or map the relevant data from above. This could vary as per your choice of variable. Click on ‘Save & Send Test Request’.
As soon as you click on Save & Send Request, a WhatsApp message containing the lead details will be sent to the recipient’s mobile number.
Our automation is complete. We have successfully integrated Mailchimp with WhatsApp. Each time a new subscriber is added to your Mailchimp account, a message will automatically be sent to that same subscriber on WhatsApp.
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