Migrate from matrix to Mailchimp

Matrix contacts migrate as Mailchimp contacts within your designated audience. Each contact requires an email address as the unique identifier, and we validate email format before migration; contacts without valid emails are flagged and excluded from the migration report. If duplicate emails appear across multiple Matrix lists, we resolve them according to the audience‑split configuration you select.

Matrix stores custom contact properties as key-value pairs. Mailchimp requires these to be defined as merge fields with the *|TAGNAME| convention before import. We auto‑create merge fields in Mailchimp matching your Matrix property names and data types, converting text, number, date, and dropdown formats accordingly. We also validate that merge tag names comply with Mailchimp's character restrictions.

Matrix tags apply directly to Mailchimp tags. Tag names are preserved verbatim, and tags that contain special characters are sanitized to comply with Mailchimp's tag naming rules (alphanumeric and spaces only). In Mailchimp, tags can be used to trigger automations and define segment conditions, so accurate mapping preserves your existing logic.

Matrix groups (categories of interests) map 1:1 to Mailchimp groups within an audience. Groups are created in Mailchimp under Audience > Manage contacts > Groups before the migration runs, and group membership is assigned per contact during import. Mailchimp groups can be used in segment rules, so the mapping preserves your interest‑based targeting logic.

Matrix active=True maps to Mailchimp status='subscribed'; Matrix active=False maps to status='unsubscribed', and contacts marked as cleaned in Matrix become status='cleaned' in Mailchimp. We import the full unsubscribe list as a Mailchimp suppression file before the main migration, ensuring that unsubscribed and cleaned contacts cannot be re‑added without explicit re‑opt‑in, protecting your sender reputation.

If Matrix uses multiple independent lists, we map them to one Mailchimp audience (preferred) or multiple audiences based on your configuration. A single audience reduces per‑contact costs in Mailchimp and simplifies management, while multiple audiences preserve list‑level segmentation boundaries and may increase overall pricing. We help you decide the optimal split based on your data structure.

Mailchimp calculates engagement metrics (opens, clicks) natively per campaign send. Historical open/click data from Matrix campaigns migrates as a custom read‑only reference field (MC_Campaign_History__c) that stores the campaign name, send date, and open/click counts, allowing you to reference past performance without affecting Mailchimp's native reporting.

Mailchimp does not allow direct writes to system timestamp fields. Original subscription dates from Matrix are stored as a custom merge field (MC_Original_Subscribe_Date) for reporting continuity, and any other date fields such as created‑at or last‑updated timestamps are likewise saved as custom date merge fields (e.g., MC_Original_Create_Date__c). This preserves historical context without altering Mailchimp's native timestamps.

Email address is the primary key in Mailchimp. We validate email format before migration and flag malformed addresses; we also check for disposable email domains and suppress those if desired. Duplicate emails within a single Matrix list are consolidated, while duplicates across separate lists are placed into separate audiences based on your audience‑split configuration.

Matrix phone number properties migrate to Mailchimp's built‑in PHONE merge field if present, or to a custom phone merge field if Matrix stores multiple phone types. We normalize phone numbers to E.164 format during migration, ensuring consistent formatting and compatibility with Mailchimp's SMS features and country‑specific validation.