Semi-automating Mailchimp daily newsletter
Published:
I am in charge of uploading a Mailchimp daily email newsletter. Here is some code to pre-fill everything except the content utilising Mailchimp API. Technically you can automate the content upload, too, but it requires more html-fu than I have.
First, a setup:
from mailchimp_marketing import Client
import mailchimp_marketing as MailchimpMarketing
from mailchimp_marketing.api_client import ApiClientError
import pprint
pp = pprint.PrettyPrinter(indent=4)
from datetime import datetime
from datetime import timedelta
import dateutil.parser
def convert_list_of_campaigns_to_id_title_dict(r):
id_title_dict = {}
for i in r['campaigns']:
id_title_dict[i['id']] = i['settings']['title']
return dict(sorted(id_title_dict.items(), key=lambda item: item[1]))
api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY"
server_prefix = "YOUR_SERVER_PREFIX"
client = MailchimpMarketing.Client()
client.set_config({
"api_key": api_key,
"server": server_prefix
})
Extract some info from an existing campaign that has the same parameters as the ones you are automating. Use pretty print to save your eyes. For my newsletter, I look for:
list_idlist_nametemplate_id
# Count is the number of campaigns returned
r = client.campaigns.list(count=1)
pp.pprint(r)
Then we are ready to create the campaigns. Create a date:title dict first. My campaign title is just YYYYMMDD date, so my dict looks like this:
titles ={
'0901':'lorem',
'0902':'ipsum',
'0903':'dolor',
}
# create campaigns
for date in titles:
client.campaigns.create({
"type": "regular",
'recipients': {'list_id': 'YOUR_LIST_ID',
'list_is_active': True,
'list_name': 'YOUR_RECIPIENT_LIST',
'segment_text': '',
},
'settings': {'subject_line': "MY DAILY NEWSLETTER – "+titles[date],
'title': "2021"+date, 'from_name': 'YOUR_NAME',
'reply_to': 'YOUR_EMAIL',
'to_name': '*|FNAME|* *|LNAME|*',
'template_id': YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID,},
})
Now let’s schedule the campaigns. Create a campaign_id:title dict, then just loop over it:
# fetch all unscheduled campaigns (status='save')
r = client.campaigns.list(fields=['campaigns.id','campaigns.settings.title'],status='save',count=50)
# check that output is only your campaigns (there might be other saved drafts from the past)
pp.pprint(r)
# convert output to dict
to_schedule = convert_list_of_campaigns_to_id_title_dict(r)
# schedule. Here the timing that I want is actually 1 day before the date in the title
for i in to_schedule:
# send_date = title_date minus 24hr
a = dateutil.parser.isoparse('2021-09-'+schedule[i][-2:]+'T16:15:00+00:00')
send_date = a + timedelta(days=-1)
client.campaigns.schedule(i, {"schedule_time": send_date.isoformat()})
# client.campaigns.unschedule(i) # unschedule with this if you made a mistake
Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *