Mailchimp is a trusted ally for businesses seeking to nurture leads and boost sales through email marketing. The email templates for Mailchimp excel at nurturing leads, engaging customers, and driving sales.

 

But for regular users, there’s a cost many overlook – duplicate contact charges.

 

When you add contacts to an audience, Mailchimp scans for duplicates to ensure each email address appears only once. However, this scan doesn’t cover all audiences in your account. If the same person’s email address is used by two different audiences, Mailchimp treats it as two separate addresses. This means you’re charged for extra subscribers who are actually duplicate contacts. That’s money down the drain!

 

While we accept this, that doesn’t mean we can’t be in control. We can ensure that we’re not paying more than we need to. In this blog, we’ll show you how to use tags and segments in Mailchimp to avoid those unnecessary charges.

 

Let’s dive in.

 

What Are Duplicate Contacts?

 

Mailchimp defines a duplicate as an identical email address within a single audience. Mailchimp enforces a unique email address constraint within each audience, meaning you can’t have the same email address appear more than once.

 

This ensures that each email address is only represented once in your list, but it also means that if an email address is repeated, only one entry will be kept.

 

So, let’s say you’re working with a list of contacts where two entries have identical first and last names but different email addresses. Mailchimp will treat these as separate contacts because the email addresses differ. But, if two entries share the exact same email address, Mailchimp will only keep one of these entries and disregard the other.

 

Mailchimp automatically prevents duplicate contacts within a single audience. When you import or add contacts, the system checks for existing matches and avoids adding duplicates. However, Mailchimp treats contacts in different audiences as separate individuals, even if they share the same email address.

 

What Are Duplicate Contact Charges in Mailchimp?

 

Additional charges in Mailchimp occur when your contact count or email sends exceed the limits of your current pricing tier, let’s say, due to duplicate contacts. But don’t worry – deleted, archived, cleaned, and removed contacts do not contribute to your Mailchimp billing. Here’s how it works:

 

Contact Limits and Overages

 

When you sign up for a Mailchimp plan, you decide how many contacts you want to store. This number sets your plan’s limit and determines your monthly fee. For instance, if you choose the Standard plan with a 500-contact limit, you’re paying for that.

 

But what happens if your list grows beyond 500 contacts or you send more emails than your plan allows? If you don’t manually upgrade to the next tier, you’ll face extra charges. These charges come from what Mailchimp calls “add-on contact blocks.” These charges are assessed month-by-month based on your billing cycle.

 

What Are Add-On Contact Blocks in Mailchimp?

 

Think of add-on contact blocks as a buffer for when you exceed your plan’s limits. For example, if you’re on a 500-contact plan and your list grows to 600 contacts, you’ve surpassed your limit. Mailchimp then charges you extra using add-on contact blocks. On the Standard plan, you’ll pay $6.50 for every additional 150 contacts.

 

 

So, if you have 600 contacts, you’ll be charged for one add-on block because you’ve gone over by 100 contacts. If you need more than one block cover, you’ll get charged for additional blocks. The cost adds up based on how much you exceed your limit.

 

Note that this pricing model does not apply if you have a legacy pricing plan.

 

Duplicate email addresses in your contact list can push you into a higher pricing tier, increasing monthly costs. How to Avoid Additional Charges for Duplicate Contacts

 

To avoid these extra charges, you have a few options:

 

Upgrade Your Plan: Increase your contact limit by upgrading to a higher plan. This ensures you have enough space for your growing audience without extra fees.

 

Archive Duplicate Contacts: Use tags and audience segmentation to identify duplicate contacts and archive them to reduce your number of chargeable contacts.

 

Use Targeted Segments: Instead of sending every email to all subscribed contacts, send targeted content to smaller segments using tags. This keeps your audience engaged and helps manage your contact limits more effectively.

 

How to Use Tags and Segments to Identify and Archive Duplicate Contacts

 

Managing your Mailchimp contact list doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In fact, with a few smart strategies using tags and segments, you can clean up your list, prevent duplicate contact charges, and boost your email marketing results.

 

Here’s how to use these tools effectively to identify and archive duplicate contacts.

 

What Are Tags and Segments?

 

Tags: Think of tags as labels you stick on your contacts to keep track of their details. These labels can help you categorize and organize your audience based on their behavior or other attributes. For example, you might use tags like “Newsletter Subscriber,” “Event Attendee,” or “Recent Purchase” to identify different groups within your list.

 

Segments: Segments are dynamic groups of contacts that update automatically based on specific criteria. Instead of manually sifting through your list, you can create segments that automatically include contacts meeting certain conditions. For instance, you could set up a segment to include all contacts with duplicate email addresses.

 

Steps to Identifying Duplicate Contacts

 

Create a Tag: Designate a specific tag, such as “Duplicate,” to mark contacts identified as duplicates.

 

Segment Your Audience: Create a segment based on specific criteria indicating duplicate contacts. For instance, you could create a segment of contacts with similar email addresses, names, or other identifying information.

 

Manual Review: Carefully examine the contacts within the segment to identify potential duplicates. This step often requires human judgment to accurately determine if two contacts are the same person.

 

Apply the “Duplicate” Tag: Once you’ve confirmed a duplicate, apply the “Duplicate” tag to one or both contacts.

 

Step To Archiving Duplicate Contacts

 

Create an Archive Segment: Create a segment of all contacts with the “Duplicate” tag.

 

Review and Archive: Carefully review the contacts in this segment to ensure they are duplicates. If confirmed, archive these contacts.

 

Some More Ways to Remove Duplicate Contacts in Mailchimp

 

Combine Audiences

 

Got multiple audiences? Combine them into one main audience. Mailchimp will automatically find and remove any duplicates for you. After merging, use groups to keep things organized and segmented without the hassle of juggling different lists.

 

Use Excel

 

Export your contacts into an Excel spreadsheet. Use Excel’s “Remove Duplicates” feature to spot and delete any repeat entries. Note which duplicates you’ve removed and manually archive them from your Mailchimp lists to avoid extra charges.

 

Wrapping Up

 

Preventing duplicate charges in Mailchimp is essential for maintaining a healthy bottom line. Effectively using tags and segments can identify, manage, and eliminate duplicate contacts. Regular contact list maintenance is a must for long-term success.