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Start a campaign for a custom object

Start a campaign for a custom object enrolls the contacts associated with a custom object record in a specified email campaign. Use it when the record in your automation is a custom object, such as a class enrollment, a pet, or a vehicle, but the people you want to email are the contacts linked to that record, such as a parent or an owner.

This action is available on custom-object-scoped triggers and requires Campaigns Pro.

info

This step is currently in draft, so it is available to Vendasta staff and trusted testers while it is being finalized.

How it works​

  1. The automation reaches the step with a custom object record in scope
  2. The step looks up the contacts associated with that record
  3. Up to 50 associated contacts are enrolled in the selected campaign
  4. Each contact receives the campaign emails
  5. The automation continues to the next step

If the record has no associated contacts, the step fails with the message No contacts are associated with this record, so there was no one to enroll in the campaign, and the failure appears in the automation activity. Nobody is enrolled. A campaign can only be started once for each contact, and a contact linked to the same record more than once is enrolled once.

Set up the action​

  1. Open the automation builder and add a new step
  2. Under Campaigns and emails, select Start a campaign for a custom object
  3. Select the campaign to start

The custom object type is inferred from the trigger or from a preceding step such as Find custom object, so there is nothing else to configure.

Outputs​

OutputDescription
CampaignThe campaign that was started.
ContactsThe contacts that were enrolled in the campaign.

Use case example​

Follow up with a parent after a class ends​

A tutoring business tracks each child's class registration as a custom object, and the parent is the contact associated with it. When a registration is added to a Completed Art 101 list, the business wants to invite the parent to next season's class.

Step 1 — Set the trigger

Select A custom object is added to a list (under Custom objects) and choose the Completed Art 101 list.

Step 2 — Add the Start a campaign for a custom object step

  • Under Campaigns and emails, select Start a campaign for a custom object
  • Select the Next season's classes campaign

The parent linked to the registration is enrolled in the campaign. If a registration has no parent linked to it, the step fails for that record and the automation activity shows the reason, so the team can fix the record.