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#1501 - use cases with groups and segments
Hi Sugarchimp!
We are currently provisioning a sugar instance using sugarchimp for our organization. We have a couple of specific (but probably fairly common) use cases and patterns that we will be implementing the add-on for that I have not been able to find pertinent documentation on. Could you please provide feedback?
Thanks, Justin Shea
use case 1)
A sugar user wants to send an email campaign from mailchimp based on a segment (target list) created in sugar. But, we want to sync that target list to a specific group or segment within a mailchimp list. Is this possible?
use case 2)
We want to capture leads in sugar based on new records added to a mailchimp list (from opt-in forms etc.). However, we do not want to convert (or manually screen) ALL new subscribers to the list. We want new subscribers captured as a lead in sugar only if they meet a certain criteria. Is this possible?
use case 3)
List Permissions based on user role. Say we have three mailchimp lists: "general marketing", "salesperson a contacts", "salesperson b contacts". We have a marketing manager role who should be able to access all lists when using sugarchimp features. However, users with a "sales person" role should be able to use sugarchimp feature but should only be able to access their own list ("salesperson a"). Is this possible?
use case 4) "trigger" automated messages from mailchimp based on field value changes or outcomes of automated workflows in sugar
bonus: is there a direct way of working with mandrill for transaction emails?
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8 years ago
Hi Justin, all good questions!
Use Case 1: There are many ways to accomplish this, but the recommended way would be to have a single master Sugar Target List (or just a couple smaller Sugar Target Lists) that sync to a corresponding master MailChimp List (or a couple MailChimp lists). You can sync over any Contact/Target/Lead/Account fields you want over to MailChimp. So when you want to send something from MailChimp, you will do all of your segmenting based on the data that's been synced to MailChimp. This keeps you from having to creating and syncing multiple lists each time you want to send a campaign.
Use Case 2: Out of the box, all of the subscribers from a MailChimp form that is attached to a list syncing to Sugar will be added to Sugar. It will not create any duplicates during this process. If an existing Lead exists with a matching email address, it will use that instead of creating another. There are a couple ways to handle this: 1) You could have multiple forms that are attached to multiple lists. You could sync only the form that match your criteria to a specific list and have that MailChimp List sync to Sugar 2) You could have them all come in to Sugar, but have a field that is synced from MailChimp to Sugar that you can filter on. If it doesn't contain a certain value, you could go back through and delete those or have a Sugar workflow or custom logichook do something different with them.
Use Case 3: If you're using Sugar Pro or above (a paid edition of SugarCRM) you can set this up however you like with Sugar Roles and Teams.
Use Case 4: You could use MailChimp Marketing Automation to handle this sort of automated message. You would sync the fields in Sugar that you want to trigger an email. You would setup an automation workflow in MailChimp based on that data. So when the change is made in Sugar and the change is synced over to MailChimp, the automation email would fire from MailChimp.
Bonus: I think you can tie your MailChimp send count to your Mandrill account somehow. You could also have any of your Sugar emails be sent through the Mandrill smtp email. Not sure exactly what you're asking for on this one.
Let me know what follow up questions you have. Thanks!
8 years ago
Hi Justin, did we answer all of your questions?
Do you have any followup questions I can help with?
Thanks!
8 years ago
Hey, Thanks for following up and for your help. Yes, I do have some further questions and working on getting them over to you... Cheers, Justin
8 years ago
Good to hear. Looking forward to your questions. Thanks!
8 years ago
Hi Justin, I just wanted to check in and see if you still had those questions for us.
8 years ago
Hey Justin, I'm going to go ahead and close the case for now. But if you have any more questions, feel free to continue adding comments here.
8 years ago
Hi,
I finally have had the opportunity to digest your answers and circle back! Thanks for your attention and patience...
The details of "case 1" are very important I think. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of not having the ability to create segments within sugar without creating multiple lists in mailchimp. There are many ways to create a target list in sugar by using complex reporting criteria..it would be impossible to reproduce that criteria within mailchimp. For me, part of the allure and practicality of a tool like sugarchimp is the potential to create complex segments from within the crm and then use mailchimps power to handle the actual email campaign. This is not possible currently, it would seem, because sugarchimp requires that target lists be associated with mailchimp lists instead of groups and/or segments within lists. Mailchimp encourages the usage of as little lists as possible and instead promotes the usage groups or segments. In fact, duplicate records across lists count as separate records for billing purposes.
Right now, I think sugarchimp is missing a key layer of functionality as it pertains to working with mailchimp groups and segments:
Ability to map mailchimp preference groups to sugar fields As it stands, there is no way of reading or syncing what groups within a mailchimp list contacts are opted in or assigned to through sugar
Mapping target lists to groups/segments instead of lists On one level, the Sugar admin should be able to decide which records are to be synced to a list (current solution accounts for this). But, we are missing the boat without the ability to also segment within sugar and sync those segments to mailchimp groups or segments.
Another aspect that is worrisome is Sugar's inability to create "dynamic" target lists. That means that recommended solution of having a single master target iist link to mailchimp is not feasible on it's own. The admin must remember to refresh target lists manually lest, newly created or updated records will not sync with the mailchimp database.
I appreciate any and all feedback on these points (I really am hoping I am wrong on some of my conclusions :) or workaround solutions you may know of.
Thanks, Justin
8 years ago
Hi Justin, as always, good thoughts and questions.
Can you provide some examples for what your reporting criteria are?
There are a lot of moving parts here so I'm breaking this in two conversations:
1) What can be done today: In today's SugarChimp, I believe there is a path that could accomplish what you're wanting. To your first bold point, we do sync with MailChimp groups. You can sync MailChimp Groups to a Sugar dropdown or multiselect field. You could create a new multiselect in Sugar on your Contacts module named "criteria". You could then run your various criteria reports. Export each report with the record ID as a column, then open the export and add a new "criteria" column. For example, contacts pulled form Report Criteria #1 would get a value "criteria1". You would reimport this file to Sugar and it would update your Contacts. Do this for each of your Reports. Then add everyone from your criteria reports to your Master Target List. When we sync the Master Target List to MailChimp, we will send over the new criteria field which you can then segment on the MailChimp side.
Would something like this be sufficient?
2) What's coming in the future: We will be adding a dynamic list feature to SugarChimp, called Smart Lists. It will give you the ability to create criteria for your Target List. This will solve the problem of having to manually update your target list. You still run into the issue of knowing which criteria landed someone on the list. This might be something we consider adding.
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
8 years ago
Hi,
I hope you don't mind me circling back again after so long..thanks for your patience :-). We are just now reaching a point in the development of our sugar solution where we are implementing our mailchimp integration and so I am refocusing on sugarchimp as the potential solution. I have downloaded a new trial of the professional version today and we will be developing around it throughout the month.
I've read through almost all of the documentation including the version logs. I have much more clarity and confidence in the implementation details. Based on my understanding and, on recent updates to sugarchimp, I am confident the solution will meet almost all of our goals.
The only goal that seems may still have to be hacked is sending segments created in sugar to mailchimp static or dynamic segments. this would be an amazing feature...+1 from me...
I am also frustrated and disappointing that I cannot map to related fields without purchasing the ultimate license. I do not have it in my budget. Without the the ability to send segments or to sync related fields segmenting options are greatly limited.
I would like to work something out to be able to use this feature with the professional license. Can you PM me to discuss?
Thanks, Justin Shea