Mailchimp + CaptiFi
Add WiFi guests who accept marketing to your Mailchimp audience within minutes of sign-in, ready for your welcome automations. 30-day free trial.
What does the Mailchimp integration do?
The Mailchimp integration adds each WiFi guest who accepts marketing to your chosen Mailchimp audience as a subscribed contact within minutes of sign-in, using an API key and Audience ID from your Mailchimp account. Each contact carries their name, the time they connected and your custom splash questions as merge fields, and a returning guest updates the same contact. For venues that already run their email in Mailchimp. Growth plan and above.
Mailchimp is one of the most widely used email marketing platforms for small and growing venues, and CaptiFi connects to it directly. Create an API key in Mailchimp, copy the Audience ID of the audience WiFi guests should join, and paste both into the Mailchimp card on the Integrations page of my.captifi.io. Test connection checks the key and the audience together, so a wrong Audience ID is caught before any guest syncs. Each venue can point at its own audience, or several venues can share one.
Once the venue is switched on, every guest who signs in to your WiFi and accepts marketing is added to that audience as a subscribed contact within minutes. Guests who decline marketing are never sent, and only guests who connect after you switch the venue on are synced. Contacts are matched by email address, so a regular who signs in every week updates the same contact, and anyone who unsubscribed or was cleaned in Mailchimp stays that way.
Each contact carries their first and last name when your splash page collects them, the time they connected, their device and access point identifiers, and one merge field per custom splash question. CaptiFi creates any merge field it needs on your audience the first time it syncs. From there you can start a Mailchimp welcome automation when a contact joins the audience, or segment new guests from regulars on the connection time.
Why connect Mailchimp to CaptiFi
No more manual CSV exports
Guests who accept marketing are added to your Mailchimp audience within minutes of each WiFi sign-in, so you never export a spreadsheet or copy contacts by hand.
Merge fields created for you
CaptiFi adds the connection time and a field for each custom splash question to your audience the first time it syncs, so the data lands in named fields with no setup in Mailchimp.
Welcome automations from the sign-in
A contact joining your audience can start a Mailchimp welcome automation, so the first email follows the WiFi sign-in without anyone pressing send.
Consent and opt-outs respected
Only guests who accept marketing are sent, and unsubscribed or cleaned addresses in Mailchimp are never brought back.
What data flows to Mailchimp
Up and running in minutes
Create a Mailchimp API key
In Mailchimp, open Account & billing, then Extras, API keys, and create a key. Copy the whole key, including its data centre suffix such as -us21.
Copy your Audience ID
In Mailchimp, open Audience, choose the audience WiFi guests should join, then Settings, Audience name and defaults, and copy the Audience ID.
Paste both into CaptiFi and test
On the Integrations page of my.captifi.io, open the Mailchimp card, paste the API key and Audience ID for the venue, click Save, then Test connection, which checks the key and the audience together.
Switch the venue on
Flip the venue toggle to Enabled. From then on, guests who accept marketing join your audience within minutes of signing in. Past guests are not back-filled.
Step by step, with screenshots.
How venues use Mailchimp with CaptiFi
A pub segments its Mailchimp audience on the connection time and sends a midweek offer to anyone who has not signed in to the WiFi for six weeks.
A cafe starts a Mailchimp welcome automation when a contact joins its audience, so a first-time visitor gets a hello from the cafe soon after signing in to the WiFi.
A hotel group points each property at its own Mailchimp audience, so each location sends local campaigns to the guests who stayed there.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Mailchimp integration native or does it need Zapier?
When does a guest get added to my Mailchimp audience?
Which fields arrive on each contact?
Can I sync guests from several venues into one Mailchimp account?
Do guests have to opt in before they reach Mailchimp?
Can I trigger Mailchimp automations from this data?
Pairs well with
Start using Mailchimp with CaptiFi today
30-day free trial. Cancel anytime.
Google, Gmail, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, HubSpot, Salesforce, Facebook, Meta Pixel, Slack, Zapier, Twilio, Tripadvisor, Yelp, Trustpilot, Untappd, Feefo, REVIEWS.io, Yotpo, Toast, Square, SumUp, Airship, Revinate, Leat, Pepper, EmailOctopus, MailerLite and Incentivio are trade marks of their respective owners and appear here only to identify the services CaptiFi connects to. CaptiFi is independent of these companies and is not sponsored, certified or endorsed by them. An integration marked coming soon is on our roadmap and is not yet available. Twilio and all related logos are trademarks of Twilio Inc. or its affiliates. Salesforce is a trademark of Salesforce, Inc. Slack is a trademark and service mark of Slack Technologies, Inc., registered in the U.S. and in other countries.
CaptiFi is a guest WiFi marketing and captive portal platform for restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes, hotels, gyms, salons, retail and short-term rentals, built by CaptiFi Ltd in the UK and sold in GBP, USD, EUR, CAD, AUD and NZD to venues worldwide.