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Optimizely Campaign Zapier integrationAutomate Optimizely Campaign with Zapier.

Optimizely Campaign Zapier integration: 4 triggers and 4 actions. Bounces, spam complaints and unsubscribes reach your other tools right away, and new contacts from anywhere land in your recipient lists. Below: what each step does, what it costs, and where it breaks.

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Overview

What the Optimizely Campaign Zapier integration does for you

The integration links your Optimizely Campaign account to Zapier, the tool that runs a Zap for you: an automation made of one trigger (the event that starts it) and one or more actions (what it then does). Optimizely Campaign sends your newsletters and transactional messages; Zapier moves recipients and delivery events between it and your other apps.

Three results worth building. A clean CRM: New Unsubscribe starts a Zap that flags the contact in your sales tool, so nobody emails them by hand afterwards. A deliverability log: New Bounce and New Spam Complaint each add a row to a shared sheet the marketing team can read. A list that fills itself: a signup in your webinar tool or shop becomes a recipient through Create a Recipient, with the opt-in process launched if you ask for it.

The detail that changes everything: three of the four triggers are instant, meaning Optimizely Campaign itself tells Zapier when the event happens. They fire straight away, even on the free plan. Only Get Recipients works by polling and waits for your plan's interval.

What Zapier does not do here: there is no search step, so a Zap cannot look up a recipient before acting, and no action removes one. Before you choose a tool on that basis, read n8n vs Zapier; the same app on Make has its own page, the Optimizely Campaign Make integration.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Eight words carry this whole page. Here they are in plain English.

Zap
Your automation on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier waits for that event to happen.
Action
The step that does the work once the Zap has started: it writes, sends or moves something on your behalf.
Task
The unit Zapier bills: one action your Zap completes successfully. Your plan allowance is counted in tasks.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer: it asks the app for new items at a fixed interval and keeps only the ones it has not seen.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself: it tells Zapier the moment the event happens, so nothing waits for the next check.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when the incoming data meets your condition, and stops it otherwise.
Connection
Your app account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every step of every Zap that touches that app.
Cost

What it really costs

Optimizely Campaign is not a premium app (one Zapier reserves for paid plans): every trigger and action on this page works on the free plan.

  • Trigger0 tasks
  • Free plan100 tasks per month
  • Free plan Zap size2 steps
  • Instant triggers3 of 4

The trigger never costs a task, and neither does each check Zapier runs on Get Recipients. Only an action that succeeds is billed; a failed one is not. The free plan stops at two steps: one trigger, one action. Chain Create a Recipient with Send Transactional Message, or add a filter, and you have a multi-step Zap that needs a paid plan. The interval grid below only concerns Get Recipients; the three instant triggers ignore it.

Connect

Connect your Optimizely Campaign account in 3 steps

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

    In your Zapier account, go to Apps and click + Add connection. You need an Optimizely Campaign account, plus access to any list or message you do not own and want the Zap to use.

  2. 02

    Pick Optimizely Campaign

    Type Optimizely Campaign in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. A new browser tab opens on the Optimizely Campaign side for the sign-in.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in to Optimizely Campaign in that tab and allow Zapier to use the account. The connection is saved once, and every Optimizely Campaign step of every Zap reuses it.

First Zap

Your first Zap: alert the team on every spam complaint

GoalEach spam complaint reported by Optimizely Campaign posts a message in your team chat, once it passes your rule.

  1. 01

    Build: pick the trigger

    Start a new Zap, choose Optimizely Campaign as the app and New Spam Complaint as the event, then select the connection you just created.

  2. 02

    Give a test recipient

    Fill in Test Recipient, which is required: provide an example recipient, and Zapier uses it for the rest of the setup of this trigger.

  3. 03

    Test the trigger

    Run the test and read what comes back. Zapier brings back recent items of the connected account, so you map the next steps on real data.

  4. 04

    Add the filter

    Add a Filter step from the plus icon and set the field, the rule and the value. The rules are typed: a number rule on a text field never passes.

  5. 05

    Add the action and test it

    Add Slack with Send Channel Message, map the details of the complaint into the message, and test the step to see what it actually posts.

  6. 06

    Publish

    Click Publish to switch the Zap on. The filter makes it a multi-step Zap, so a paid plan is needed; without the filter, it stays free.

Triggers

Optimizely Campaign triggers

4 events start a Zap when something happens in Optimizely Campaign, and 3 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

Get Recipients

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new recipient is found.”

Watches one recipient list and starts the Zap for each new recipient Zapier finds in it, so that contact can be copied to your CRM or your support desk.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
your sales team wants each new newsletter subscriber in its own pipeline, without anyone exporting the list by hand.
Watch out
selecting a recipient list is required, so a Zap follows one list; recipients already there when you publish never come through.
2

New Bounce

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new bounce event has been created.”

Fires on each bounce Optimizely Campaign records, which turns an undeliverable address into something your team can act on instead of a line buried in a report.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
an account manager should hear that a key client's address is failing before the next campaign goes out.
Watch out
the trigger asks for a Test Recipient during setup; give a real example recipient, since Zapier relies on it for the rest of the configuration.
3

New Spam Complaint

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new spamcomplaint event has been created.”

Starts the Zap whenever a recipient marks one of your messages as spam, the signal that hurts deliverability most and the one you least want to discover late.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
you want the complaining contact removed from every sales sequence in your CRM, not only from the newsletter.
Watch out
like the other two instant triggers, it requires a Test Recipient at setup, so keep an example recipient at hand before you start.
4

New Unsubscribe

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new unsubscribe has been created.”

Reacts to each unsubscribe, so the decision a contact made in Optimizely Campaign is respected everywhere else you store that person.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan.
When to use it
your CRM and your event tool still email contacts who left the newsletter, and you want both updated without a manual export.
Watch out
a Zap reacts only from the moment you publish it; people who unsubscribed earlier have to be synced once, by another route.
Actions

Optimizely Campaign actions

Optimizely Campaign gives you 4 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Create a Recipient

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new Recipient”

Adds a contact to a recipient list you choose, using an identifier that is usually the email address.

When to use it
people who register for a webinar should join your newsletter list, with the opt-in process launched for them.
Watch out
tick Update If Existing if the contact may already be there, and set Trigger an Opt-In process to yes when consent still has to be confirmed.
2

Update a Recipient

Action

In Zapier“Update an existing Recipient”

Changes the record of a contact who is already in a list, found by the same identifier, usually the email.

When to use it
a deal closes in your CRM and the matching recipient should carry that new status for your next segment.
Watch out
both the RecipientID and the recipient list are required, so the Zap must know which list holds the contact.
3

Send Transactional Message

Action

In Zapier“Sends a Transactional Message”

Sends one of your transactional messages to a single recipient, triggered by an event that happened in another app.

When to use it
an order confirmed in your shop should send the matching confirmation designed in Optimizely Campaign, not a plain email from a different tool.
Watch out
you select an existing transactional message, so set it up in Optimizely Campaign before the Zap can use it.
4

API Request (Beta)

Action

In Zapier“This is an advanced action which makes a raw HTTP request that includes this integration's authentication.”

An advanced step that sends a raw HTTP request to Optimizely Campaign with your connection's sign-in already attached, for things the other actions do not cover.

When to use it
a developer on your team knows exactly which request to send and wants to avoid handling the login.
Watch out
requests only reach domains tied to this app, and Stop on error set to Yes halts the step when the app returns an error.
When it breaks

When it breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to Optimizely Campaign, so the known failure points are the general ones.

None of them is specific to this app, yet each shows up fast on a mailing tool, where lists are large and events come in bursts. Check them before you publish; the Zapier troubleshooting page covers what remains.

  • Past events never come through

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after it is switched on. Older bounces, complaints and unsubscribes are ignored; syncing that history is a separate job.

  • A Zap that feeds itself

    A Zap on Get Recipients that runs Create a Recipient into the same list sets itself off again and again, and burns through your task count fast.

  • A bulk import stalls the trigger

    When a list suddenly returns a huge batch of recipients, after an import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold the Zap back.

  • No duplicates on Get Recipients

    On a polling trigger Zapier remembers the recipients it has already seen, so the same contact never starts the Zap twice.
Need help

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FAQ

Optimizely Campaign and Zapier: frequent questions

01Is the Optimizely Campaign Zapier integration free?
Yes, it works on the free plan, because Optimizely Campaign is not one of the apps Zapier reserves for paid plans. The free plan gives you 100 tasks per month, as many Zaps as you like, and a 15-minute interval on polling triggers. The limit that matters is size: a free Zap has two steps, one trigger and one action. Add a filter or a second action, for example Create a Recipient followed by Send Transactional Message, and the Zap becomes multi-step and needs a paid plan.
02How many tasks does an Optimizely Campaign Zap use?
One task per action that completes successfully, nothing more. The four triggers are free, and so are the checks Zapier runs on Get Recipients, however often they happen. An action that fails is not counted. A Zap that creates a recipient and then sends a transactional message uses two tasks per run, so a three-action Zap eats three times what a one-action Zap does. On a list that grows fast, that multiplication is where the monthly allowance goes.
03Is Optimizely Campaign in Zapier real time?
Mostly yes. New Bounce, New Spam Complaint and New Unsubscribe are instant triggers: Optimizely Campaign reports the event to Zapier itself, and the Zap starts straight away on every plan. Get Recipients is the exception. It is a polling trigger, checked every 15 minutes on Free, every 2 on Professional and every minute on Team and Enterprise. The type is set by the app and cannot be changed from the Zapier editor, so plan the urgent workflows around the three instant ones.
04What does it take to connect Optimizely Campaign to Zapier?
An Optimizely Campaign account, plus read or write access to anything you do not own and want the Zap to touch. The connection takes three moves in Zapier: Apps, then + Add connection, then pick Optimizely Campaign, sign in and grant access. Prepare the account side too. Most steps ask you to select a recipient list, and Send Transactional Message needs an existing transactional message, so both should exist and be visible to the account you connect.
05Why do the bounce, complaint and unsubscribe triggers ask for a Test Recipient?
Because the field is required on all three instant triggers: Zapier needs an example recipient to finish setting them up. Without it, the configuration cannot go further. Pick a real recipient from the account, ideally one that sits in the list your campaigns use, so the data you see while testing looks like the data your Zap will handle later. Get Recipients works differently: it asks you to select a recipient list instead, and it then watches that one list.
06What if the Optimizely Campaign operation you need does not exist?
Then the standard steps will not do it, though one door stays open. The app offers four triggers and four actions, and no search: nothing looks up a recipient, deletes one, or reacts to opens. The fourth action, API Request (Beta), sends a raw HTTP request with your connection already signed in, limited to domains tied to the app. It suits someone comfortable writing requests. For everyone else, check the operation list first and compare tools against that same list.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Optimizely Campaign?
Choose on criteria rather than reputation. On Zapier, Optimizely Campaign works on the free plan, three of its four triggers are instant, and the two-step limit pushes any filter or chained action onto a paid plan. So check three things on each tool: whether it offers the bounce, complaint and unsubscribe events you rely on, whether those arrive instantly or on a timer at your budget, and what unit it bills. The app page of each tool answers all three.
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