Before You Start

This guide assumes you have active administrator access to both Mailchimp and QuickBooks Online accounts. A basic understanding of customer data in both platforms is also helpful.

Overview

20 min
Setup Time
Basic
Difficulty
Monthly
Maintenance

What You’ll Learn

  • How to prepare your QuickBooks customer data for syncing
  • Choosing the best method for connecting Mailchimp and QuickBooks
  • Setting up automation to add new QuickBooks customers to Mailchimp
  • Keeping your Mailchimp audience segments up-to-date

1. Preparation Steps

Ensure your customer data is ready for a clean sync:

Required for Sync

  • QuickBooks Online Customer Data: Verify customer names, email addresses, and contact info are accurate.
  • Mailchimp Audience: Have an existing audience or create a new one where you want to add your QBO customers.

Optional (but recommended)

  • Customer Segments in Mailchimp: Plan how you’ll segment customers (e.g., by purchase history, location) for targeted campaigns.
  • Custom Fields in Mailchimp: Identify any additional data you want to sync from QBO (e.g., last purchase date, total spend).

2. Choosing Your Sync Method

You have a few options to connect Mailchimp and QuickBooks.

Method A: Native Integrations or Basic Connectors

Some platforms offer direct, built-in integrations, or simple, often free connectors.

Pros:
  • Often free or included.
  • Simple to set up for basic needs.
  • Good for one-way syncs (QBO to Mailchimp).
Cons:
  • Limited customization.
  • May not support complex data mapping.
  • Often lacks real-time updates or two-way sync.

Method B: Automation Platforms (Zapier, Make.com)

These are powerful, cloud-based tools designed for connecting various apps.

Expert Tip: We strongly recommend using an automation platform like Zapier or Make.com. These tools offer unparalleled flexibility for data mapping, conditional logic, and reliable real-time updates, ensuring your Mailchimp audience is always accurate and segmented as you need.

3. Step-by-Step: Syncing with Zapier

Automating your customer list between QuickBooks and Mailchimp typically involves setting up a “Zap” (an automated workflow) in Zapier. The basic idea is: when a new customer is created in QuickBooks, a corresponding subscriber is added or updated in Mailchimp.

This process ensures that your marketing efforts are always based on your most current customer base, without manual data entry. You can even set up triggers for specific customer types or conditions.

Here is a sample data structure for a new customer record that might be sent through an automation platform.

{
  "customer_id": "CUST-00123",
  "first_name": "Jane",
  "last_name": "Doe",
  "email": "jane.doe@example.com",
  "phone": "555-123-4567",
  "created_date": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "total_purchases": 2
}

4. Setting Up Zapier

  1. 1

    Connect QuickBooks Online to Zapier

    Authorize Zapier to access your QuickBooks Online account. This will be the “trigger” app for your Zap.

  2. 2

    Connect Mailchimp to Zapier

    Authorize Zapier to access your Mailchimp account. This will be the “action” app where new subscribers are added.

  3. 3

    Create a “Zap” Workflow

    Set the trigger: “New Customer” in QuickBooks Online. Set the action: “Add/Update Subscriber” in Mailchimp. You’ll then map the fields.

  4. 4

    Map Your Data Fields

    Match QuickBooks customer fields (e.g., Email, First Name, Last Name) to Mailchimp subscriber fields. Define which Mailchimp audience to add them to.

Common Error: Data Inconsistencies

Ensure your Mailchimp audience has fields that match the data types coming from QuickBooks. For instance, if QBO has a ‘Phone’ field, make sure Mailchimp has a corresponding text field, not a number-only field, to prevent errors.

5. Testing Your Setup

Test Sync Checklist

  • Add a new test customer in QuickBooks Online.
  • Verify the test customer appears as a subscriber in your Mailchimp audience.
  • Check that all mapped fields (e.g., First Name, Last Name, Email) are correctly populated in Mailchimp.
  • If using segmentation, confirm the new subscriber is correctly assigned to the appropriate segment.

Need Help?

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Having trouble setting up your customer list synchronization? Our team can help troubleshoot your specific workflow.

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