Mailchimp | ElevenLabs Documentation

Your receptionist can sign callers up to your mailing list. It confirms their email address, then adds them to your Mailchimp audience through Mailchimp’s Marketing API. Mailchimp sends each new contact a confirmation email before they’re subscribed.

Before you start

You need these values from Mailchimp:

Value	Where to find it
API key	Profile → Extras → API keys → Create A Key
Server prefix	The end of the API key after the dash, for example `us21`
Audience ID	Audience → All contacts → Settings → Audience name and defaults

Mailchimp authenticates API keys with HTTP basic auth. Build the header value on your computer:

printf 'reception:YOUR_API_KEY' | base64

Create the webhook tool

Go to Integrations, select Add integration, and choose Webhook Tool.

Field	Value
Name	`add_to_mailing_list`
Description	”Add the caller to the mailing list. Only use it after the caller has asked to join and has confirmed their email address letter by letter.”
Method	POST
URL	`https://SERVER_PREFIX.api.mailchimp.com/3.0/lists/AUDIENCE_ID/members`
Request Headers	`Authorization` set to `Basic` followed by the encoded value
Body Parameters	`email_address` (string, required): “The caller’s email address.” `status` (string, required): “Always the exact value `pending`.”
Assign to agents	Receptionist

Select Enable, then test your receptionist by asking to join the mailing list. The contact appears in your audience as Pending until they confirm the email.

pending sends Mailchimp’s opt-in confirmation email. A caller saying yes on the phone is not written consent in every country, so keep double opt-in unless you’re sure you don’t need it.

The tool sends only top-level fields, so it can’t fill merge fields such as first name, which Mailchimp nests under merge_fields. To add them, route the signup through Zapier instead.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
401 from Mailchimp	Re-encode the header value and check that the server prefix in the URL matches the API key.
404 from Mailchimp	Check the audience ID in the URL.
`Member Exists`	The address is already on the list. Your receptionist can tell the caller they’re already subscribed.
`Invalid Resource`	The email address is malformed. Ask your receptionist to spell addresses back to callers before submitting.