Mailchimp Merge Duplicates Overview

Insycle supports merging the following Mailchimp record types:

• Contacts

In the Data Management Merge Duplicates module, pick the record type, and explore the default templates for an existing solution similar to what you need.

Each row in Step 1 is for a field you want to look at for duplicates, along with some parameters on what to look for. You want to choose fields that, in combination, give a high degree of certainty that the matched records are duplicate records. 

If you'd like to look at the data in two different fields (that contain similar data) as if it were one, you can set up Related Fields under the Advanced tab. 

The Conditions tab provides rules that one or more of the records in a duplicate group must meet. These options let you choose fields that are required, can be empty, or specify values that must be included.

Learn more about Setting the Criteria for Finding Duplicate Matches.

When two or more records represent the same entity (person, company, or other) based on your matching rules, they are clustered together into duplicate groups. Each duplicate group shows the total number of records that were identified as duplicates based on your settings. For example, if you had four records for the same person, it would count as one duplicate group with four duplicate records.

In Step 3, you define how your duplicates are merged. You'll choose your operation mode, set rules for which record becomes the master, and optionally control which field values are retained after the merge. 

Choose Your Operation Mode

At the top of Step 3, select Bulk or Manual mode:

• Bulk mode (recommended) — Automatically merges all duplicate groups according to your master selection rules. This is the right choice for most deduplication operations and is required for Templates, Recipes, and Automation.
• Manual mode — Lets you select specific records to merge one at a time from the Record Viewer. Reserve this for high-value records or complex situations that require hands-on review of each merge. Learn more about merging using Manual mode.

Most users should select Bulk mode and proceed.

Configure Rules to Automatically Select the Master Record (Master Tab)

On the Master tab of Step 3, you define how the duplicate groups should be merged at scale by creating rules that tell Insycle how to select the record from each group to become the master. The master is the record that will remain after the merge.

For example, if you had four records representing the same contact, they would all be merged into one master record. The other three records would not exist anymore.

Learn more about Choosing Which Record Remains After a Merge.

Here, you also select the processing method—By Priority or Absolute. Most de-duplication operations should use By Priority. 

Configure Rules That Determine Values to Keep

Duplicates may be exact match versions of another record, but often there is only partial data overlap between them. When data is split between two records, both may contain unique and important information you want to keep.

Under Step 3, click the Fields tab. For each field you want to control the data retention for, you need to tell Insycle which record the data should be taken from. This is merged into the master. Any data that is not in the master or not copied to the master is removed.

Learn more about Keeping the Right Data When Records Merge.

Preview Merged Changes in CSV Report

Now, with the filters and master record set up, you can preview the changes you are making to your data in a CSV. That way, you can check to ensure your deduplication configuration is working as expected before those changes are pushed to your live database.

Under Step 4, click the Review button and select Preview mode.

On the Notify tab, select recipients and add context to the report email.

On the When tab, click the Run Now tab, and select which records to apply the change to (you could do All, but if you have a large number of records, you may just want to do a chunk for your preview), then click the Run Now button.

Insycle will generate a preview CSV and send it to your email. Open the CSV file from your email in a spreadsheet application.

The Duplicate Group ID indicates which records will be merged together. 

The Status column indicates:

• Duplicate – The record is part of a duplicate group.
• Master – The master record chosen for the duplicate group based on default behavior and your Master rules. Review the selections in this row to determine whether the appropriate records are being chosen.
• Master (After) – For each duplicate group, a special row –Master (After)– will appear in the CSV report. The Master (After) row shows the values the final record will contain based on your Field rules and the default behavior. 
• Error – If Insycle is not able to determine which record would be the master, an error message will appear here. See the Merge Duplicates Troubleshooting for more details.

If everything looks good, return to Insycle and move forward with applying the changes.

Apply Changes to Your Mailchimp Records

When you're satisfied with the results in your preview, you can apply the merge changes to Mailchimp.

Under Step 4, click the Review button again, and this time select Update mode.

On the When tab, you should use Run Now the first time you apply these changes to Mailchimp. If you have a large number of records, you may want to do a smaller batch to review the results in Mailchimp.

After you've seen the results in Mailchimp and you are satisfied with how the operation runs, you can save your configuration as a template and set up automation so this merge operation runs on a set schedule. If you have several templates you'd like to run together automatically, you can create a Recipe.

Return to the Template menu at the top of the page and click Copy to save your configurations as a new version of the template you started with. Then click the pencil to edit your new template name.

Under Step 4, click the Review button, and select Update mode.

On the Notify tab, select the send option appropriate for your automation: Always send, Send when errors, or Do not email.

Add any additional recipients who should receive the CSV (hitting Enter after each address) and provide context in the message subject or body.

On the When tab, select Automate, and configure the frequency you'd like the template to run. When finished, click Schedule.

You can view all your scheduled automations at any time on the Operations Automations page.

When you have a set of templates that reliably merge your records, you can put them together into a longer, ordered sequence as a Recipe. Then you can schedule that Recipe to run on a consistent schedule. Your templates will run one after another in the order that you set.

With the Activity Tracker, you have a complete audit trail and history of changes made through Insycle, including processes run in Preview mode or data syncs. At any time, you can download a CSV report that shows all the changes made in a given operation run.

Navigate to Operations Activity Tracker, search by module, app, or template name, then click the Run ID for the operation.

If you've configured the Insycle Run ID property in Mailchimp, you can cross-reference these operations in your CRM records.

When merging duplicates, Insycle goes through the following steps for all Mailchimp record types:

1. Select the master record according to the rules set in Step 3 on the Master tab.
2. Determine field values to retain in the master record based on rules configured in Step 3 on the Fields tab.
3. For fields without specific rules, identify non-empty values using a "fill in the blanks" method:
   • Check whether the master record has any empty fields.
   • If empty, copy values from the most recently updated record in the duplicate group.
4. Update the master record by:
   • Applying the field values chosen in step 2 (from Field rules).
   • Adding the non-empty values identified in step 3 (using "fill in the blanks").
   • Preserving all other existing values in the master record.
5. Merge the duplicate records and reassign all related objects to the master record.
6. Store an audit trail report accessible from the Activity Tracker and send an email notification to the designated recipients.

If you're uncertain about how conflicting field values will merge, you can add those fields to the Preview CSV report by including them in the Layout via the gear icon in Step 2.

This is also useful if there are fields you're worried about backing up; including them in the CSV report allows you to refer back to the values in the CSV sent to your email or downloaded from the Activity Tracker.

Companies usually aim to avoid duplicate contacts across audiences to prevent repeated outreach or missing important context in their communications.

Unfortunately, deduplicating across audiences cannot be handled from within Mailchimp. However, Insycle allows you to deduplicate across Mailchimp audiences by default.

To learn more, see Cross-Audience Deduplication in Mailchimp.

Yes, Insycle does cross-audience deduplication in Mailchimp by default. See the Cross-Audience Deduplication in Mailchimp article to learn more.