Resources · Make integration

dotdigital Make integrationAutomate dotdigital with Make.

Can your contact list keep itself tidy while campaigns go out on their own? The dotdigital Make integration gives you 21 modules: 1 trigger, 17 actions and 3 searches. This page is for marketers who know dotdigital and are new to Make, and it walks you from connection to a working scenario.

Try the dotdigital integration on MakeSee the 21 modules

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What you can automate

What can the dotdigital Make integration do for you?

The dotdigital Make integration links your dotdigital account to Make, a visual tool where you build a scenario: an automation made of modules, each one a single brick such as a trigger, an action or a search. Once connected, Make can create and update contacts, manage address books, enroll people in programs and send emails for you, with no code.

Signups land in the right list. When a form in another app collects a new lead, Create a Contact adds that person to your account, and Update a Contact fills in details later. If the email already exists, Get a Contact lets you check first instead of guessing.

Feedback turns into follow-up. Watch Survey Responses picks up each new answer to a dotdigital survey. From there, Send a Transactional Email can thank the respondent, or Create a Program Enrolment can drop them into an automation program you already built in dotdigital.

Campaigns leave on cue. Refresh a Segment brings a segment up to date, then Send a Campaign ships an existing campaign to address books, segments or single contacts, right away or as a scheduled send.

Keep the limits in mind. The only trigger is scheduled, so Make checks for survey responses on the scenario's schedule rather than the moment they arrive, and nothing in the module list watches contacts or campaigns. The official doc page is also flagged as AI-generated, so check important details with dotdigital. The same app often exists as an n8n node too; the n8n vs Make comparison lays out the differences, and the Make pricing page explains what counts toward your plan. If you would rather learn the editor properly first, Make training starts from zero.

Connect

How do you connect dotdigital to Make?

  1. 01

    Create an API user in dotdigital

    In dotdigital, open the user menu at the bottom left, then Settings, Access and API users. Click New User, copy the email shown as the username, then set a password and copy it too.

  2. 02

    Add a dotdigital module in Make

    In your scenario, add any dotdigital module and click Create a connection. The Connection name field is optional; a clear name helps when you later run several dotdigital accounts side by side.

  3. 03

    Paste the API credentials

    Enter the API user email and password you just copied, or follow the on-screen prompts, and save. That connection is now stored in Make and every other dotdigital module in your scenarios reuses it.

First scenario

Build your first scenario: thank every survey respondent

GoalWhen a new survey response is added in dotdigital, Make sends a transactional email to thank the person who answered.

  1. 01

    Start a new scenario

    Open the Scenarios page in Make, create a new scenario and click the big + in the middle of the editor to add its first module.

  2. 02

    Pick Watch Survey Responses

    Search for dotdigital, choose Watch Survey Responses and select the connection you made earlier. Fill in the fields Make shows; it lists what it can read from your account.

  3. 03

    Add the thank-you email

    Click the + on the right of the trigger and add Send a Transactional Email. Map the respondent's details from the trigger's output into the email fields.

  4. 04

    Test with Run once

    Submit a test answer to your survey, then click Run once. Open the bubbles above each module to read the bundles, the items each module received, and confirm the email left.

  5. 05

    Schedule and switch it on

    On the first module, set the schedule: a new scenario checks every 15 minutes by default, and the Free plan cannot go below that. Then flip the scenario on.

Triggers

Which dotdigital trigger starts a scenario?

1 module starts a scenario when something happens in dotdigital. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by dotdigital as soon as it happens.

dotdigital1Watch Survey Responses

Watch Survey Responses

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new survey response has been added.”

You get a fresh bundle, one item passed to the next module, for every new answer to a dotdigital survey, so each piece of feedback can start its own follow-up without anyone copying it by hand.

How it fires
scheduled. Make checks the app on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default, so responses reach the scenario in batches rather than the second they are submitted.
When to use it
a satisfaction survey sent after a purchase, where every answer should get a thank-you or reach your support team.
Watch out
this is the only trigger in the app; contacts and campaigns have no watch module of their own.
Modules

What else can Make do in dotdigital?

dotdigital gives you 20 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

dotdigital1

Create a Contact

Action

In Make“Creates a new contact within the account and adds it to the 'All contacts' address book.”

A new person appears in your dotdigital account and lands in the All contacts address book automatically, ready for your next send.

When to use it
a lead fills in a form on your site or books a demo in another tool, and you want them in dotdigital straight away.
Watch out
run Get a Contact first if the same email may already exist.
dotdigital2

Create a Contact Data Field

Action

In Make“Creates a new contact data field.”

This adds a brand new custom field to your contacts, so the scenario can store something dotdigital does not track yet, such as a loyalty tier or a preferred store.

When to use it
you are setting up a new data point before mapping values into it with Create a Contact or Update a Contact.
Watch out
fields are account wide, so avoid creating one per run.
dotdigital3

Create an Address Book

Action

In Make“Creates a new address book.”

Here Make builds a fresh address book for you, which gives a new audience its own container before any contact is added to it.

When to use it
a webinar or an event gets announced in your planning tool and you want a matching list created without opening dotdigital.
Watch out
check List Address Books first so the scenario does not create duplicates with the same name.
dotdigital4

Create a Program Enrolment

Action

In Make“Creates a new program enrolment.”

Enrolling a contact in one of your dotdigital programs hands them over to an automation you already designed there, such as a welcome or onboarding journey.

When to use it
a trial starts or an order is paid in another app, and that exact moment should kick off the matching program.
Watch out
the program itself lives in dotdigital; Make only enrolls people into it.
dotdigital5

Delete a Contact

Action

In Make“Deletes a specified contact.”

With this module, a contact you name is removed from dotdigital, which keeps your account clean when someone leaves your records elsewhere.

When to use it
a customer asks for their data to be erased and your CRM marks the request as approved.
Watch out
treat a deletion as final. If the person only wants fewer emails, Unsubscribe Contact is the safer choice.
dotdigital6

Delete a Contact Data Field

Action

In Make“Deletes a specified contact data field. You can't delete a reserved contact data field (FIRSTNAME, LASTNAME, ADDRESS, POSTCODE, GENDER) or any that are currently in use elsewhere in the system.”

Old custom fields that nobody fills anymore disappear from your contact records, which keeps the field list short and readable for your team.

When to use it
you retired a data point and want the cleanup handled by a scenario rather than by hand.
Watch out
reserved fields such as FIRSTNAME, LASTNAME, ADDRESS, POSTCODE and GENDER cannot be deleted, and neither can a field still in use elsewhere.
dotdigital7

Delete an Address Book

Action

In Make“Deletes a specified address book.”

An address book you specify is removed, so temporary lists built for a single event or test do not pile up in your account.

When to use it
an event is marked as closed in your planning tool and its dedicated list has no further purpose.
Watch out
treat it as permanent; confirm the right book with Get an Address Book before this step.
dotdigital8

Get a Contact

Action

In Make“Returns a specified contact.”

You receive the full record of one specific contact, which lets later modules decide what to do based on what dotdigital already knows.

When to use it
before creating someone, to check whether they already exist, or before an update, to compare old and new values.
Watch out
it returns one contact; to browse many at once, List Contacts is the module to pick instead.
dotdigital9

Get an Address Book

Action

In Make“Returns a specified address book.”

One address book comes back with its details, handy when a later step needs to confirm which list it is about to touch.

When to use it
just before Update an Address Book or Delete an Address Book, to make sure the scenario is pointing at the list you expect.
Watch out
you need to know which book you want; List Address Books helps when you do not.
dotdigital10

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Anything the dotdigital API offers that the listed modules do not cover becomes reachable, through the same connection you already set up.

When to use it
you need an endpoint with no dedicated module, for instance a report or a setting the listed modules never touch.
Watch out
you write the request yourself, so keep the dotdigital API reference open while you build it.
dotdigital11

Refresh a Segment

Action

In Make“Refreshes a specified segment.”

Your chosen segment gets recalculated, so it reflects the contacts that match its rules right now instead of an older snapshot.

When to use it
just before Send a Campaign targets that segment, after a batch of contact updates has gone through.
Watch out
the segment rules are defined in dotdigital; this module only asks for a refresh, it does not change who qualifies.
dotdigital12

Resubscribe Contact

Action

In Make“Resubscribes a previously unsubscribed contact.”

Someone who opted out earlier becomes reachable again, which matters when a person changes their mind in another channel.

When to use it
a customer ticks the newsletter box again in your checkout or preference center, and dotdigital should follow.
Watch out
only resubscribe people who actually asked for it; this module should never run on a whole list by default.
dotdigital13

Send a Campaign

Action

In Make“Sends a specified campaign to one or more address books, segments, or contacts, either as an immediate or scheduled send.”

An existing campaign goes out to one or more address books, segments or individual contacts, either immediately or as a scheduled send.

When to use it
new stock is flagged as available in your shop system and the matching announcement campaign should leave without someone clicking send.
Watch out
the campaign must already exist in dotdigital; this module sends it, it does not write it.
dotdigital14

Send a Transactional Email

Action

In Make“Sends a transactional email.”

A single email goes to one person as a direct reaction to something they did, separate from your marketing campaigns.

When to use it
confirming a booking, thanking someone for a survey answer, or sending a document right after a form is submitted.
Watch out
for a message meant for a whole list, Send a Campaign fits better than looping this module over every contact.
dotdigital15

Unsubscribe Contact

Action

In Make“Unsubscribes contact from the account.”

This stops a contact from receiving your emails across the account while keeping their record, unlike a deletion.

When to use it
a person opts out in your CRM, your help desk or another tool, and dotdigital needs to respect that choice too.
Watch out
if they later opt back in, Resubscribe Contact is the module that brings them back.
dotdigital16

Update a Contact

Action

In Make“Updates a specified contact.”

Changes you make elsewhere flow into an existing dotdigital contact, so names, preferences and custom fields stay current.

When to use it
a customer edits their profile in your app or a sales rep updates a deal stage, and your emails should use the new details.
Watch out
the contact must exist; pair it with Get a Contact and fall back to Create a Contact when nothing comes back.
dotdigital17

Update an Address Book

Action

In Make“Updates a specified address book.”

An address book you already have gets its settings changed, such as a clearer name once a campaign period is over.

When to use it
a project is renamed in your planning tool and the list linked to it should carry the same label in dotdigital.
Watch out
point it at the right book; Get an Address Book or List Address Books will confirm the target first.
dotdigital18

List Address Books

Search

In Make“Returns a list of address books.”

Every address book in the account comes back, each as its own bundle, so the next modules can act on them one by one.

When to use it
to check whether a list already exists before Create an Address Book, or to export an overview to a spreadsheet.
Watch out
as a search, it can return zero, one or many items, and each one costs an operation, one run of a module, in the modules after it.
dotdigital19

List Contact Data Fields

Search

In Make“Returns a list of contact data fields.”

This returns the custom fields defined on your contacts, a quick way to see what data your account already stores.

When to use it
before Create a Contact Data Field, to avoid a duplicate, or while auditing which fields are worth keeping.
Watch out
reserved fields may appear in the results; remember that Delete a Contact Data Field cannot remove them.
dotdigital20

List Contacts

Search

In Make“Returns a list of contacts.”

Many contacts at once come out of your account, each as a separate bundle, ready to be copied, checked or enriched by the following modules.

When to use it
syncing your audience into a spreadsheet or another database, or reviewing records in bulk.
Watch out
a large account means many bundles, and every module after this one spends an operation on each of them.
Need help

Need help automating dotdigital with Make?

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FAQ

Questions about the dotdigital Make integration

01Is the dotdigital Make integration free?
Yes, on the Make side. dotdigital is a standard app, available from the Free plan. That plan allows 2 active scenarios, a minimum of 15 minutes between scheduled runs, up to 5 minutes of execution and files up to 5 MB. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise) bring the interval down to 1 minute and remove the cap on active scenarios, with usage counted in operations per month. You still need an active dotdigital account of your own, and its cost is set by dotdigital, not by Make.
02What is needed to connect dotdigital to Make?
An active dotdigital account and valid API credentials. In dotdigital, open the user menu at the bottom left, go to Settings, Access, then API users, and click New User. Copy the email shown as the username, set a password and copy it. In Make, add any dotdigital module, click Create a connection, optionally give it a name, and paste those two values. The connection is then reused by every dotdigital module across your scenarios.
03Does the dotdigital trigger in Make work in real time?
No. Watch Survey Responses is a scheduled trigger: Make checks dotdigital on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default, and the Free plan cannot check more often than that. Paid plans can go down to 1 minute. It is also the only trigger in the app, so for contacts or campaigns you start a scenario differently, for example from another app's trigger or on a schedule, then call the dotdigital actions you need.
04What if a dotdigital module is missing in Make?
Use Make an API Call. It reaches any endpoint of the dotdigital API with the connection you already created, so a report or a setting outside the listed modules is still within reach. You write the request yourself, based on the dotdigital API documentation, and the result comes back into the scenario like any other module output. Also note that the Make doc page for this app is marked as AI-generated, so when a detail matters, confirm it with dotdigital directly.
05Should dotdigital be automated with Make or n8n?
It depends on your criteria. On Make, dotdigital comes with 21 ready modules, 1 scheduled trigger, 17 actions and 3 searches, and it is available from the Free plan. The same app often has an n8n node as well. Compare the modules each side offers against the tasks you want to automate, and pick the editor your team is most at ease with. The two tools are not ranked against each other here.
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