Connect SOCi to ActiveCampaign

The SOCi CX App integration brings your business listing data into your ActiveCampaign account through the use of ActiveCampaign’s Message Variables. SOCi-specific Message Variables will automatically be generated for each of your connected locations. Profile and business hours updates made in SOCi to your location details will automatically sync.

Take note

• This is a one-way sync from the SOCi Listings product to ActiveCampaign
• An ActiveCampaign contact record will not be created with each sync
• You must select an existing list in ActiveCampaign during app setup; please create a list before connecting the app
• An email address is a required field from SOCi Listings’ “Profile” tab
• Permission Requirements:
  •  
    • You must be a SOCi admin. Non-admin SOCi users will not have the ability to create or update message variables in ActiveCampaign
    • You must have an assigned API Key in your SOCi account
    • You must have permission to update your SOCi Listings
    • You must request webhooks to be enabled in your SOCi account
    • You do not need to have an ActiveCampaign HQ account
    • You must have ActiveCampaign permissions to edit Campaigns and Templates
• Integration Limitations:
  •  
    • The integration supports only a one-to-one connection. Only one SOCi location can be connected to one ActiveCampaign account. Syncing multiple locations with one account is not supported. The message variable of the latest location will overwrite any previous entries
    • When importing a logo from SOCi, file sizes may vary. To ensure optimal performance, upload a logo with a maximum size of 300x300 pixels in SOCi
    • Social media URLs can be synced, but they cannot be automatically embedded as clickable images or buttons within ActiveCampaign email templates

What are Message Variables?

Message Variables are dynamic placeholders that you can assign a personalization tag for use in any email campaigns (including those sent from an automation). Once created, you can make bulk updates to multiple campaigns simultaneously. Learn how to use Message Variables.

Enabling webhooks in your SOCi account

This integration requires webhooks to be enabled in your SOCi account. To enable webhooks:

1. Log in to your SOCi account.
2. Navigate to the Help section and submit a support ticket.
3. When submitting the ticket, select "Listings" as the category, choose "Technical Sync and API Issues" as the issue type, and include a request to enable webhooks for your account.

Connect SOCi to ActiveCampaign

1. Click Apps on the left menu and search for "SOCi."
2. Click the “Add an account” button.
3. Enter your SOCi Token and SOCi Account Domain.
   • To find your SOCi Token:
     • Log in to your SOCi account.
     • Click Settings.
     • Click API Keys.
     • Click Generate New Key.
     • Name your key (Ex, John’s API Key).
     • Click Generate.

         Please save this API key and keep it in a safe place. Once you close this dialog box, you will not be able to retrieve it again.

   • Your account subdomain can be found by looking at your account URL: https://{subdomain}.meetsoci.com/
4. Click “Connect.”
   
   
    
5. Select Your SOCi Account from the dropdown menu.
6. Select the SOCi Location that is associated with the location's ActiveCampaign account from the dropdown menu. 

     This integration is designed to sync one SOCi location per ActiveCampaign account associated with each location.

7. Select one ActiveCampaign list. Your message variable will be visible only to contacts who are on the list(s) you select here.
8. Click “Continue.”
9. The Email Address field will be automatically mapped from SOCi based on the business location listing.
10. Click “Finish.”

Your integration setup is now complete. The connected resource will appear on the SOCi Apps page. To confirm the connection, check the Last Updated field; it will display the date and time of the most recent update.

Example:

If you have 20 locations in SOCi, the SOCi admin will log in to each location’s corresponding ActiveCampaign account to establish the integration using the same token and account subdomain.

If you have 20 locations in SOCi but only one ActiveCampaign account, the integration will not create or update variables for all locations within that single ActiveCampaign account. Each location must be connected to its own ActiveCampaign account.

Generate SOCi-specific Message Variables

1. Log in to your SOCi account and go to either your Account-Level view, Location-Level view, or Group-Level view.
   • The Account-Level view is only available to users with access to more than one location.
   • The Group-Level view is only available to admins and specific local users who are granted access
2. From the Account-Level view, click “Details” to edit your location details. From the Location-Level or Group-Level View, click on the pencil icon.
3. Under the Profile tab, type in an email address in the “Email” field. The “Email” field must contain an email address.
4. The following SOCi tabs will create SOCi-specific Message Variables:
   • Profile
   • Hours
   • Categories & Attributes
   • Approvals
   • Images
   • For the complete list of Message Variables generated from SOCi, here is the list of Message Variables generated from SOCi chart.
5. Once your fields have been filled out in SOCi, click “Save”. The complete list of Message Variables will be generated in your ActiveCampaign account. You can view them by clicking Email > Message Variables.
6. Each time you update your business listing in SOCi, the existing list of Message Variables will also be updated.

     You may manually review each Message Variable by clicking “Edit” in ActiveCampaign. We highly recommend making business listing updates in SOCi rather than manually updating in ActiveCampaign, as edits will be overwritten after each saved update in SOCi.

Set up Email Campaign Templates With Message Variables

1. Click Email on the left menu, then click Campaign Templates.
2. Select a pre-made template or click "Create a Template" to start from scratch. Learn more about creating campaign templates for further details.
3. Once you are in the campaign designer, drag a “Text” block from the right panel into the template.
4. Click into the “Text” block, then click the “Personalization Tags” button at the top of the designer.
5. In the “Add a Personalization modal, click “Static Message Variable” to access the list of SOCi-specific Message Variables.
6. Select one or more variables to add to the email template.
7. Click the “Test Email” icon and send an email to yourself to see the Message Variables in action.
8. Click “Save and Exit” when you are finished editing the template.

SOCi Message Variable Management Permissions:

• ActiveCampaign HQ admins can set up and push down email campaign templates with SOCi-specific Message Variables for each of their locations from the main account, as long as each location is connected to the SOCi CX App from the main account.
• ActiveCampaign HQ subaccount users can view synced templates by clicking Email > Campaign Templates > “Synced from HQ.” These templates are not editable. However, if a subaccount user needs to modify it for personalization, they can create a copy to edit by hovering over the template and then clicking “Duplicate."

Send your Email Campaign Template with Message Variables

1. Click Email on the left menu, then click Campaigns.
2. Click “Create a Campaign.”
3. Name your campaign.
4. Click “Create with email designer.”
5. Select your pre-built template with SOCi-specific Message Variables.
6. A modal will appear:
   • If you select “Edit with AI,” you can toggle “Lock this content” for the Message Variable.
   • If you select “Edit design,” you can modify the email template and manually add or update the Message Variables.
7. Once your email is ready, click “Next.”
8. Set up your sending preferences, then click “Test and preview” to send a copy to yourself for testing purposes, or send immediately by clicking “Send now.”

List of SOCi Message Variables in alphabetical order by field name

Below is a list of SOCi Message Variables that will appear for that location using "Your Location Name" as a generic location and an example output of the Message Variable when the email is sent: