TheDropTimes - Automated Newsletter Generation using Drupal and Mailchimp
Introduction
Marketing and promotions through email automation play an important role in audience engagement. TheDropTimes (TDT), a news portal focusing on Drupal, needed an efficient way to create and schedule newsletters while ensuring flexibility for the editorial team. The solution required integration with Mailchimp for automated email distribution. This case study explores how a newsletter automation system was developed using Drupal and Mailchimp, leveraging RSS feeds for content delivery.
Challenges
- Content Structuring: The newsletters included original editorial content and referenced articles, making RSS feed generation complex.
- Mailchimp Integration: Setting up RSS-to-Newsletter automation in Mailchimp was challenging due to limited documentation and hidden configuration options.
- Subscription Management: The platform needed an efficient way to collect and manage newsletter subscribers via Mailchimp.
Our Approach
To implement the feature, the following approach was used:
1. Selection of Newsletter Platform:
- Instead of reinventing email scheduling and management, Mailchimp was chosen which provides an RSS-to-Newsletter feature to automate email campaigns. After exploring the tool , a direct setup link was used to configure this feature.
2. Drupal Content Structure & Views:
- Created a Newsletter Content Type in Drupal, allowing editors to add custom stories and select reference articles via a multi-value entity reference field.
- Designed a custom RSS feed view, ensuring both editorial content and referenced articles were included.
- Preprocessed the RSS view to insert the newsletter body as the RSS channel description, ensuring proper formatting in Mailchimp.
3. Mailchimp Template Customization:
Select a Mailchimp template and customize the HTML, CSS, and merge tags to structure the email format correctly.
- Integrated the RSS feed into Mailchimp, allowing automatic email generation when new content was published.
4. Subscription & Archive System:
- Used the Mailchimp Drupal module for primary subscription forms.
- Implemented OptinMonster pop-ups to increase sign-ups.
- Created an Archive page and block to display previous newsletter issues for easy access.
Result
The new automated newsletter system significantly improved content distribution and audience engagement:
- Increased efficiency: The editorial team can now generate newsletters within Drupal without manual formatting or scheduling.
- Automation success: Mailchimp automatically sends newsletters when new content is published, reducing workload.
- Improved subscriber engagement: The popup subscription form via OptinMonster has increased sign-ups.
- Structured content delivery: The custom RSS feed ensures proper content order, keeping the editorial story at the top.
- Compliance: The newsletter system utilizes Mailchimp's unsubscribe functionality and ensures proper opt-in procedures to comply with GDPR and other data protection regulations. This allows users to manage their subscription preferences easily and securely, ensuring transparency and control over their personal data.
CONCLUSION
- By integrating Drupal and Mailchimp, TheDropTimes successfully built an automated newsletter generation system that simplifies content creation, streamlines distribution, and enhances audience engagement. The use of RSS feeds for email automation allows.
- This solution can be implemented on any Drupal website looking for automated newsletter generation with Mailchimp integration.
