CX App

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Updates to CX App Automation Actions

Introduction

The CX App Automation Actions within ActiveCampaign have recently received a significant enhancement that broadens the personalization capabilities across customer touchpoints. This August 2024 release update empowers automation builders to harness key business data from additional objects—specifically, Accounts, Deals, Ecommerce, and Custom Objects—within their CX app-based automation steps.

By including access to these enriched data sets, CX apps such as Slack and Postmark can now be used to deliver far more personalized and context-aware messaging and actions. These upgrades reflect ActiveCampaign's consistent drive to streamline workflows and enable more dynamic and data-driven marketing campaigns with minimal manual intervention.

This enhancement presents a major step forward in achieving unified automation orchestration across channels and platforms, positioning CX apps as a powerful tool in delivering 1:1 customer experiences.

How to Access CX App Automation Actions

To utilize the updated CX App Automation Actions, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have an ActiveCampaign plan that includes Automations (available on **Starter**, **Plus**, **Professional**, and **Enterprise** tiers)
• Have connected third-party CX apps that support personalization, such as Slack or Postmark
• Have an existing **automation workflow** or create a new one

You can access the CX App actions directly from within the automation builder in your ActiveCampaign account.

Step-by-Step Instructions

To begin using the enhanced CX App Automation Actions, follow these instructions:

1. Navigate to Automations

- Click on the Automations tab from your main navigation panel. - Select an existing automation or click the Create an automation button to start a new one.

2. Add a CX App Action

- In your automation workflow, click the + button where you wish to add a new action. - In the modal dialog that appears, scroll or search for your preferred CX App (e.g., "Slack" or "Postmark").

3. Configure the Action

- After selecting the CX App, choose the specific action you want to trigger (such as **Send Slack Message**). - In the configuration panel, you'll now be able to pull in data from additional sources:

 * **Account fields** – e.g., Account Name, Industry
 * **Deal fields** – e.g., Deal Title, Deal Stage
 * **Ecommerce data** – e.g., Item Purchased, Order Value
 * **Custom Objects data** – based on your configured schema

- Use personalization tags to insert these dynamically into your message body or API payload.

4. Save and Activate

- Once you're satisfied with the action setup, click Save. - When your full automation is ready, activate it by toggling the status to Active at the top-right corner of the automation builder.

Configuration Options and Settings

The updated CX App Automation Actions allow deeper configuration flexibility by supporting personalization through external and internal data references.

Key configuration options include:

• Message templates: Design customized messages that include account, deal, ecommerce, or custom object data.
• Field mappings: Associate fields dynamically using personalization tags (e.g., %DEAL_NAME%) from different data sources.
• Supported objects:

 - **Accounts**: Leverage B2B organization-level data
 - **Deals**: Insert deal progress or ownership data
 - **Ecommerce**: Use order frequency or purchase behavior
 - **Custom Objects**: Utilize vertical-specific data like membership IDs, case numbers, etc.

Note: The precise fields available will vary based on your integration and custom schema setup.

Best Practices and Tips

To get the most from the updated CX App Automation Actions, consider the following best practices:

• **Use personalization intentionally**: Include reference data only when it enhances clarity or customer connection to avoid information overload.
• **Leverage Custom Objects strategically**: If your business tracks unique identifiers or schemes (e.g., subscription level, policy code), Custom Objects can be mapped into your messaging.
• **Segment your automations**: Use contact data or behavioral triggers to create more refined workflows that only include relevant CX app actions.
• **Test your automations**: Before deploying a live outreach using Slack or Postmark, perform end-to-end tests with your triggered data paths to validate field population and expected behavior.
• **Keep your integration up to date**: Ensure your external CX apps are current and authorized with ActiveCampaign to enable seamless data sharing.

Common Use Cases

The expanded data support in CX App automations enables a wide variety of powerful use cases:

Example 1: Welcome Slack alert for new Deals

- When a new deal is created in a particular pipeline, a Slack message is triggered to notify the assigned rep, including the **Deal Title**, **Account Name**, and **Deal Value**.

Example 2: Transactional email through Postmark

- Send targeted ecommerce transactional messages using order details such as **Item Name**, **Total Purchase Amount**, and **Order Date** by connecting Postmark and embedding the data inline.

Example 3: Renewal reminder with Custom Object data

- Trigger an email reminder via a CX app for subscription renewal, leveraging **Membership ID** or **Expiry Date** stored in custom objects to customize the message timing and content.

Troubleshooting

If you're encountering issues while implementing the updated CX App actions:

• **Missing fields**: Ensure your external CX app supports the enhanced personalization capabilities and that the integration is properly configured and authorized.
• **Unpopulated tags in messages**: Double-check that the personalization tags used (e.g. %ACCOUNT_NAME%) match the relevant object field syntax and exist for triggered contacts.
• **Action not working**: Confirm the automation is active and that test contacts meet the condition criteria and pass through the CX app action node.
• **Integration disconnects**: Reconnect your CX app through the Apps & Integrations section and confirm permissions.

Related Features

For more advanced use or troubleshooting, consider exploring articles or topics around:

• Automation
• 2024 Release Notes
• ActiveCampaign Release Notes
• Related app-specific integrations like Slack and Postmark

FAQ

1. What are CX App Automation Actions?

CX App actions allow you to trigger events or send data through third-party integrations like Slack and Postmark directly from ActiveCampaign automation workflows.

2. What’s new in the August 2024 update?

The enhancement adds support for new data types—Accounts, Deals, Ecommerce, and Custom Objects—within personalization for CX App actions.

3. Which plans include this feature?

This update is available for customers on ActiveCampaign's **Starter**, **Plus**, **Professional**, and **Enterprise** plans that support Automations.

4. Can I use Custom Object data in CX App actions?

Yes, if you have created Custom Objects in ActiveCampaign, their associated fields can now be inserted into CX App messages, provided they are connected correctly.

5. Which CX Apps support this update?

While this depends on the third-party app, Slack and Postmark are two examples of apps that support enhanced personalization with the new data access.

6. Do I need to change my existing automations?

No. Your existing automations will continue to work. However, you can edit them to take advantage of this broader personalization capability.

7. Is manual data mapping needed to include data from Deals or Ecommerce?

No. The integration automatically exposes relevant data fields, which can be dynamically inserted via personalization tags within the action configuration UI.

Additional Resources

- Slack Integration Page - Postmark Integration with ActiveCampaign - Automation - 2024 Release Notes

If you still have questions, we recommend visiting the full ActiveCampaign Release Notes or checking the most recent articles under 2024 Release Notes.