Understand Action Components

Understand Action Components

Configure the actions your contacts must perform and engage them in your journey. You can let contacts perform various actions based on the behavior they exhibit during the journey. Using these actions, you can develop various solutions for your business needs.
Zoho Marketing Automation offers various engagement, productivity and CRM actions that you can let your contacts perform in the journey. In this article, we will discuss every action available and how to use them.

ENGAGEMENT ACTIONS

Send Email

Use this action to send email campaigns to your contacts.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Send email action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Create email campaign.
  3. Enter the campaign name and select the topic and click Next.
  4. Select the type of email you want to send and click Save and Proceed.
  5. Add the subject and sender details.
  6. Click Add Content and select an email template and click Use Template.
  7. Click Save and Proceed.
  8. Click Send for Review. Once the review is done your email will be ready to be sent.
  9. Click Save and Exit. 

Email Response Actions

You can move contacts to different paths in the journey based on how they respond to the emails sent through the Send Email action. This helps you engage contacts further based on their level of interaction with your email campaigns.
To use this:
  1. Click on the Edit option within the Send Email action.
  2. Choose the type of email to track:
  1. Any email
  2. Specific email
  3. Journey email
  1. Select the email action(s) that should trigger the path:
  1. Delivered – When the email has been successfully delivered to the contact.
  2. Opened – When the contact opens the email in the journey.
  3. Any link clicked – When the contact clicks on any link in the email content.
  4. Replied – When the contact replies to the email.
  5. Skipped – When the contact is skipped due to journey conditions.
  6. Survey started – When the contact begins a survey included in the email.
  7. Survey completed – When the contact completes the survey included in the email.
  1. Click Save.
  2. Once configured, you can create separate paths from the Send Email action for each selected response condition.
How it works
  1. Contacts enter the corresponding path as soon as they meet the selected condition.
  2. A contact can qualify for multiple response conditions.
  3. The same contact can enter different paths at different times based on their behavior.
For example, if you select Delivered, Opened, and Any link clicked:
  1. A contact who only receives the email will enter the Delivered path.
  2. If they later open the email, they will enter the Opened path.
  3. If they click a link afterward, they will also enter the Any link clicked path.
This allows you to:
  1. Assign tags to engaged contacts.
  2. Update scores based on interaction.
  3. Add contacts to lists.
  4. Trigger further engagement actions.
Contacts continue to move through the journey as and when they satisfy the selected email response conditions, enabling real-time behavioral automation within your journeys.

Send SMS

Use this action to send SMS campaigns to your contacts.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Send SMS action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Create SMS campaign.
  3. Enter a name for your SMS campaigns, select an SMS gateway and click Save and Proceed.
  4. Click Create content.
  5. Enter DLT Template ID if need and add the content for your campaign.
  6. Enable the toggle to add an unsubscribe link to your campaign.
  7. Click Save and click Save and Exit.

Send WhatsApp

Use this action to send WhatsApp campaigns to your contacts.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Send WhatsApp action onto the journey builder.
  2. Click on "Create WhatsApp Campaign to send out to the contacts". 
  3. Integrate with a WhatsApp Business Account by going to Settings > Marketing Channels > WhatsApp.
  4. Click on "Create WhatsApp Campaign to send out to the contacts" to proceed.
  5. Enter the Campaign Name and click Save and Proceed.
  6. Configure the sender details:
  7. Click Configure under "From."
  8. Select the Registered Number from the list.
  9. Click Save.
Create the message content:
  1. Click on Choose Template to select from existing templates.
  2. If no template exists, click Create New.
Create a New Template:
  1. Enter the Template Name.
  2. Choose the Category (Utility or Marketing).
  3. Select the Language.
  4. Choose the Folder from the dropdown list.
  5. Click Proceed.
Customize the message template:
  1. Header: Configure the header (if applicable).
  2. Body: Add the main message you want to send.
  3. Footer (Optional): Provide an unsubscribe message.
  4. Buttons (Optional): Add up to 3 buttons (Phone Number, URL, Quick Reply).
Review and finalize:
  1. Click Send for Review and then Proceed.
  2. You can also click Proceed directly and review the content at a later stage 
Notes
Note: You can't launch a campaign with a template that hasn't been reviewed.
  1. Click Save and Exit to complete the setup.

PRODUCTIVITY ACTIONS

Add to list

Use this action to add contacts to a particular list.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Add to list action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Select a target list from the drop-down or click Add new list to create a new list for this journey.
  4. Click Save.

Remove from list

Use this action to remove contacts from a particular list.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Remove from list action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Select a target list from the drop-down.
  4. Click Save.

Assign Tag

Use this action to assign tags to contacts.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Assign tag action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Select a tag to be assigned from the drop-down or click Create new tag to create a tag for this journey.
  4. Click Save.

Remove Tag

Use this action to remove tags from contacts.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Remove tag action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Select a tag to be removed from the drop-down or click Create new tag to create a tag for this journey.
  4. Click Save.

Update Contact Field

Use this action to update contact fields.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Update contact field action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Select a field to be updated from the drop-down.
  4. Enter the field's value that has to be updated Or
  5. Select Clear field if you want to remove field value for a list of contacts.
  6. Click Save.

Update Lead Score

Use this action to update contact's score.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Update contact field action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the score for contacts who enter this action.
  4. Click Save.

Update Lead Stage

Use this action to update the stage at which contacts are at.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Update lead stage action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Select the lead stage.
  4. Click Save.

Send Internal Notification

Use this action to send internal notification email to your peers.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Send internal notification action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Configure internal email.
  3. Add the subject, select the email addresses, select an alternative email address and enter email content.
  4. Click Save.

Subscription Management

Use this action to manage topic subscription for your contacts entering the journey. In this action you can:
  1. Add a subscription to marketing topics - The contacts entering your journey will be subscribed to selected topics. They will receive only emails based on the selected topics.
Notes
Note: In case the contacts entering the journey are non-marketing, they will first be converted into a marketing contact and then be subscribed to the selected topics.
  1. Remove a subscription from marketing topics - The contacts entering your journey will be unsubscribed from the selected topics. They will no longer receive emails related to those topics.
  2. Mark contacts as non-marketing - When a contact is marked as non-marketing, its subscription to any topic will be removed. So if you select this option, the contacts entering the journey will be unsubscribed from all topics and they will no longer receive any marketing emails.
Notes
Note : You can choose marketing topics for these contacts manually at any point of time in the future.
Unsubscribe contacts from all topics - This option will unsubscribe contacts entering the journey from all topics in the organization and will be exited from the journey immediately. They will no longer receive any marketing emails.
Notes
Note: You can either mark these contacts as non-marketing if you don't want them to be exited from the journey and also select marketing topics for these contacts at any point of time in the future.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Subscription management action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Configure subscription management.
  3. Select from the following options:
    - Add a subscription to marketing topics and select a topic.
    - Remove a subscription from marketing topics and select a topic.
    - Mark contacts as non-marketing
    - Unsubscribe from all topics.
  4. Click Save.

Time Delay

Use this action to set a time period for contacts to wait before performing further actions in your journey.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Time delay action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Add how long contacts should wait in hours or days.
  4. Choose to resume immediately after the delay or between a specific time period.
  5. Choose which days of the week to perform this action.
  6. Click Save.

Wait Condition

Use this action to set conditions for your contacts to satisfy before a specific time period before moving into further processes of the journey.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Wait condition action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Enter the criteria, the modifier and its value.
  4. Click Add Group to add another condition which can be combined with a AND/OR condition. You can set as many conditions as you want.
  5. Add how long contacts should wait in hours or days.
  6. Click Save.

Move to Another Journey

Use this action to move contacts to another journey with an open trigger. An open trigger is not based on any criteria. The journey with an open trigger will be open to contacts pushed to it by other entities (e.g., other journeys, workflows).
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Move to another journey action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. Select the journey to which contacts should move into.
  4. Click Save.

Remove From Journey

Use this action to remove a list of contacts from a journey. Drag and drag the Remove from journey action beneath the components where the contacts that need to be deleted will appear.

CRM ACTIONS

Push Data

Use this action to push contact data into your Zoho CRM account.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Push data CRM action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. The CRM account connected to your Zoho Marketing Automation account will be displayed.
  4. Choose to which Zoho CRM account module you want to push data.
  5. View mapped fields and map more fields if needed.
  6. Enable map custom source if needed, enter the source and select the CRM field.
  7. Click Save.

Create task

Use this action to create tasks for your contacts in your Zoho CRM account.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Create task CRM action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. The CRM account connected to your Zoho Marketing Automation account will be displayed.
  4. Choose which Zoho CRM account module the contacts belong to.
  5. View mapped fields and map more fields if needed.
  6. Enable map custom source if needed, enter the source and select the CRM field.
  7. Enter the subject for the task and task details in the description box.
  8. Set the due date, status and priority for the task.
  9. Select who to assign the task to and the assignee of the task.
  10. Click Save.

Create Deal

Use this action to update a deal in your Zoho CRM account.
To configure this:
  1. Drag and drop the Create task CRM action onto the builder.
  2. Click the Edit icon.
  3. The CRM account connected to your Zoho Marketing Automation account will be displayed.
  4. Enter the name for your deal.
  5. Set the due date, stage at which the deal is at and the amount for the deal.
  6. Select who the deal will be assigned to and the assignee.
  7. View mapped fields and map more fields if needed.
  8. Enable map custom source if needed, enter the source and select the CRM field.
  9. Click Save.

Manage Action Components

You can edit, delete and clone actions in your journey. Zoho Marketing Automation also allows you to edit you active journey. Read on to learn how to perform these actions.
Manage draft versions of your journey

To edit an action in the draft version of the journey:

  1. Click the Edit icon on the desired action component.
  2. Edit the action and Click Save.  
  3. To clone an action in the draft version of the journey:
  4. Click the Clone icon on the desired action component.
  5. A clone of the action will automatically appear on your builder. 

To delete an action in the draft version of the journey:

  1. Click the Delete icon on the desired action component.  
  2. The action will be deleted from your builder.

Manage live journeys

To edit an action in an active journey:

Click Pause on the top-right of the journey builder and click Edit.
Click the Edit icon on the desired action component.
Edit the action and Click Save.  
Click Relaunch to activate the journey again.

To clone an action in an active journey:

  1. Click Pause on the top-right of the journey builder and click Edit.
  2. Click the Clone icon on the desired action component.
  3. A clone of the action will automatically appear on your builder.
  4. Click Relaunch to activate the journey again.

To delete an action in an active journey:

  1. Click Pause on the top-right of the journey builder and click Edit.
  2. Click the Delete icon on the desired action component.  
  3. The action will be deleted from your builder.
  4. Click Relaunch to activate the journey again.