While you wouldn't want to deduplicate across audiences in many situations, there are some that require it. Deduplicating across audiences can not be handled in Mailchimp.
There are many situations where companies may not want there to be duplicate contacts in multiple audiences to avoid contacting them multiple times or missing valuable context in the communications that you do have.
Insycle allows you to deduplicate across Mailchimp audiences simply.
How It Works
Mailchimp does not allow you to deduplicate across audiences. Insycle deduplicates across Mailchimp audiences by default.
Insycle deduplicates across audiences by default. In fact, you have to tell Insycle to only look at a specific audience to deduplicate within the audience alone.
To deduplicate across audiences in Mailchimp, simply follow the standard deduplication procedures in Insycle.
Overview
Deduplicating across audiences is standard in Insycle. Unless you tell Insycle to only work within a specific audience (the field for audiences is List ID), Insycle will automatically deduplicate across audiences.
To begin, follow the standard deduplication procedures.
To learn more, see Bulk Merge Duplicate People, Companies.
Cross-Audience Deduplication
The Insycle Merge Duplicates module automatically deduplicates across audiences by default.
Unless you specify that matches also need to match by List ID (this is the field name for audiences), all deduplication efforts in Insycle will be cross-audience.
Including the List ID field tells Insycle that matched duplicates must come from the same list. If this is not included, duplicates will be matched from separate audiences.
Automation
You can schedule your Merge Duplicates templates for Mailchimp to run on an automated, set schedule.
To schedule them, click the Review button at the bottom of the module page. Then, you go through a three-step process to run the operation. In the third step, you can choose the "Automate" tab, and schedule your template.
You can also schedule deduplication automation using Recipes, which are a collection of templates run together. You can view all scheduled automations on the “Automations” page on your dashboard.
Preview Changes Before They Go Live
With Insycle's Merge Duplicates module, you can preview the changes that you are making to your data before those changes are pushed to your live database. That way, you can check to ensure your deduplication template is working as expected.
Frequently Asked Questions
I already have a list of duplicates, can Insycle bulk merge them?
Yes. You can use a customized list of duplicates, as detailed in this help article, and use Insycle to deduplicate the list in bulk. Include ID numbers from your connected CRM in your CSV.
Why can I only process 50 duplicate groups at a time?
Insycle can process thousands of duplicate groups in one operation. Potentially, you could deduplicate your entire database in one operation. Insycle shows 50 records on the module screen as a preview. You do not necessarily need to select the duplicate groups individually because you will be able to select all relevant records after clicking the "Review" button to begin the operation.
How do I ensure that I am not merging non-duplicate records together?
Currently, there are two ways to make sure that the records that you are merging are indeed duplicate records.
First, always run your deduplication templates in Preview Mode before running them in Update Mode. This produces a CSV that shows you how your records would have been merged. Then you can ensure that your Merge Duplicates template is working as expected and not merging non-duplicate records together.
Additionally, you can reduce risk when merging duplicates by narrowing your filter in step 1. Use Exact Match instead of Similar Match. Make sure that you are using true uniquely identifying fields—first name, last name, email, and phone number are popular choices. The more tightly defined your filter is, the less likely you are to merge non-duplicate records.
How many duplicates can I merge into one master record?
You can merge as many duplicates as you would like into one single master record. This setting is available in Step 3 of the Merge Duplicates module.
This setting is here to ensure that if you set too broad of a filter, you do not accidentally merge many non-duplicate records together on accident. This is precautionary, but you can change the setting as needed to match the size of your duplicate groups. If you are going to set this number at a high level, it is a good idea to run in Preview Mode first to make sure your deduplication template is operating as you intend.
Does the amount of identified and merged records have any limits in the paid subscription?
All plans include unlimited usage, unlimited users, and unlimited operations, see the Pricing page. Only during the free trial is the number of records updated, cleansed, or merged capped at 500 records.
Insycle is having trouble determining a master record. What could be causing this issue?
First, check Step 4 to ensure that you have "Priority Match" selected and not "Absolute Match."
With Priority Match, the rules are processed in order and your master record only has to match one rule. In Absolute Match, your master record would have to meet all of the criteria in the "Records" tab in Step 4.
The vast majority of the time it is best to be in Priority Match.
Can I select which data is retained in my master record on a field-by-field basis?
Yes, Insycle allows you to select which fields are retained in the master record based on pre-determined rules. To learn more please see this help article.
I need to exclude some records from deduplication. Can I do that?
Yes. You can exclude records from deduplication by including a "Deduplication Exclude" field in your CSV, as detailed in this help article.
My team needs to review and approve the master, can I accommodate that with Insycle?
Yes. You can manually approve master records and mark them in a CSV, then use Insycle to bulk deduplicate down to those master records. Consult with this help article to learn more.
Alternatively, you can run the Merge Duplicates module in preview mode, then deliver the preview CSV that Insycle generates. This CSV shows exactly how the merge would take place but does not update your live data. Then they can approve the merge based on this document, before running Merge Duplicates in Update Mode.
Additionally, you can choose the master manually by selecting the "Manual" tab in Step 4.
Do my matching fields have to match each other exactly?
No, Insycle does allow you to use similar matching to identify duplicates, although you should be careful. Please read more about that in this help article and more about deduplication best practices.
How can I find duplicates when one field is empty?
Insycle requires the values to match in the "Step 1: Find Duplicates" step, and if the value for the matching fields listed in Step 1 are blank, Insycle will not include those records in the deduplication.
The workaround to having an empty matching value is to remove that condition/field from Step 1 and add it in Step 4. Then, the field will be included in the report generated for you to review and identify when duplicates weren't merged due to a missing field.
For example, let's say in Step 1 you have the matching fields: First Name, Last Name, Phone Number. Sometimes, the Phone Number field may be empty.
Remove the Phone Number Field, and add the "Phone Number Exists" as the last rule in Step 4. Now, Insycle will only use First Name and Last Name to identify the duplicates, but the Phone Number field will be included in the report for those contacts. Then you can use a customized approach to deduplication to merge records that are missing the phone number effectively.
Automation
You can set up ongoing data maintenance automation with Insycle on the module level, or using Recipes.
Audit Trail and History
The Activity Tracker lets you review all changes made through Insycle. At any time you can download a CSV report of the operation and records affected.
Additional Resources
Related Blog Articles
- Hidden Duplicates: 11 Advanced Ways to Identify & Deduplicate Customer Data
- Why Duplicate Contacts are Hurting Your Marketing Team and Straining Your Budget
- Data Duplication and HubSpot: Dealing With Duplicates and the Impact They Have on Your Business
Related Help Articles
- Bulk Merge Duplicate People, Companies
- Customize Bulk Deduplication Using Exclusions and Pre-Defined Masters
- Intercom Merge Duplicates Overview
Additional Resources