How to Set Up Mailchimp & Email Best Practices

TL;DR

  • There are many platforms that offer email marketing, we recommend using Mailchimp

  • Learn how to set up an account and import your email list

  • Get instructions to build and send a campaign

How to Create & Set Up a Mailchimp Account

On the mailchimp.com home page, click “Sign Up for Free” in the upper right corner.

Complete the form fields by adding your email address and creating a username and password. Then, click “Sign Up.”

Note: Make sure the email address you use here is professional in nature and includes your name or your app name. For example, [yourname]app@gmail.com.

You’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to activate your account.

  • Open the email and click “Activate Account,” which will bring you to a Mailchimp landing page.

Select a Plan & Set Up Your Account

Determine the plan you need based on how many contacts are in your email list.

Mailchimp’s free plan allows for up to 2,000 contacts and includes five email templates. You can compare Mailchimp’s marketing plans here, which include more robust, paid tiers with additional features.

Once you’ve selected a plan, click “Next” at the bottom of the page.

Account Setup

After selecting your plan, Mailchimp will prompt you to set up your account details.

1. Set up your profile

Input the following information:

  • First Name

  • Last Name

  • Business Name

  • Website URL (optional)

  • Phone Number (optional)

Click “Continue”.

2. Add your address

On the next page, add your address. Click “Continue.”

Note: While you may not have a physical brick-and-mortar business location, there are several physical address alternatives you can use, including a P.O. Box address or a business you’re associated with that can receive mail on your behalf.

3. Add your email list

You can import any existing contacts at this stage. Learn how to download contacts using Playbook’s Customer Relationship Manager. You can also copy and pasting contacts from a spreadsheet. Read how to import your contacts to Mailchimp here.



How to Create an Email with Mailchimp

Once your Mailchimp account has been set up, you’ll be brought to a landing page that looks like this:

1. Choose What You’d Like to Create - Email

We’re going to focus on designing and sending regular emails, so select the yellow “Email” option on the left.

2. Build & send your email

Create your email and send it easily with instructions from Mailchimp here.

3. Questions?

Check out Mailchimp’s help center here for answers to common questions.

When to Send Emails & Best Practices

Some creators choose to do weekly or monthly emails. Decide if you want to do this and stick to a schedule and cadence (i.e. you send an email every Monday or on the last day of every month). Building a habit is essential for aspects of your business, including email marketing.

Other times to send emails:

  • New workout

  • New insight

  • New program

  • New challenge

  • Launch of a product

The best time to send an email is usually 10AM on Monday through Thursday for highest engagement. However, Mailchimp also has a cool tool called “Send Time Optimization”. When you go to schedule an email you can select this feature which will calculate the best time to send to the emails in your audience based on their interaction with other emails sent from other companies via Mailchimp. Play around with this tool to find your sweet spot for the most opens and clicks.


Best open and click rate averages for the fitness industry:

  • Open Rate (how many people open your email): 21.48%

  • Click Rate (how many people click on link(s) in your email: 2.69%

Best Practices for Emails

  • Make your subject line short and sweet

  • Include a pre-header text for more context

  • Learn your audience: What do they want to read? What format do they want to read it in (long vs. short emails)?

  • Keep graphics to a minimum — your logo and one or two pictures is fine, but over-designed emails tend to lose authenticity and might end up in spam

Examples of Creator Emails

Playbook’s Creator Services

If you’re interested in professional email marketing services, hire Playbook to assist you.

We understand that content creation can be time consuming and you might not have enough hours in the day. That’s why we offer a number of Playbook Creator Services, including an Email Marketing Service.

Our team will get you set up and optimized and can even create and run an email strategy for you.