Combine Audiences to a Primary Audience Using Tags

Simplify your contact management by combining your audiences into one primary audience that uses tags. Tags help you target campaigns to specific contacts, and reduce the need for duplicate contacts across audiences. Combining audiences can help streamline your contact management by keeping them all in one place. It also can potentially reduce your monthly bill if you currently have duplicate contacts across audiences however, this process is optional.

In this article, you'll learn how to combine your audiences to a primary audience using tags.

Before you start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

• This process is permanent and cannot be undone.
  To learn more about what your backup export will and will not include, check out Export and Backup Account Data.
• This process doesn’t transfer email engagement metrics.
  This includes opens and clicks, member rating, opt-in time stamps, signup source, and GDPR permissions for individual contacts. We don’t recommend you combine audiences that are GDPR-enabled to preserve important opt-in data.
• Audiences must be retained for 7 days after an email or automation email is sent.
  If you've recently sent to one of your audiences, you won't be able to combine it until after the 7 day period.
• Be sure to update any signup forms.
  Signup form URLs and hosted forms are tied to audiences, so make sure the forms you use direct to your primary audience.

How it works

Mailchimp billing is based on total contact count. You will want to remove and re-add contacts to your audience in a certain order to avoid duplicating contacts. First, you should back up your existing audiences by exporting your audience data. Some audience actions are permanent and can't be undone, so we strongly recommend you export each audience, including your primary audience, before you combine them. Keeping a backup is a safeguard, as some data will be lost when you combine audiences.

After you back up your audiences, archive all of the contacts in the old audience. Then, organize your primary audience with tags so that you have all your contacts in one audience while still having separate groups of contacts.

Finally, import each audience into the primary audience and assign the appropriate tags. Now that you have all contacts in your primary audience, delete the old audiences.

Export your audiences

Some audience actions are permanent and can't be undone, so we strongly recommend you export each audience, including your primary audience, before you combine them. Keeping a backup is a safeguard, as some data will be lost when you combine audiences.

To export your account data, follow these steps.

1. Click your profile icon and choose Account.
2. Click the Settings drop-down and choose Manage my data.
3. Check the boxes next to Audiences and Reports.
4. Click the dropdown menu and select All Data.
5. Click Export Data.

Nice work! We'll bundle all of your data into a single ZIP file, for you to download from the Manage my data page.

We'll also send an email to the email address on file for your account when the download is ready. When you receive the email, click the link to go to the Export My Data page, then click Download My Account Data.

Archive your old audiences

After you back up your audiences, archive all of the contacts in your old audiences. This process also deletes all audience stats. When you archive a contact, you retain all of their data, and they no longer count toward your monthly billing.

To archive all of the contacts in an audience, follow these steps.

1. Click Audience, then click All contacts.
2. If you have more than 1 audience, click the Audience drop-down and choose the one you want to work with.
3. Click the Manage audience drop-down and choose Archive all contacts.
4. Type ARCHIVE in the available field, then click Archive All Contacts to confirm.

Create tags in your primary audience

Organize your primary audience with tags that identify the audiences you’ll combine into your primary audience. Tags provide contact management within one audience.

To add tags to your primary audience, follow these steps.

1. Click Audience, then click Tags.
2. Click the Audience drop-down and choose the audience you want to use as your primary audience.
3. Click Create Tags to open the tag name pop-up modal.
4. Input a tag name that corresponds to one of your original audiences.
5. Click Create. Repeat steps 4-5 for as many tags as you need.

Tags are not visible on the hosted signup form and update profile form by default.

Import audience data

Using the data found in both the __aggregate_activity and lists__ folders from your audience export, import all unsubscribed and bounced (cleaned) email addresses as suppression lists into the newly created audience.

Import each audience into the same primary audience and assign the appropriate tags to note the original audience.

This article provides step-by-step instructions for combining.

Combine Audiences From a CSV File