Ever run a car until the engine warning light came on… and then just kept going because “you reckon it’ll be fine”?
Yeah, us neither. (Except that one time. And the other time. Look, it was a hill, OK?)
That’s why it pains us to see Mailchimp users doing the digital equivalent of that: cruising along, blissfully unaware that their email engine is coughing, wheezing, and one bad send away from rolling to a tragic halt.
Because here’s the thing: just like a car, your Mailchimp account needs regular maintenance. A check-up. A tune-up. Possibly a good talking-to.
And no, “set it and forget it” is not a strategy. (Trust us. We tried back in the day. The results were…educational.)
Auditing your Mailchimp account helps you spot the silent killers—dead email lists, zombie subscribers, campaigns so ineffective they’d lose a staring contest with a spam folder. And the fix? Way easier than rebuilding your transmission. We promise.
Think of an audit as pulling over to check your tyres, top up your oil, and maybe realise you’ve been driving with the handbrake on for months. We’ve all been there.
When it comes to auditing your account, there are a few options open for you…
- You can get someone to do it for you – our Mailchimp Health Check leans on 10 or so years of experience and looking at hundreds of accounts… and you get a detailed report packed with insights and next steps for you.
- We’ve recently developed a way of understanding your own knowledge of Mailchimp and how you use it… you can go take the Rate My Mailchimp quiz and in 5 minutes get immediate insights on how well you’re doing.
- Or you can use the handy checklist in this article (with specific steps you can go away and do right now), to understand the key things you need to know.
So buckle up. Here’s what you should be checking under the hood of your Mailchimp account—before it starts making that weird noise no one wants to talk about.
🚗 Account Set Up
Are you driving with your number plates duct-taped on?
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Have you actually reviewed your account settings?
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Is your billing info so outdated it mentions your old flatmate?
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Are you even on the right plan, or just… a plan?
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Is your contact info accurate, or is Mailchimp still trying to reach you via fax?
Popping into your admin settings regularly will ensure that you’re all set up and not wasting time and money where you don’t need to.
One thing you can do today: Go into your billing settings and make sure you’re at the right level for your contact count.
📈 Campaign Performance
Running campaigns without checking the results is like shouting into the void and then rating your own echo.
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Are you tracking performance over time, or just going with your gut?
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Do you know your bounce rates? Unsubscribes?
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Or are you living on a dream and a prayer?
The fact is, we never create a perfect email campaign… but what we can do is use reporting and reviewing previous emails as a way of continually getting better.
One thing you can do today: Open up the most recent campaign you’ve sent and compare it to the previous one you sent. What things can you learn? What’s not changed but you’d like to improve? What’s worth testing?
🗃 Data Structure
Your data is the chassis. If it’s bent, your campaigns are going nowhere fast.
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Is your list clean or haunted by ghost subscribers?
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Are you paying for duplicates? (Double the cost, zero the fun.)
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Are you using groups, tags, segments—or just guessing?
One thing you can do today: If you’ve got more than one audience, you need a very good reason. If you haven’t got one, consider consolidating into a single audience. It’ll save you money AND make you more compliant with privacy laws.
📥 Data Capture
If your sign-up forms are collecting as much data as a soggy napkin, we’ve got work to do.
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How much data are you actually capturing? Just email?… or should you be capturing more?
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Are your merge tags pulling their weight?
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Do you know the customer journey—or is it more of a choose-your-own-adventure?
One thing you can do today: Look at your audience and scroll right to see where the data is coming from.. and think if you can use this data to send different messages? i.e. people who sign up on your home page may have different expectations from someone added via your CRM system directly.
🤖 Automations & Customer Journeys
Are your automations smooth like a motorway cruise… or more like a roundabout with no exits?
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Do you even have automations?
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Are you using different types, or just hammering one “Welcome” email and calling it a day?
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Are your triggers actually… triggering?
One thing you can do today: Go into your automations section. If you have no automations (and are paying for Mailchimp) develop a welcome sequence ASAP. If you do have automations, just check that they are actually working and subscribers are flowing through them.
📬 Deliverability
If your emails aren’t reaching the inbox, you might as well be mailing handwritten notes to a black hole.
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Is your sending domain authenticated and do you have DMARC in place or still living that sketchy, unverified life?
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Are you removing disengaged contacts, or hoarding them like digital souvenirs?
One thing you can do today: Go into your admin section and check out domains – and make sure all the domains you’re using are authenticated.
👀 Openability
Your email subject lines are either flashing neon lights… or beige wallpaper. Guess which one gets opened.
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Are you testing subject lines?
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Are you using preview text like a pro—or ignoring it like that warning light on your dashboard?
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Is your sender name inspiring trust… or confusion?
One thing you can do today: Look at your last few subject lines and see if you can come up with something completely different, and see if that gets you more or less opens.
📖 Readability
Great emails aren’t just opened—they’re read. Bonus points if people care.
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Are your emails visually pleasing or more “early internet vibes”?
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Is your content valuable and on-brand?
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Are you actually saying anything interesting—or just typing with hope?
One thing you can do today: Open the last email you sent and read it… as if you’d received it – are you happy that it’s actually easy to read… or is it a big block of text that loses people half way through.
👉 Clickability
Buttons too small to tap? Calls-to-action buried like treasure? Yeah, no one’s clicking.
One thing you can do today: The best emails are ones that are focused on generating one specific action. Review your previous emails and ask yourself… is it easy and clear for someone to read the email and know what to do… or is it a bit confusing and hard to find the next step to take?
🧠 Final Thoughts (aka The Part Where We Gently Suggest You Might Need Help)
If this all feels a bit overwhelming—like trying to do your own oil change with a spoon—we get it. That’s why we created the Mailchimp Health Check.
It’s our in-depth, no-holds-barred audit where we check the key elements of your Mailchimp account, compare them to best practices, and show you exactly where you shine (and where your strategy needs a little… resuscitation).
You’ll get over 30 pages of tailored tips, insights, and advice—delivered with the care of a certified Mailchimp expert and the occasional dad joke, free of charge.
So if you’re not sure whether your Mailchimp account is purring or puttering, let us take a look.
You’ll come out the other side smarter, sharper, and way less likely to break down on the email marketing motorway.
Learn more and take your Mailchimp Health Check Today
