Automate Subscription Management for CRM Contacts Using Workflows in Zoho Campaigns

Automate Subscription Management for CRM Contacts Using Workflows in Zoho Campaigns

Hello, marketers! Welcome back to Marketer’s Space. In this week’s post, we’ll look at how to simplify subscription management using Workflows for contacts synced from Zoho CRM in Zoho Campaigns. There are multiple ways to assign topics to your contacts:
  • Default assignment at sync: When syncing contacts from CRM, you can either keep them unsubscribed (no topics) or subscribe them to all available topics. This gives you a clean starting point, especially if you plan to collect preferences later.
  • Letting contacts choose: You can send an email campaign with a preference center link, allowing contacts to choose the topics they’re interested in. Their selections are automatically reflected in their topic subscriptions.
  • Manual updates via CRM: If your sales team collects customer interests during conversations, they can record them in custom CRM fields such as a field called “Interests.” These fields can hold one or more interest values like sale, product launch, or newsletters. Once these contacts are synced into Zoho Campaigns, you can build a Workflow that reads this data and automatically subscribes each contact to the relevant topics.
In this post, we’ll look at how to use custom CRM fields and Workflows in Zoho Campaigns to automate topic assignment based on customer interests.

Why automate subscription management?   

When both your sales team and your customers update subscription preferences, manual handling can get messy. Automating this process ensures that:
  • Your contact lists stay up-to-date
  • You remain compliant with email regulations
  • You send only relevant emails to the right audience

Sync CRM contacts with a targeted list   

To begin, sync your Zoho CRM contacts to a specific mailing list in Zoho Campaigns. This list will serve as the foundation for your targeting and automation.
Here’s how you can set it up:
  • Go to Settings > Apps > Zoho CRM and connect your account.
  • Then navigate to Contacts > Sync Services > New Sync.
Choose the CRM module you’d like to sync (e.g., Leads, Contacts or custom modules ) and map it to a mailing list in Zoho Campaigns.

Once the sync is set up, you can trigger Workflows using:
  • List Entry – Triggers when a contact is added to the synced list.
  • Field Update – Triggers based on changes to mapped CRM field values.

This setup ensures your Workflows respond dynamically to CRM data and list activity.

Capture interests directly in Zoho CRM   

Your sales team can log customer interests in a custom CRM field (e.g., Interests). This might include values like:
  • Sale
  • New Product Launch
  • Exclusive Content
These values become the key to targeting contacts with relevant content.

Create topics in Zoho Campaigns   

To align campaigns with user interests, create relevant topics inside Zoho Campaigns.
You’ll find this under Contacts > Manage Topics. 



Consider topics like:
  • Newsletters
  • Member-only updates
  • Sale announcements
  • Product launches

Organizing your campaigns under topics helps contacts manage preferences and improves engagement.

Build your automated subscription Workflow      

Trigger the Workflow   

Use the “List Entry” trigger with your CRM-synced list.
Alternately, use the “Field Update” trigger to filter based on interest fields or subscription status.  

Split based on Interests   

Add the Process Condition component and select the Multi-way option.
  • Branch 1: Interest is “Sale”
  • Branch 2: Interest is “New Product Launch”
  • Branch 3: Interest is empty → default to unsubscribe  

Assign subscriptions automatically   

For each branch, add the “Subscription Management” action component:
  • Branch 1 → Subscribe to Sale Announcements
  • Branch 2 → Subscribe to Product Launches
  • Branch 3 → Unsubscribe from all topics to avoid sending irrelevant emails
This ensures each contact only receives what they opted in for or nothing irrelevant.

Assigning Multiple Topics Using Comma-Separated Values   

If your CRM contacts are interested in more than one topic, you can record multiple interests in a single CRM field using comma-separated values. For example: sale, launch, newsletters
When you use the “contains” modifier, you can match this field against several keywords at once and assign multiple topics in a single branch.

Trigger the workflow 

Use the Field Update trigger and select the CRM field where interests are stored (e.g., Interests). This workflow will activate whenever the field is updated in CRM.

Add the Process Condition  

  • Insert a Multi-way process component and set the condition to: Interests contains sale launch newsletters 
  • Make sure the keywords are separated by spaces so that each word can be evaluated individually. If the contact’s field contains any of the specified values (sale, launch, newsletters), the workflow will take this path.

Assign multiple topic subscriptions 

To that branch, add the Subscription Management action component and add all relevant topics. This ensures:
  • A single contact can be subscribed to multiple relevant topics
  • No interest is missed out during automation

Advanced Use Case: 

Use an additional CRM field like Customer Type (e.g., Member, Non-member). Create a separate Workflow that:
  • Filters contacts with “Member” status
  • Subscribes them to exclusive member-only topics
This lets you send gated content without mixing up audiences.  

Use Segments as an alternative trigger   

Instead of using a list-based trigger, you can create a Segment using criteria like CRM fields or engagement behavior. Then:
  • Trigger a Workflow when a contact is added to a segment using the “Enter a Segment” trigger component
  • Automate topic subscriptions or unsubscribes from there
This is ideal when you prefer dynamic criteria over static list membership.

With Workflows in Zoho Campaigns, subscription management becomes hands-free, precise, and personalized. Whether you’re handling thousands of CRM contacts or running niche campaigns for select groups, this setup keeps your audience segmentation sharp and relevant.

See you soon with more ways to supercharge the Zoho CRM + Campaigns integration. Until then, happy marketing!

Regards,
Pearlin Nitika
User Education | Zoho Campaigns

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Updates for Zoho Campaigns: Merge tag, footer, and autoresponder migration

        Hello everyone, We'd like to inform you of some upcoming changes with regard to Zoho Campaigns. We understand that change can be difficult, but we're dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition while keeping you all informed and engaged throughout the process.

      • Customizing Helpcenter texts

        I’m customizing the Zoho Desk Help Center and I’d like to change the wording of the standard widgets – for example, the text in the “Submit Ticket” banner that appears in the footer, or other built-in widget labels and messages. So far, I haven’t found

      • Zoho Desk - I am no longer receiving email notifications when comments are made on tickets

        I still receive other notifications via email (e.g., new tickets and replies) - however beginning May21, I no longer receive notifications on comments (whether private or public) - I have confirmed that notifications are toggled on for agents within system/notification

      • Issues with Campaign Results Sync Between Zoho Campaigns and Zoho CRM

        Hi everyone, I’m experiencing an issue with the integration between Zoho Campaigns and Zoho CRM. When I send campaigns from Zoho Campaigns, the results shown in Campaigns (such as the number of emails sent, opened, and clicked) do not exactly match the

      • Greek languge

        Hello, Is there any support for Greek language in the near future?

      • Import records with lookup field ids

        Hi Is anyone able to import records into Recruit via spreadsheet / csv which contain ids as the lookup values. When importing from spreadsheet lookups will associate with the related records if using record name, however when using related records id

      • Custom module history is useless

        Hi I am evaluating ZOHO DESK as my support platform. As such I created a few custom modules for devices assigned to employees. I want to be able to see the whole picture when a device was reassigned to someone, but the history shows nothing Is there any

      • Email rejected per DMARC policy

        Hi, We've got the return message from zoho like 'host mx.zoho.com[204.141.33.44] said: 550 5.7.1 Email rejected per DMARC policy for circlecloudco.com in reply to end of DATA command' We're sure our source IP address matches the SPF the sender domain

      • EMail Migration to Google Apps is Too Slow

        We are moving to Google Apps and the email migration is really slow. Anyway you guys check if this is a server issue?

      • How to import subform data - SOLUTION

        To all trying to import subform data, I might have a solution for you. First of all, for this solution to work, the subform data needs to be an independent form (not ad hoc created on the main form). Furthermore, this approach uses Excel sheets - it might not work using CSV/TSV. If this is true, then follow these steps: Import the subform records Then export these records once more including their ID Now prepare an import file for the main form that needs to contain the subform records Within this

      • Help center custom tab - link color

        I’m trying to add a custom tab to the main navigation in the Zoho Desk Help Center, for example to link to an external resource like a website. The problem is that any custom tab I add always shows up as a blue link – it doesn’t match the style of the

      • Organization API: code 403 "Crm_Implied_Api_Access" error for "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2/org"

        Hello. I've developed an add-on that allows clients to synchronize data from Zoho CRM with the Google Spreadsheet. I am using the OAUTH2 protocol, so clients will have to authenticate into their Zoho account, and Zoho will send back to the app an access token which will be used to get data. Currently, there are about 100 clients, and everything works smoothly. Today I've found that a guy who could become a new client was not able to to get his organization data, because the application receiving

      • Pick list - Cannot save list "Special Characters not Allowed" error message

        Bulk uploading values. All values are pretty standard - with the exception of a "-" (dash). Like:  Industry - Prepared Food Is the simple dash a special character too? Jan

      • Zoho Projects API Error - API v3; Always HTTP 400

        Below I have uploaded my .py file I'm using: Always returns with response 400 :(( Console Logs: (venv) PS C:\Users\sreep\venv> python .\TimesheetBuddy.py Token file not found. * Serving Flask app 'TimesheetBuddy' * Debug mode: off WARNING: This is a development

      • Inquiry: Integrating In-house Chatbot with Zoho Desk for Live Agent Support

        Hi Team, We are exploring the possibility of integrating our existing in-house chatbot with Zoho Desk to provide seamless escalation to live agents. Our requirement is as follows: within our chatbot interface, we want to offer users a "Talk to Agent"

      • Zoho Mail will not set up in Thunderbird

        I am using Thunderbird 13.0.1 in Linux Mint 13 64-bit.  I cannot set up my Zoho IMAP email in this client.  This is evidently a common problem as evidenced by these postings in the Thunderbird forum: thunderbird can't seem to "find the settings" I cannot configure it for my zoho.com email account I can not get ZOHO to configure. Any suggestions? The best T-bird seems to be able to do is to refer these users to the Zoho forum. I believe the instructions in the Zoho help wiki are correct, although

      • Introducing an option to set comments to public by default

        Hello all, Greetings! We are pleased to announce that Desk's user preferences now brings an option to set a comment type as Public or Private by default. In addition to setting reply buttons as defaults, Agents or Admins can now choose to make their ticket

      • Increase size of description editor when creating new ticket

        Please can you consider making the description editor in the create new ticket form a resizeable area as by default, it is very small and there appears to be no way to increase the size of it.

      • Flutter Plugin Compatibility Issue: Unresolved Reference to FlutterPluginRegistry in zohodesk_portal_apikit

        I am integrating the zohodesk_portal_apikit Flutter plugin (version 2.2.1) into my Flutter project, but I am encountering a build error related to an unresolved reference to FlutterPluginRegistry in the file ZDPBaseActivityAwarePlugin.kt. Below is the

      • I need my MFA number. I am trying to log into my CharmEhr. account and I can't get in. Everytime I try to sign in, it says to enter my MFA #. I don't have it.

        Need an MFA #

      • CRM Plus Accounts and Products relationships

        Is there a way that an invoice that is paid, would add the products to the account record once it is delivered? I want to find an easy way that products will get added to the account record and assumed this would work. The benefit here would be that I

      • "Super Admin Login as Another User" for Zoho One

        Dear Zoho One Team, We would like to request that the "Super Admin Login as Another User" feature be extended to Zoho One, allowing Super Admins to access user accounts across all Zoho One applications. We understand that this functionality is currently

      • Workflow for Creator App

        I am new to coding but doing pretty good with internet searching and ChatGPT but I have hit a major roadblock. What I am trying to do is have a sub-form populated with data from a form based on selected variables. I know this is possible because a guy

      • Subform dynamic fields on Edit, Load of Main form.

        Main Form: Time_Entry Sub Form (separate form): Time_Entries Time_Entries.Time_Entry_No is lookup to - Time_Entry.Time_Sheet_ID (auto number). I would like to disable some of the subform fields upon load (when edited) of the Time_Entry main form. What

      • Find all forms/fields containing a lookup field related to a specific form

        Hi, I'm trying to find all forms and the specific lookup fields they contain that are related to my Contacts form. I need to be able to do this programmatically (I know how to find this information using the schema builder). I've pulled the metadata for

      • Introducing the Eventbrite extension for Zoho CRM

        Hello Zoho CRM community, Are you struggling to keep your event registrations and attendance data organized across multiple platforms? Managing this information manually can be a frustrating and time-consuming task, and mistakes can easily occur, making

      • Deactivate Zoho CRM for everyone

        We would like to deactivate Zoho CRM for everyone. How can we do that?

      • Can I embed Zoho Project in Zoho CRM Record Detailed View

        Hello all, We use Zoho Projects a lot. The integration of Projects with Accounts and Deals only is great, but very limiting to our needs. Is it possible to either: add a project to related lists to custom modules - similar to how it is automatically added

      • COMPLAINT : Sleeping & Useless Support Team. GMail is better then..

        [## 118256452 ##] License upgrade issues: As a reseller, I tried to upgrade 1 license for my customer. It shown error. Raised complaints via Email/Chat/Phone support. Its been more than a week, still keep asking damn questions and comfirmations on once

      • Introducing the Reviews sub-module in Zoho Recruit

        Across every recruitment process, candidates are assessed by multiple stakeholders—recruiters, interviewers, hiring managers, and clients. These evaluations influence hiring decisions, yet they often exist in silos across assessments, emails, or interview

      • Unable to add a organization with US location

        I have created a Zoho Books trial account and since I am using Zoho People and payroll, Zoho Books has taken my existing credentials and created an Indian entity, but I am not able to add a US entity. How to add a US entity?

      • Two-Way Sync Zoho CRM Custom Module with Zoho FSM Company Addresses

        Business fact: Many companies don't just have one location. They have multiple locations (some have many), with addresses we need to know for service, deliveries, etc. We have created a custom "Sites" module in Zoho CRM to store an Account/Company's addresses

      • Meet the latest feature of Zoho Sheet: Lock Cells

        We are happy to announce the release of one of the most awaited features in Zoho Sheet. ​You can now lock the cells that you wish to keep ​secure. Once you are done with editing cells, you can lock them so that they won't be modified anymore. We believe that this feature will be a great addition to our existing set of collaboration features and is intended to improve your collaboration experience. You can access this new feature Lock from Data tab. Apart from being able to lock individual cell ranges,

      • Error message when creating group

        I get two error messages when creating a group. One says it already exists, but it doesn't not already exist. See screenshots.

      • What are the benefits of procurement software in a growing business setup?

        I’ve been exploring tools that can help automate purchasing and vendor-related tasks. I keep hearing about the benefits of procurement software, especially for businesses that are scaling. I want to understand how it helps in streamlining operations,

      • Add Desk Account comments using Flow

        The triggers and actions for Zoho Desk available in Flow are quite extensive, but I don't see anything related to Account-level Comments. There are actions to add comments to Tickets, Contacts, Tasks, and Topics, but nothing for Accounts. Am I missing

      • workflow field update will Not triggering another workflow rule

        I have a Workflow rule that is supposed to get triggered when a field is modified to certain value. This field is actually the lead status and when the lead status changes to "Client Not Responding" . I have a series of emails that go out to re-engage

      • Critical Feature Gaps Between Zoho Books and Zoho Finance Module in CRM

        We are extensively using Zoho Finance Module in our organization because of The Record Sharing feature provided by CRM something thats not possible in Books, we are able to limit what Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Estimates an employee can see based

      • Disable Refresh, or hold info after refresh.

        Is there a way to hold the info entered in a form if the page refreshes, or to disable refresh of the form.

      • changing the Delivery Challan Heading

        Hi We want to change the Delivery Challan Heading as per our requirement. Like Returnable/Non Returnable/Delivery challan. But it is not happening here. is it possible to change advise. Thanks Radha

      • Next Page