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Update MailChimp when Salesforce email changes

  • 20 July 2021
  • 8 replies
  • 126 views

I have created a Zap that is supposed to update a MailChimp subscriber’s email address if the Salesforce email address changes. When I change an email address in Salesforce to test the zap, it is creating a new subscriber in MailChimp rather than changing the existing subscriber. I think I need to have an additional step in the zap to find the correct MailChimp record to update, so I added a “Find Subscriber” action. That isn’t working either. What criteria do I use to find the correct Subscriber in MailChimp? Is my use case even possible?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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8 replies

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @Lisa Putnam ,

The Mailchimp action is to add OR update a Subscriber.

So if Mailchimp sees a new email address it will add a new Subscriber.

You may want to consider unsubscribing the original email address OR tagging the original email address.

 

 

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
L

Thanks @Troy Tessalone! I was afraid of that…

In order to implement one of the options you mentioned, do I need to add a step between trigger and action to find the correct record in MailChimp to unsubscribe and/or change the tag? Would I use the “Find a subscriber in MailChimp” action, for example? I can’t search using the email address from Salesforce because the email address has been changed so it doesn’t match the email address in MailChimp any more. And I don’t have the prior value. I’m sure I’m missing something...

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @Lisa Putnam 

In order to update an existing MC Subscriber you’d need to search MC for the previous email address.

As a potential workaround, you may want to update Salesforce to have another column for email address, where you move the previous email address if updated to a new email address, that way you have that data point still available.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
L

Thanks @Troy Tessalone. I’ll give that a try.

L

@Troy Tessalone : I have created a field in Salesforce called “Preferred Email Prior Value” where I store the email address before it is changed. So now I have the prior email and the new email. I still can’t get the trigger/action to work correctly. I have been using Zapier for a total of 24 hours so far, so I am a real newbie. Will I be able to change the email address for the subscriber in MC (now that I have the prior value to search on) or will I have to use those values to identify the one I need to “unsubscribe” and then create a new subscriber with the new email address? I appreciate your help.

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Lisa Putnam 

I’d go with the Unsub or Tag approach for the original email addresses, and use the create/update Subscriber for the new email address.

In case you’re interested, Zapier Basics: https://zapier.com/help/create/basics

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
L

@Troy Tessalone . Ok, I’ll try that. If I create a new Subscriber for the new email address, how do I get the MC fields and tags copied from the old to the new subscriber? I basically need an exact copy of the old Sub but with the new email address.

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Lisa Putnam 

The MC Find Subscriber should return those data points to use to then create the new MC Subscriber.

So it becomes an order of operations when configure your Zaps.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
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