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Connect Mailchimp to ViralDM
Add everyone who gives you an email to a Mailchimp audience — as a contact, never auto-subscribed to marketing.
- Direction
- ViralDM → app
- Data flow
- ViralDM → Mailchimp
- How to connect
- One click (or an API key)
- Updated
- 18 October 2026
How it works
You choose one Mailchimp audience. When an event carries an email, that person is added to it with their first name.
New people are added as "transactional" contacts, not subscribers. Giving an email in a DM is not agreeing to marketing emails, so ViralDM never subscribes anyone for you. Someone already in your audience keeps the status they have.
Events without an email are skipped.
What goes across
- Any of the six business events that carries an email.
- The Flow Builder step "Send to a connector", when the person has an email.
One click
Connect Mailchimp in one click
- In ViralDM open Connectors and press Connect on Mailchimp.
- Sign in to Mailchimp and press Allow.
- Back in ViralDM, choose the audience new leads go to and press Save.
- Press 🧪 Test. It checks ViralDM can reach that audience (it does not add a fake contact).
The other way
Paste an API key instead
If one-click connect is not available, paste three values from your Mailchimp account.
API Key
- In Mailchimp, open your profile (top right) → Profile → Extras → API keys.
- Press Create A Key, give it a name such as ViralDM, and copy it. Mailchimp shows the full key only once.
Audience/List ID
- In Mailchimp open Audience. If you have more than one audience, pick the right one.
- Open More options → Audience settings (older screens: Settings → Audience name and defaults).
- Copy the Audience ID (a short code of letters and numbers).
Data Center
- Look at the end of your API key: it ends with a dash and a code such as -us21.
- Type only that code, for example us21.
After connecting
Check it works
- Press 🧪 Test on the connector in ViralDM. It sends one test event, so you can see it arrive before a real lead does.
- On the Connectors page, open the connector: it shows how many events were sent, when the last one went, how many failed, and the reason for the last failure.
- You can also send a person to this connector from inside an automation: in the Flow Builder add the step "Send to a connector" and pick it. The step does nothing if the connector is not connected.
"Choose the Mailchimp audience new leads go to".
Open Mailchimp on the Connectors page and press Choose audience.
"Mailchimp data center must look like us21".
Type only the part after the dash at the end of your API key — no https, no dots.
Leads are in the audience but get no emails.
That is on purpose: they are transactional contacts. Ask them to subscribe (for example with a Mailchimp signup form) before sending marketing emails.
Why are my leads not "subscribed"?
Because nobody agreed to marketing emails by sending you a DM. ViralDM keeps you on the right side of email consent rules.
Works well with
Related guides
Send people who give you their email to a ConvertKit (Kit) form, so they enter your sequences.
Read the guide → HubSpot
Every lead with an email or phone becomes a HubSpot contact — an existing contact is updated, not duplicated.
Read the guide → Google Sheets
Every new lead, booking and sale from ViralDM becomes a new row in a Google Sheet — automatically.
Read the guide →Connect Mailchimp now
Connectors are included on every ViralDM plan, including Free.