9 Comments

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  David says:

  If we use a google survey and then import the results, can we use autoresponders on those people?

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    Ben says:

    Hi David, Our autoresponders can only go to people who double-opted-in through one of our signup forms. So importing contacts from a Google Survey would not work w/Autoresponders. If you’ve got a Google survey that you want customers to take, you might include a link to your autoresponder signup form, and give some incentive for customers to “receive these weekly tips on…” Or, you could create a MailChimp signup form using our form builder with lots of questions (but it’s not meant to be a full-fledged survey tool of course). Or, you could build a simple signup form in MailChimp for your autoresponder, and in the thank you page, include a link to your survey. None of these are perfect, but just a few ideas.

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    Jesse says:

    David, there is actually a way to do this fairly easily if you are using a Google Spreadsheet Survey/Form, though it may require repetitively importing your survey spread sheet.

    The first step in MailChimp is to add a merge var to your list that is a “date” type. When your list has one of these, you can use it with an autoresponder – instead of “after signup”, you’ll pick “after date” and then select your date field from your list. Note: save yourself some headaches and *don’t* name your field “date” – maybe “survey time”.

    Have you noticed that the survey/form-enabled spreadsheet automatically adds the “Timestamp” to the first column? When you import that spreadsheet, we will also pull in the Timestamp column. Now just map that to your new date fields (and the any other necessary fields), and you’ll be good to go.

    One caveat – if you plan on setting up auto-responders that go out quickly, I’d suggest using no less than “2 days after” your date field just to make sure you don’t miss anyone.

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      Ben says:

      um yeah, what Jesse said.

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  David says:

  Okay, let me get this straight. I can use autoresponders on people that I sign up (using google docs or they sign a physical mailing list sheet). I just can’t do it based on signup date. I can base it on a date I put in a custom field though.

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    Ben says:

    Correct.

    If someone does not go through the MailChimp double-optin process, autoresponders based on “signup date” will not work. Autoresponders based on other date merge fields on your list will work.

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  Yollana says:

  OK, So I’m thinking of importing my contacts to mailchimp from a different autoresponder program (congrats on being so cool!)….

  Does this mean that this date thing is some kind of workaround that I can use so that I can import my existing list without having to ask them to opt in again?

  Thanks,

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    Mike says:

    I have the same question as Yollana!

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    Ben says:

    Yollana, when you import lists into MailChimp, we don’t require you to opt them in again. The date workaround mentioned is a way to send more “immediate” autoresponders, rather than timing them out.

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