Thanks to all your feedback and a change in the [MailChimp API](http://www.mailchimp.com/api/), we’ve made a few updates to our [MailChimp Integration](http://www.wufoo.com/partners/mailchimp) that makes it possible to use MailChimp’s **Merge Tag** and **Interest Group** features with Wufoo’s Multiple Choice fields, Dropdown fields and Checkboxes. Yay!

Accessing and using these new features is really easy. On MailChimp’s end, just add and set up the **merge tags** and **interest groups** you want to use with each of your mailing lists. In Wufoo, these new features can be accessed right in the Field Matching settings we provide when you set up the integration in our [Notification Settings](https://help.wufoo.com/articles/en_US/kb/Notifications/). Inside that lightbox interface, you’ll see the fields you can match up to MailChimp are divided into the two different types.

###Improved Merge Tag Support

MailChimp’s [Merge Tags](http://www.mailchimp.com/kb/article/how-do-conditional-smart-merge-tags-work) feature allow users to associate additional data with the email addresses you collected so you can use that information in their templating system to customize your email campaigns with your lead’s name, address, phone number, etc.

While we’ve always supported the Merge Tags feature, our field matching integration when we launched only worked on a limited number of fields and couldn’t be matched up if you were using any fields with fixed choices (like dropdowns, multiple choice/radio fields and checkboxes). Thanks to our new changes, this restriction has been lifted and you can now match these fields easily to the corresponding versions on MailChimp’s end.

One thing to keep in mind when you add Merge Tags for these newly supported fields is that the data has to match up exactly on both Wufoo and on MailChimp’s end. This means that if you add/edit/delete choices associated with your field in Wufoo (or visa versa with the merge tags in MailChimp) then you have to add/edit/delete the data in the exact same way in the other application to make sure the real time notification doesn’t error.

Please note that you cannot field match the Multiple Choice Other textbox in Wufoo with the Radio merge tag fields in Mailchimp. You can learn more about our integrating with MailChimp’s merge tags in our [documentation](https://help.wufoo.com/articles/en_US/kb/Integrations/mailchimp/#rules “MailChimp Merge Tag Rules”)

###Interest Group Support

Inside MailChimp, they provide a segmenting feature for your mailing lists called [Interest Groups](http://www.mailchimp.com/kb/article/what-is-a-group-and-why-would-i-want-to-set-one-up/), which Wufoo now supports. Interest Groups are matched up separately in the same Field Matching interface as your Merge Tags and can only be matched up to fields with fixed choices like **checkboxes, multiple choice fields** and **dropdowns.**

You can think of Interest Groups as pre-defined segments for your MailChimp email lists. For example, imagine you have a foundation to save [The Lemmings](http://www.elizium.nu/scripts/lemmings/), and you’re building an email list of parties interested in receiving info about their plight. If you don’t want to create just one big list (because different people want only certain information about the Lemmings campaign), you can use Interest Groups to categorize users in your list and isolate them when needed to send them focused email messages. For example, you could create the following groups in MailChimp: General News, Volunteer Opportunities, Legislative Alerts, Recent Research and Letters from the President.

One nice flourish you’ll appreciate is the fact that the MailChimp Field Group text need not reflect the Wufoo Checkbox choice text. This means that your MailChimp group can be named “Volunteer Opportunities” while the Wufoo checkbox could read “Volunteer Opportunities In My Area”. This small touch allows your UX specialist to customize the text of the Wufoo field to best match the look/feel of your form.

Remember, just like Merge Tags, certain [guidelines](https://help.wufoo.com/articles/en_US/kb/Integrations/mailchimp/#choices “MailChimp Interest Group Rules”) must be followed when matching the choices associated with Interest Groups to Wufoo fields. For example, if you’re using the Other textbox option for your multiple choice field, this will also **NOT** work with the field matching to Interest Groups.

And that’s all she wrote! These new features are available to all users across all accounts in Wufoo and we hope you’ll enjoy having Merge Tags and Interest Groups become another weapon in your MailChimp arsenal.