5 Highly effective Use Circumstances For Custom Objects

If you’re looking for a solution for managing data from across your entire tech stack, look no further than custom objects. Custom objects offer the flexibility to model, manage, and automate your data in a way that reflects your unique business processes. In addition tags and custom fields, they help you to assemble the perfect data structure by extending and amplifying the data you can record in standard objects like Contacts, Accounts, and Deals.

Custom objects open up new ways for you to represent data within ActiveCampaign by letting you record multiples of a particular data set so that you have a complete historic record of all relevant touchpoints tied back to a single contact, account or deal. They also let you create one-to-many relationships between your data points such as contacts that are associated with multiple companies, locations, pets, or children, among countless other examples.

They also provide a unified view of your most important customer data. From custom objects you’ve created to enhanced app integrations, you will have all relevant information in one place, ready to be used in automations, personalized emails, custom reports and more.

All ActiveCampaign plans have access to custom objects from supported third-party applications like EventBrite, DocuSign other Calendar where data from those integrations is funneled directly into contact custom object records.

If you’re looking for something customizable, Enterprise customers can define and create their own custom objects without developer support directly within the platform or through the API to add any data points to Contact, Account, or Deal records. When the sky’s the limit, it can feel a bit overwhelming to get started but don’t worry. Keep reading to learn how you can take advantage of this powerful feature with a few simple clicks.

Create your own custom objects in a matter of minutes

As powerful as custom objects are, at their foundation, they are simply groupings of data fields or data sets that represent a particular product, service, or process that you’d like to show within the context of your contact, account, or deal records .

The ActiveCampaign custom object builder lets you create these data sets using a variety of fields like text, numbers, dates, time, currency, dropdown, and multi select fields so that you can add any customized data points that support your business. And once the custom object, or data set, is saved it will automatically appear as blank fields within your contact, account, or deal records where you can add the information directly or populate it through forms that include custom object fields.

While the sky’s the limit when it comes to the types and number of custom objects that you could create, that doesn’t mean you need an infinite number of them. Before building out your custom object, create a list of all the data points you’d need to see alongside your customer data. If you need help getting started here are a few custom object examples for you to test out.

contracts

Do you require a contract for every new job you take on? How about managing contracts that renew on an annual basis? While an integration with DocuSign or HelloSign is your best option for managing contracts – you could also create a custom Contracts object. This would help you to manage and stay on top of multiple contracts with ease. Even better, you can send automated email confirmation messages when a Contract status is updated from “Issued” to “Paid” and generate monthly custom reports to identify which contracts are up for renewal so you can kick off retention tactics.

Sample custom object fields could include:

• Contract Name (Text field)
• Contract Type (Drop down with options specific to your business that you determine)
• Contract Value (Currency field)
• Specific Contract Details (Multiselect or text field)
• Contract Issue Date (Date field)
• Contract Due Date (Date field)
• Contract Renewal Date (Date field)
• Contract status (drop down)

Invoices or Payment Tracking

Need a better way to keep track of outstanding invoices tied to accounts or deals? How about evaluating accounts paid vs. outstanding? With a custom Invoices object you can record all relevant invoice and payment details related to your customers in one convenient place and use that information to send payment reminders, confirmation notifications, and even notify team members to let them know when payment has been received so they can move forward with any relevant action items.

Sample custom object fields could include:

• Invoice Name (Text field)
• Invoice Number (Number field)
• Invoice Amount (Currency field)
• Invoice Issue Date (Date field)
• Invoice Due Date (Date field)
• Invoice status (drop down)

Orders or Rentals

ActiveCampaign integrates with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify other WooCommerce to build the most flexible stack to grow your business. But if you are an independent contractor or small business without a point-of-sale or eCommerce software, custom objects provide you with a way to track and fulfill your customers’ orders or rentals. With a custom orders objects you can track order status, send automated confirmation emails and even build reports around fulfillment to gauge which products or services are in high demand.

Sample custom object fields could include:

• Order Name (Text field)
• Order Number (Number field)
• Order Amount (Currency field)
• Order Date (Date field)
• Shipped Date (Date field)
• Order Status (drop down)
• Tracking information (Text field)

Service or Support Requests

Does your business execute installations or offer maintenance? Would you like a better way to track service or support requests across all accounts? Looking to record performance of your reps out in the field? If you don’t already use it Zendesk support, you could create a custom Service Call object to track service requests and send targeted emails to schedule support or even solicit feedback following a visit. You can even create service request forms using custom object fields to pull in this information automatically.

Sample custom object fields could include:

• Service Request Name (Text field)
• Request Type (Multiselect)
• Request Details (text)
• Service Request Date (Date field)
• Service Request Status (drop down)
• Service Rep Assigned (drop down)
• Service Rep Rating (drop down)

Events or webinars

Looking for a better way to track your event or webinar engagement? Do you host multiple events and want to see each event your customers have interacted with? One amazing option would be to integrate your ActiveCampaign account with EventBrite. However, if you’re looking for a more customized solution you could create a custom Events object. An events object would help to manage your event details like historic attendance and automate personalized messages to boost engagement ahead of an event and to continue the conversation following.

For example, if a Webinar Attendance Status was updated from “Registered” to “Did Not Attend” you could automatically send an email with the webinar recording. You can also build custom reports using your Events custom object data to evaluate event success and return on investment.

Sample custom object fields could include:

• Event/Webinar Name (Text field)
• Event/Webinar Type (Multiselect)
• Event/Webinar Details (Text)
• Event/Webinar Date (Date field)
• Event/Webinar Attendance Status (drop down)

The more data you funnel into ActiveCampaign the more powerful it becomes. With custom objects and enhanced apps feeding data into your ActiveCampaign account, it becomes the hub of your business and the control center for your marketing and sales processes. This means that ActiveCampaign can be completely customized to suit the needs of your growing business. And your customers will benefit from having more streamlined and relevant touchpoints powered by your data.

If you need a refresher on how to create a custom object you can review this helpful step-by-step guide.