Mailchimp → FluentCRM: the founder's playbook

In Mailchimp, go to Audience → All contacts → Export Audience. Select CSV format. This downloads your full subscriber list with all standard fields (email, first name, last name, subscription status) and any custom merge fields you have created. Also export: (1) your segments — note the filter logic for each one (you will rebuild these in FluentCRM); (2) your tags list; (3) your automation/customer journey summaries (screenshots are fine). If you have multiple Audiences in Mailchimp (Mailchimp charges per contact per Audience), export each one separately. Deduplicate after import.

FluentCRM is a WordPress plugin — it runs inside your existing WordPress installation. Go to WordPress Admin → Plugins → Add New, search for FluentCRM, install and activate the free version. Then activate your FluentCRM Pro licence key (from your purchase receipt) under FluentCRM → Settings → FluentCRM. FluentCRM stores all contact data in your own WordPress database — on your own hosting. This is the fundamental difference from Mailchimp: you own the data completely, Mailchimp cannot sell it, and your costs do not scale with contact count.

FluentCRM does not send emails itself — it integrates with an external SMTP/email sending service. You must connect one before importing contacts. Recommended options: Amazon SES ($0.10 per 1,000 emails — extremely cost-effective for high volume), SendGrid (free up to 100 emails/day, paid plans from $14.95/month for 50k emails), Postmark (excellent deliverability, $1.25/1,000 emails), or Mailgun ($0.80/1,000 emails). For most small lists (<10,000 subscribers, <2 sends/month), Amazon SES costs under $5/month total. Connect your chosen service under FluentCRM → Settings → Email Settings → SMTP/Email Sending Service.

Deliverability depends entirely on your domain authentication setup. Without SPF and DKIM, your emails from FluentCRM will land in spam regardless of your content quality. In your DNS provider (Cloudflare, Route 53, Namecheap, etc.), add: (1) SPF record — a TXT record at your root domain that authorizes your SMTP provider to send on your behalf (your SMTP provider gives you the exact record); (2) DKIM record — a TXT record with a cryptographic key (also provided by your SMTP provider); (3) DMARC record — a TXT record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com that tells receiving servers what to do with unauthenticated mail. Use mail-tester.com to score your setup before sending to real subscribers.

In FluentCRM, go to Contacts → Import. Select CSV import. Upload your Mailchimp export CSV. On the field mapping screen, map each Mailchimp column to the corresponding FluentCRM field: Email → Email, FNAME → First Name, LNAME → Last Name, and any custom merge fields to custom FluentCRM fields you create. For subscriber status: map SUBSCRIBED contacts to FluentCRM status 'Subscribed'; map UNSUBSCRIBED contacts to status 'Unsubscribed' — do not skip this, it is legally required to honour unsubscribes. Map CLEANED (hard-bounced) to 'Bounced'. Create your list in FluentCRM first (Lists tab), and assign imported contacts to it during import.

FluentCRM uses Tags and Lists — similar to Mailchimp's Tags and Audiences. Create each Mailchimp tag in FluentCRM under Contacts → Tags → Add New Tag. For Mailchimp segments (filter-based groups): FluentCRM has dynamic Segments under the contact filter — recreate each segment's filter logic (e.g. 'Tag is X AND opened campaign Y' or 'Joined in last 30 days'). For Mailchimp Groups (interest-based opt-in groups), use FluentCRM Tags. Custom merge fields from Mailchimp become Custom Fields in FluentCRM: go to Settings → Custom Fields → Add New Field, match the field type (text, number, date, dropdown).

FluentCRM has an Automation builder and an Email Sequence feature. For Mailchimp welcome sequences (triggered by list join): use FluentCRM Sequence — create a new sequence, assign it to your list, and add each email as a step with the appropriate delay (1 day, 3 days, etc.). For more complex automations (Mailchimp Customer Journeys with conditionals): use FluentCRM Automation — create a new automation, set the trigger (e.g. 'Contact Added to List', 'Tag Added', 'Link Clicked'), and add actions (Send Email, Add Tag, Wait X Days, Conditional Split). Recreate each branch of your Mailchimp journey as a conditional split in FluentCRM. Test every automation path by subscribing a test email address.

Before importing your full list, send a test campaign to 5–10 known-good email addresses across different providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, corporate). Check: (1) emails arrive in the inbox, not spam; (2) from name and email address are correct; (3) images load; (4) unsubscribe link works; (5) tracking pixels fire correctly (open rate records in FluentCRM). If any test lands in spam, revisit your SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup before sending to real subscribers. Once tests pass, keep your Mailchimp list active for 14 days while you send from FluentCRM — after 14 days of confirmed delivery, cancel Mailchimp.