If you are ready to start building an email list, sending newsletters and creating automated email campaigns, the first step is setting up your Mailchimp account.

The good news is that getting started is relatively straightforward.

The slightly less good news is that if you click around without a plan, you can quickly find yourself wondering what an audience, tag, segment and customer journey all mean.

So, let's start at the beginning.

In this guide, I will walk you through how to create your Mailchimp account step by step and explain the key decisions you need to make during the setup process.

Step 1: Create Your Account

To get started, click the button below and create your account.

START USING MAILCHIMP TODAY

You will need to provide your basic account information, including:

• Your email address
• A username
• A password

Choose an email address that you check regularly.

Mailchimp may send important notifications about your account, campaigns, billing or account verification, so this should not be an inbox you abandoned in 2017 and only remember exists when you need to reset a password.

Step 2: Verify Your Email Address

After creating your account, you may be asked to verify your email address.

Check your inbox for the verification email and follow the instructions provided.

If you cannot see it:

1. Check your spam or junk folder.
2. Search your inbox for Mailchimp.
3. Double-check that you entered the correct email address.
4. Request another verification email if necessary.

Once your email address has been verified, you can continue setting up your account.

Step 3: Add Your Name and Business Details

During the setup process, Mailchimp will ask for information about you and your business.

This may include:

• Your first and last name
• Your business or organisation name
• Your website
• Your business address
• Your industry

It is important to enter accurate information.

Some of your business details may be used in your email campaigns, including information required in the footer of marketing emails.

If you work from home and are concerned about using your residential address, investigate the options available to you before completing this section.

The key point is to make sure your email marketing remains compliant with the relevant requirements for your business and location.

Step 4: Connect Your Website

Mailchimp may ask whether you have a website.

If you do, add your website address.

Connecting your website can help you integrate your email marketing with your broader online marketing strategy.

For example, you may eventually use your website to:

• Add signup forms
• Promote lead magnets
• Collect subscribers
• Send visitors to landing pages
• Track campaign activity
• Connect your email marketing with customer activity

If your website is not ready yet, do not let that stop you from setting up your account.

You can still begin building your audience.

Step 5: Choose the Right Plan for Your Business

Mailchimp offers different plans and features, and the best option will depend on factors such as:

• The size of your audience
• The number of emails you plan to send
• Whether you need automation
• Whether you need advanced segmentation
• Whether you need additional users
• The features you want to access

If you are new to email marketing, start by thinking about what you actually need right now.

It is easy to pay for features you have no idea how to use yet.

Your business may eventually need advanced automation, detailed reporting and sophisticated segmentation.

But if you have not even sent your first email, there is no prize for making your setup more complicated than it needs to be.

Start with the plan and features that suit your current stage, then review your needs as your list and strategy grow.

Step 6: Set Up Your Sender Details

Before sending an email, you need to configure your sender information.

This generally includes:

Your From Name

This is the name your subscribers see when they receive your email.

You might use:

• Your personal name
• Your business name
• A combination of both

For example:

Anne C Clark

or

Anne from Anne C Clark

or

Anne C Clark | Email Marketing Tips

The most important thing is consistency.

If someone signs up to hear from Anne C Clark but suddenly receives an email from "Marketing Department", they may wonder who on earth that is.

Keep it recognisable.

Your From Email Address

Use a professional email address that you regularly monitor.

Avoid using an address that:

• You rarely check
• You cannot access
• You may stop using soon

You also need to make sure you can receive replies from subscribers.

Email marketing should not always be a one-way broadcast.

Sometimes the most valuable thing a subscriber can do is hit reply.

Step 7: Set Up Your Audience

Your audience is where your subscribers and contacts are managed.

Depending on your setup, this is where you will eventually:

• Add subscribers
• Import contacts
• Create signup forms
• Add tags
• Create groups
• Build segments
• View subscriber activity

Before importing contacts or building forms, take some time to review your audience settings.

You want to make sure the foundations are correct before hundreds or thousands of contacts start arriving.

At a minimum, review:

• Audience name
• Default From name
• Default From email address
• Reply-to email address
• Business details

Step 8: Decide What Information You Need From Subscribers

When you create forms and add contacts, Mailchimp allows you to collect information about your subscribers.

For a basic setup, you may only need:

• First name
• Email address

You might eventually want to collect additional information such as:

• Last name
• Business name
• Location
• Interests
• Services they are interested in

However, do not ask for information simply because you can.

The more fields someone has to complete, the more effort is required to subscribe.

Keep your initial signup process simple.

You can learn more about your subscribers over time.

Step 9: Create Your First Tag Strategy

Tags can help you organise your audience.

For example, you may want to identify where someone joined your list.

You could use tags such as:

• Website
• Lead magnet
• Webinar
• Client
• Customer
• Networking event
• Social media
• Course student

This can become extremely useful later.

For example, you may want to send a particular email only to people who downloaded a specific guide or attended a webinar.

Without a tagging strategy, your audience can quickly become one large collection of contacts with very little useful information attached to them.

You do not need 75 tags on day one.

Start with the information you know you will actually use.

Step 10: Review Your Account Before Sending Your First Email

Before creating your first campaign, check that everything is set up correctly.

Use this checklist:

• My email address has been verified.

• My business details are accurate.

• My From name is recognisable.

• My From email address is correct.

• My reply-to email address is monitored.

• My audience settings have been reviewed.

• I understand where my contacts will be stored.

• I have considered which tags I may need.

• I understand how people will join my list.

Once these foundations are in place, you are ready to start building your email marketing system.

What Should You Do After Creating Your Account?

Creating your account is only the beginning.

Your next priority should be setting up your audience correctly.

From there, you can:

1. Import your existing contacts.
2. Create your signup form.
3. Add the form to your website.
4. Create a lead magnet.
5. Start collecting subscribers.
6. Create your first email campaign.
7. Set up a welcome email.
8. Begin developing your email marketing strategy.

The biggest mistake I see businesses make is rushing straight into designing a beautiful email before setting up the foundations.

Your audience structure matters.

Your contact data matters.

Your signup process matters.

And the strategy behind your emails matters.

Get these right from the beginning and everything becomes much easier as your list grows.

Ready to Create Your Mailchimp Account?

If you are ready to start building your email list and creating better email marketing campaigns, you can get started here.

START USING MAILCHIMP TODAY

You do not need to know everything before you begin.

Create your account.

Set up the basics.

Start building your audience.

Then continue learning as your email marketing grows.

Because the best email marketing strategy in the world is not particularly useful if you never actually start.