Using Mailchimp actions in action flows

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the action builder to the external system.</p>
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<p id="docs-ai-summary-toggle">Summary: <span id="up-triangle">◀</span><span id="down-triangle">▼</span></p>
<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">You can connect action flows to Mailchimp to automate managing contacts and tags. Use actions to create, update, look up, search, and delete contacts, as well as add, remove, or create tags. Connecting with a dedicated service account is recommended for security. These integrations help streamline audience management and improve collaboration across platforms through automated workflows.</p>
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<div class="body">

<div class="p">By connecting the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855513857306" target="_blank">action builder</a> to external systems, such as Mailchimp,
admins can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving
collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.<div class="note" id="zug_action_flow_external_Mailchimp__note_i2z_jtz_v3c">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The steps associated with external systems in action flows are
referred to collectively as <em class="ph i">external actions</em>.</div>
</div>
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="zug_action_flow_external_Mailchimp__ul_ysp_sn4_zgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_fcs_gtn_g3c">Connecting Mailchimp to action builder</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_z1q_htn_g3c">Using Mailchimp actions in action flows</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_fcs_gtn_g3c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Connecting Mailchimp to action builder</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the
action builder to the external system.</p>
<div class="p">When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following best practices are recommended:<ul class="ul" id="topic_fcs_gtn_g3c__d8e13">
<li class="li">All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the
external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external
system.</li>
<li class="li">All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However, it's important that you review and validate the scopes before authorizing the connection to the external system.</li>
<li class="li">When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI, it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To connect action builder to Mailchimp</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_fcs_gtn_g3c__ol_psh_lk4_zgc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_apps_integrations_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Apps and integrations</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Actions &gt; Action
flows</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855601898266" target="_blank">Create</a> or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9052312956570" target="_blank">edit</a> an action flow.</li>
<li class="li">Open the step sidebar.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">External actions</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Mailchimp</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Connect</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Follow Mailchimp's prompts to authenticate and complete the
connection.<p class="p">The Mailchimp connection uses OAuth 2.0 with the
authorization code grant type. When you authorize the connection, you'll
be redirected to Mailchimp to grant permissions to your Zendesk
account.</p>
<div class="note" id="topic_fcs_gtn_g3c__note_ilr_mtz_v3c">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> All external actions performed
by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external
system. Therefore, it is a best practice to use a dedicated service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each
external system.</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p class="p">After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's connected and
details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions available for
Mailchimp.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_z1q_htn_g3c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Using Mailchimp actions in action flows</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Mailchimp action steps can be used to manage contacts and tags.</p>
<div class="p">The following Mailchimp actions are available:<ul class="ul" id="topic_z1q_htn_g3c__ul_jby_q44_zgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_lck_r44_zgc">Create contact</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_fdn_25z_v3c">Update contact</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_epg_35z_v3c">Lookup contact</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_vmc_h5z_v3c">Search contacts</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_alf_24q_jjc">Add tag</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_mjr_j4q_jjc">Remove tag</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_wfm_m4q_jjc">Create tag</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_or4_r4q_jjc">Delete contact</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested2" id="topic_lck_r44_zgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title4">Creating contacts</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Create contact</em> action to add a new contact to an audience.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_lck_r44_zgc__table_dgb_n11_w3c" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e224" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e226" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e224" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e226" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Email
address</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Status</code><p class="p">Status
options include Subscribed, Pending, or
Transactional.</p>
<p class="p">Optional: <code class="ph codeph">First
name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Last name</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Tag</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Contact
language</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Is
VIP?</code></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e224" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e226" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Contact details, including ID, email address, unique
email ID, contact ID, full name, status, email type, VIP
status, language, member rating, last changed timestamp,
opt-in timestamp, signup timestamp, list ID, merge fields,
stats, tags, and tags count.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_fdn_25z_v3c">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Updating contacts</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Update contact</em> action to update an existing contact's
information.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_fdn_25z_v3c__table_alq_bb1_w3c" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e313" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e315" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e313" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e315" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Email
address</code><p class="p">Optional: <code class="ph codeph">Status</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">First name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Last
name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Tag</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Contact
language</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Is
VIP?</code></p>
<p class="p">Status options include Subscribed,
Unsubscribed, Pending, Cleaned, or
Transactional.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e313" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e315" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Updated contact details, including ID, email address,
unique email ID, contact ID, full name, status, email type,
VIP status, language, member rating, last changed timestamp,
opt-in timestamp, signup timestamp, list ID, merge fields,
stats, tags, and tags count.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_epg_35z_v3c">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Looking up contacts</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Lookup contact</em> action to retrieve information about a contact
using their email address.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_epg_35z_v3c__table_v3p_db1_w3c" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e403" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e405" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e403" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e405" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Email
address</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e403" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e405" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Contact details, including ID, email address, status,
unique email ID, contact ID, full name, email type, VIP
status, language, member rating, last changed timestamp,
opt-in timestamp, signup timestamp, list ID, merge fields,
stats, tags, and tags count.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested2" id="topic_vmc_h5z_v3c">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title7">Searching for contacts</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Search contacts</em> action to find contacts in an audience based on
various criteria.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_vmc_h5z_v3c__table_qq5_fb1_w3c" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e472" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e474" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e472" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e474" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code><p class="p">Optional:
<code class="ph codeph">Status</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Count</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Offset</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Since last
changed</code></p>
<p class="p"><code class="ph codeph">Count</code>
specifies the number of records to return (default: 25,
max: 1000). <code class="ph codeph">Offset</code> is for pagination
(default: 0). <code class="ph codeph">Since last changed</code> should
be in YYYY-MM-DD format.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e472" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e474" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">An array of contacts with ID, email address, unique email
ID, contact ID, full name, status, email type, VIP status,
language, member rating, last changed timestamp, opt-in
timestamp, signup timestamp, merge fields, stats, tags, tags
count, and list ID. Also includes total items count.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title8" class="topic nested2" id="topic_alf_24q_jjc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title8">Adding a tag to a contact</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Add tag</em> action to add a tag to an existing contact.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_alf_24q_jjc__table_blf_24q_jjc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e560" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e562" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e560" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e562" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Email
address</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Tag</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e560" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e562" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Success status</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title9" class="topic nested2" id="topic_mjr_j4q_jjc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title9">Removing a tag from a contact</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Remove tag</em> action to remove a tag from an existing contact.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_mjr_j4q_jjc__table_njr_j4q_jjc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e631" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e633" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e631" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e633" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Email
address</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Tag</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e631" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e633" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Success status</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title10" class="topic nested2" id="topic_wfm_m4q_jjc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title10">Creating a tag</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Create tag</em> action to create a new tag in an audience.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_wfm_m4q_jjc__table_xfm_m4q_jjc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e702" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e704" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e702" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e704" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Tag</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e702" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e704" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Tag details, including ID, name, member count, type,
creation timestamp, update timestamp, and list ID.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title11" class="topic nested2" id="topic_or4_r4q_jjc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title11">Deleting a contact</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Delete contact</em> action to permanently delete a contact from an
audience.</p>
<div class="note important" id="topic_or4_r4q_jjc__note_w3l_54q_jjc">
<span class="importanttitle">Important:</span> This action permanently deletes the
contact and cannot be undone.</div>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_or4_r4q_jjc__table_pr4_r4q_jjc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e773" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e775" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e773" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e775" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Required: <code class="ph codeph">Audience</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Email
address</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e773" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e775" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Success status</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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