Deploy Playbook email touchpoints to Mailchimp with the right audience

Use this article when

• You want to confirm how a touchpoint's Audience becomes Mailchimp campaign targeting.
• You use Limit Sends to Specific Tags during Mailchimp deployment.
• You launch one Playbook with touchpoints aimed at different audiences.
• An Email Template shows Unsupported in the Mailchimp launch settings.
• You want to keep editing a Playbook email in Mailchimp after you deploy it.
• You need to know that post-deploy editing works in Mailchimp's Classic Builder only.
• You launched Playbook emails to Mailchimp before May 2026 and need to review targeting.

Applies to and prerequisites

How audience targeting works

Each Playbook email touchpoint has an Avid Audience.

When you launch to Mailchimp, Avid reads that touchpoint's Avid Audience.

Avid creates or reuses a Mailchimp static segment named AVID - <audience name>.

Avid then uses that static segment as the Mailchimp campaign audience condition.

If the touchpoint has no Avid Audience, Avid uses your Limit Sends to Specific Tags selection instead.

Your Tags to Exclude selection always applies, with or without an Avid Audience.

Steps

1. Open the Playbook and click Touchpoints.

   You see the list of email and other touchpoints in the Playbook.

2. Open the email touchpoint you want to launch.

   The touchpoint details show Name, Channel, Status, and Audience.

3. Confirm the touchpoint's Audience.

   The Audience field shows the audience Avid will send to Mailchimp.

4. If the audience field is editable, choose the right value from Select an audience....

   The touchpoint shows the selected audience before launch.

5. If the Audiences tab is available, click it and confirm Selected Audiences are correct.

   The Playbook shows the audiences available for touchpoint targeting.

6. Return to Touchpoints, select the touchpoints you want to send, then click Preview N Touchpoint or Preview Play.

   Avid opens the launch view with Touchpoints, Settings, and Preview.

7. Select the email touchpoint group under Touchpoints.

   The Settings panel shows fields for the selected destination.

8. If more than one connection is available, choose Mailchimp from the dropdown next to Settings for.

   Avid loads the Mailchimp deployment fields.

9. Select the Mailchimp Audience.

   The Mailchimp audience is set for the campaigns Avid will create.

10. Fill required fields such as Reply To Email Address and Email Template.

    The touchpoint status changes from Review to Ready when required fields are valid.

    Some templates in the Email Template list are disabled and show Unsupported. These are Mailchimp Multichannel templates. Mailchimp's API cannot add campaign content to them. Choose a classic drag-and-drop template, or select *** Avid Template ***. See If an Email Template shows Unsupported and About the Avid Template option.

11. Optional: click Show Advanced Options to set Tags to Exclude.

    Excluded Mailchimp tags are blocked from the campaign audience.

12. Select Keep as Draft or Schedule for Sending under Campaign Status.

    Avid shows the selected campaign status for launch.

13. Click Launch Play.

    Avid opens the Post-Launch Checklist and shows deployment progress.

14. When the checklist shows the deployment is complete, click the link to open Mailchimp.

    Mailchimp shows the campaign Avid created.

About the Avid Template option

The Email Template list includes an option called *** Avid Template ***.

When you select *** Avid Template ***, Avid creates a formal Mailchimp template from your organization's logo and the Playbook email copy.

Because this is a real Mailchimp template, you can keep editing the email in Mailchimp after Avid deploys it.

If your Mailchimp account has no selectable classic templates, Avid selects *** Avid Template *** by default.

Edit the campaign after launch

1. Open the campaign Avid created in Mailchimp.

   The campaign title includes the Playbook and touchpoint name, ending with (AVID).

2. Open the email design or content editor.

   Mailchimp opens the campaign in Classic Builder when you used *** Avid Template *** or another classic template.

3. Use Edit design to change body copy, replace header images, or update other editable regions.

   You see visual editing controls such as editable regions, not a code-only view.

4. Save your changes in Mailchimp before you send or schedule the campaign.

   Mailchimp keeps your edits on the draft or scheduled campaign.

What you will see in Mailchimp

Avid creates one Mailchimp campaign per touchpoint.

Each campaign uses the title <Playbook name> - <Touchpoint name> (AVID).

When a touchpoint has an Avid Audience, the campaign uses a Mailchimp static segment named AVID - <audience name>.

If you set Tags to Exclude, those exclusions appear in the same campaign audience condition.

If a Playbook has touchpoints aimed at different audiences, each campaign keeps its own targeting.

When you select *** Avid Template ***, Mailchimp stores a formal template and opens the campaign in Classic Builder for post-deploy edits.

Review targeting after launch

1. Open Mailchimp and find the campaign Avid created.

   The campaign title includes the Playbook and touchpoint name.

2. Open the campaign's audience or segment settings in Mailchimp.

   Mailchimp shows the audience conditions for that campaign.

3. Compare the static segment (AVID - <audience name>) to the touchpoint's Avid Audience.

   The Mailchimp targeting matches the Avid Audience for that touchpoint.

4. Confirm any Tags to Exclude selections are present in the audience condition.

   The excluded tags appear with the audience condition.

If targeting looks wrong

If an Email Template shows Unsupported

Mailchimp offers two kinds of email templates: classic drag-and-drop templates and Multichannel templates (also called New Builder templates).

Mailchimp's API does not support adding campaign content to Multichannel templates. This is a Mailchimp limit, not an Avid limit.

Because of this limit, Avid disables Multichannel templates in the Email Template list and shows Unsupported next to them. You cannot select an unsupported template for a Playbook launch.

1. In the Mailchimp launch settings, open the Email Template list and choose a template that is not marked Unsupported.

   The template is applied and the touchpoint can move to Ready.

2. To keep editing after deploy, select *** Avid Template *** or another classic drag-and-drop template.

   Mailchimp opens the campaign in Classic Builder after launch.

3. If every template you want to use shows Unsupported, create a new template in Mailchimp with the classic drag-and-drop builder, then return to Avid and relaunch.

   The new template appears as a selectable option in the Email Template list.

If you launched before May 2026

Review Playbook email campaigns Avid created in Mailchimp before May 2026.

Before this update, Avid did not read the touchpoint's Avid Audience during Mailchimp launch.

Every campaign in a launch used the same Limit Sends to Specific Tags selection from the launch dialog.

Different touchpoints in one Playbook may have reached the same broad audience as a result.

1. List the Playbook email campaigns Avid created in Mailchimp before May 2026.

   You have a list of campaigns to review.

2. Open each campaign's audience or segment settings in Mailchimp.

   Mailchimp shows the targeting that was used or scheduled.

3. Compare each campaign to the matching touchpoint's Avid Audience.

   You can see whether each campaign reached the intended audience.

4. Update the campaign audience in Mailchimp when the targeting does not match, or relaunch the touchpoint from Avid.

   The campaign uses the intended audience before you send it.

Notes and limits

• New launches now apply each touchpoint's Avid Audience as the Mailchimp campaign audience.
• Limit Sends to Specific Tags applies only when a touchpoint has no Avid Audience.
• Tags to Exclude applies to both audience-based and tag-based campaigns.
• Mailchimp Multichannel templates are not supported. Mailchimp's API cannot add campaign content to them, so they show as Unsupported in the Email Template list.
• The *** Avid Template *** option creates a formal Mailchimp template that you can edit after deployment. This works in Mailchimp's Classic Builder (legacy builder) only, due to a Mailchimp API limitation.
• Mailchimp campaigns that were already sent cannot have their recipient list changed after sending.
• Schedule for Sending uses Mailchimp scheduling behavior after Avid creates the campaign.

When to contact LockStep Support

Contact LockStep Support if:

• A Playbook launch completes in Avid but no campaign appears in Mailchimp.
• You selected *** Avid Template *** and the campaign still opens as code-only, with no Classic Builder editable regions.
• Targeting still looks wrong after you confirm the touchpoint Audience and relaunch.

Include this information when you contact support:

• Organization name
• Playbook name and touchpoint name
• Mailchimp audience (list) name
• Email template you selected in Avid
• Exact error text or a description of what you see in Mailchimp
• Whether the campaign is a draft or already sent

Next steps

• Review related Playbooks articles
• Review Mailchimp connection setup
• Review Avid audience management