How to Use Zapier to Choose and Connect Email Tools

Zapier makes it easier to connect email marketing tools like ConvertKit and Mailchimp so you can build automated workflows without writing code. This how-to guide walks you through choosing the right platform, setting it up, and connecting it to your other apps for a smoother marketing system.

This article is based on the comparison of ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp and turns those insights into practical steps for building automations with an integration platform.

Step 1: Decide What You Need Before Using Zapier

Before you start building automations, you need to know what you want from your email marketing tool. The ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp comparison highlights a few big-picture questions.

Are you focused on creators and simple funnels, or on business-style email marketing?
Do you need complex segmentation or mostly broadcast emails?
Will you sell products or subscriptions directly from your email platform?
How much visual design do you want in your emails and landing pages?

From the source comparison, ConvertKit tends to emphasize creators, simple visual automation, and selling directly to audiences. Mailchimp emphasizes broader marketing features, design flexibility, and more traditional campaigns.

Write down your top three priorities. You will use these to decide what you connect with your automation tool later.

Step 2: Compare Features You Will Automate With Zapier

Next, pick the specific features you want to automate between your email platform and other tools.

Key automation-friendly features from ConvertKit

Visual automation builder for subscriber journeys.
Tagging and segmentation based on subscriber behavior.
Forms and landing pages for creators and small businesses.
Support for digital products and paid newsletters.

Key automation-friendly features from Mailchimp

Audience management and basic CRM-style fields.
Templates with more design and layout options.
Campaigns, journeys, and behavioral targeting.
Support for online store connections and marketing.

Make a list of actions you want to trigger or receive from each platform. These are the actions you will later connect to other services through automation.

Step 3: Prepare Your Accounts for Automation With Zapier

Before you connect anything, clean up and prepare your accounts. This step prevents messy data and confusing automations.

Clean your contact data first

Remove duplicate contacts and obvious test records.
Standardize name and email fields.
Decide which tags or segments you will keep going forward.

Standardize tags and segments

The original comparison emphasizes the importance of tagging and segmentation. To make that work with an automation platform:

Define standard tags like lead, customer, trial, or webinar-registered.
Document which actions in your email tool apply or remove each tag.
Align these tags with any CRM or store you will connect.

Good preparation makes your future workflows easier to manage and debug.

Step 4: Create an Automation Strategy With Zapier in Mind

Now translate your marketing and creator goals into clear workflows that an integration tool can run. The ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp article shows common patterns that work well as automations.

Map your subscriber journey

Use a simple outline like this:

Visitor discovers you (blog post, social media, ad, podcast).
Visitor signs up through a form or landing page.
Subscriber receives a welcome sequence.
Subscriber moves into a main newsletter or education sequence.
Subscriber receives targeted offers based on behavior.

For each stage, note the event that should trigger an automation. For example:

New subscriber added to a list or form.
Subscriber clicks a specific link.
Subscriber completes a purchase.
Subscriber has not opened in a while.

Define which platform handles which job

Decide which app is responsible for each piece of data and each step.

Email platform: subscriber fields, tags, email sequences.
Store or payment tool: purchases and billing info.
Form or website: source tracking and signup details.
Automation layer: moving data between tools.

This clear division helps you avoid conflicts when multiple systems try to update the same fields.

Step 5: Build Your First Welcome Automation Using Zapier

Now you can turn one of the common ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp workflows into a practical automation. Below is a general process that you can adapt to the integration platform you use.

Plan the data flow

For a simple welcome flow:

Trigger: A new subscriber submits a form on your site or landing page.
Action 1: Create or update the contact in your email platform.
Action 2: Apply a tag such as welcome-sequence.
Action 3: Start the proper email sequence or journey.
Optional: Notify your team in chat or a project management app.

Configure the trigger

In your automation tool, choose the trigger app that collects leads. This could be a form service, a website platform, or an ad lead form.

Select the event for a new form submission or lead.
Connect your account and test the trigger with a sample contact.

Configure actions for ConvertKit or Mailchimp

Next, add actions that send data into your email service.

Choose the action to create or update a subscriber.
Map email, first name, and any custom fields from your trigger data.
Apply the appropriate tags or choose the right audience or list.
Start the welcome automation, sequence, or journey associated with that tag or audience.

Test the automation end-to-end: submit your form, confirm the subscriber appears correctly, and verify the first email in the sequence is queued or sent.

Step 6: Build Behavior-Based Campaigns With Zapier

The source comparison highlights the power of behavior-based and tag-based campaigns. You can extend your welcome flow into more targeted automations.

Common behavior triggers to connect

Subscriber clicks a product or pricing link in an email.
Subscriber attends a webinar or downloads a guide.
Subscriber makes a purchase or cancels a subscription.
Subscriber has been inactive for a certain number of days.

For each behavior, design an automation that:

Listens for the behavior in the appropriate app.
Updates tags or fields in your email tool.
Adds or removes the subscriber from certain campaigns.
Optionally updates deals or tasks in a separate system.

Segment and personalize your sequences

Use your platform’s segmentation tools combined with automation to send more relevant content:

Create segments based on interest tags like courses, coaching, or software.
Segment by engagement level, such as highly engaged or at-risk.
Use different sequences for new leads, customers, and repeat buyers.

The goal is to use targeted sequences instead of sending every message to your entire list.

Step 7: Test, Measure, and Improve With Zapier Workflows

Once your essential automations are running, focus on reliability and performance.

Test each step thoroughly

Test every trigger with real sample data.
Verify tags, segments, and fields update exactly as expected.
Double-check that subscribers are not getting duplicate sequences.

Monitor key metrics

From the comparison, both ConvertKit and Mailchimp support basic metrics like opens, clicks, and unsubscribes. Use those metrics alongside the logs from your automation tool to:

Find where subscribers drop off in a sequence.
Identify which tags or funnels produce customers.
Spot any recurring automation errors or delays.

Iterate regularly: adjust your tags, update copy, and refine your automation triggers as you learn more about subscriber behavior.

Additional Resources for Zapier and Email Automation

To go deeper into automation strategy, analytics, and implementation, you can explore specialized optimization resources such as Consultevo, which focuses on technical growth and workflow design.

For a detailed feature-by-feature comparison that underpins this how-to guide, review the original ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp analysis on the Zapier blog here: ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp. That breakdown can help you refine which automations to build first.

By clearly defining your needs, mapping subscriber journeys, and building structured workflows around triggers and actions, you can turn your email tool into the center of a reliable, automated marketing system.

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