ActiveCampaign is an email marketing and customer experience automation platform with a built-in CRM.
This article explains how to set up and use CustomerHub with ActiveCampaign to control access with tags, add new users from your ActiveCampaign automations, and trigger ActiveCampaign automations from what users do in CustomerHub.
ℹ️ To connect, you'll need an ActiveCampaign user with access to Settings → Developer, where your API URL and API Key live.
📡 What does the ActiveCampaign connector do?
The ActiveCampaign connector integrates your ActiveCampaign account with CustomerHub, enabling you to:
Sync data - Create ActiveCampaign tags for all CustomerHub products, segments, and journeys, and add your CustomerHub users to a CustomerHub list in ActiveCampaign
Control user access - Grant or revoke access to CustomerHub content by adding or removing ActiveCampaign tags
Add new users from ActiveCampaign - Create CustomerHub users automatically when a tag is applied in ActiveCampaign, for example after a form signup or a purchase
Trigger advanced automations - Send user activity (like logins or completed products) to ActiveCampaign Event Tracking to start automations
🔗 Connect ActiveCampaign
Step 1: In ActiveCampaign, click Settings (gear icon), then Developer, and copy the URL and Key from the API Access section
Step 2: In CustomerHub, click Settings (gear icon) in the main sidebar, hover over Workspace, then click Connectors
Step 3: Find the ActiveCampaign connector card and click Connect
Step 4: Paste your Api URL and API Key, then click CONNECT
Step 5: Wait for the connection to finish (about a minute, longer if you have a lot of users to sync). After a successful connection, the ActiveCampaign connector card shows a green connected badge and outline.
💡 Treat your API Key like a password. Make sure no spaces are copied before or after the URL or key.
🔄 Data sync: how it works
Once ActiveCampaign is connected, data syncs automatically and in both directions: access changes in CustomerHub update tags in ActiveCampaign, and tag changes in ActiveCampaign update access in CustomerHub.
Initial sync
During the initial connection the following happens automatically:
Access tags are created in ActiveCampaign for every product, segment, and journey in CustomerHub
A CustomerHub list is created in ActiveCampaign named CustomerHub - your subdomain. If a list with that name already exists, CustomerHub uses it instead of creating a duplicate
Existing users are synced - every CustomerHub user (except admins, and including past buyers) is added to the list and tagged based on their access to products, segments, and journeys. ActiveCampaign matches contacts by email address, so existing contacts are updated rather than duplicated
ℹ️ The CustomerHub list can't be skipped or swapped for one of your own lists, and existing users can't be left out of the initial sync. Connecting doesn't email anyone unless one of your own ActiveCampaign automations is triggered by the list or tags.
Ongoing sync
User access - anytime you change a user's access to products, segments, or journeys in CustomerHub, or add or remove a CustomerHub tag on a contact in ActiveCampaign, the other system is updated automatically. This includes both granting and revoking access
New users from ActiveCampaign - when a CustomerHub tag is applied to a contact who isn't a CustomerHub user yet, CustomerHub creates the user with the contact's email and gives them access to that content
New users in CustomerHub - users you add in CustomerHub are added to ActiveCampaign and the CustomerHub list when they are created, updated, or given access to content
💡 Example: If you add or remove the CustomerHub tag for "Meditation 201" on John Doe in ActiveCampaign, his access to the "Meditation 201" product in CustomerHub is automatically granted or revoked.
Use case: sell a course and grant access in CustomerHub
Create your "Meditation 101" product in CustomerHub. CustomerHub creates a matching tag in ActiveCampaign
In ActiveCampaign, create an automation that starts when someone buys "Meditation 101" (for example from your Shopify or other store integration) or submits your signup form
Add an Add a tag action that applies the CustomerHub tag for "Meditation 101", then turn the automation on
When the automation runs, CustomerHub grants access to the product, creating the user first if they don't have an account yet
To revoke access later (for example, after a refund or cancellation), remove the tag from the contact in ActiveCampaign. Already using automations? Just add an Add a tag action with the CustomerHub tag to them.
⚡ Advanced Automation (Activity Triggers)
Activity triggers send an event to ActiveCampaign Event Tracking when a user does something in CustomerHub, such as logging in or completing a product. In ActiveCampaign, use the automation trigger Event is recorded to start an automation from that event.
Step 1: In ActiveCampaign, go to Settings → Tracking, turn on Event Tracking, and copy your Event Key. Click the Event Tracking API link to find your account ID (actid)
Step 2: On the ActiveCampaign connector page in CustomerHub, enable activity triggers, enter your Event Key and actid, turn on the activities you want to send, and save
Available activities:
Group | Activities |
Account & access | User created, logged in, active, inactive, product access granted or removed |
Content | Video watched, audio listened, file downloaded or uploaded, page completed, product completed, button clicked |
Purchases | Product purchased, subscription started or canceled |
Journeys | Journey started or completed, task completed |
Each activity appears in ActiveCampaign as an event named CustomerHub - activity (for example CustomerHub - Login). Activities tied to a specific item (like a video, page or product) include that item's Simple Id, so each one can start its own automation. Find it in the Simple Id column of the Multimedia library, or under the product or page settings.
Example: send a welcome email on login
On the ActiveCampaign connector page in CustomerHub, turn on the user login activity and save
In ActiveCampaign, go to Automations, click Create an Automation and select Start from Scratch
Choose the trigger Event is recorded, select the CustomerHub - Login event, and set Runs to Multiple Times
Add your welcome email, turn the automation on, then log in as a test user and confirm the contact enters the automation
⚠️ Only turn on the activities you plan to use. Every enabled activity shows up in the contact's activity feed in ActiveCampaign. Video and audio events fire as soon as the user clicks Play, with no minimum watch or listen time.
🔌 Managing the ActiveCampaign connector
Reconnect - connect again with your API URL and key. Use it after resetting your API key, if the sync stops working, or if a CustomerHub tag was deleted in ActiveCampaign (reconnecting recreates it)
Disconnect - stops syncing contacts, tags and access with ActiveCampaign. Use it only if you are switching ActiveCampaign accounts or no longer use ActiveCampaign
Rotate your API key
ActiveCampaign is the only CustomerHub connector that uses an API key, so the key may occasionally need to be replaced. Rotate it if you have unexplained sync or connection issues, if the key may have been exposed, or if support asks you to.
In ActiveCampaign, go to Settings → Developer and click Reset API Key
Copy the new API URL and API Key
In CustomerHub, open the ActiveCampaign connector, paste the new URL and key, and reconnect
⚠️ Troubleshooting
"Connection failed. Please check the API Url or Key": your key may have been reset or copied with extra spaces. Rotate the key (see above) and reconnect
"A server error occurred": wait a minute and try again. If it continues, rotate the key and reconnect
User didn't get access: check the exact CustomerHub tag was applied and the contact's email matches the user's email. If tags applied in ActiveCampaign stop creating users or granting access, reconnect the connector
Automation not starting: check the activity is turned on in CustomerHub and the automation uses Event is recorded with the matching CustomerHub - event
Still stuck? Make sure your ActiveCampaign user has permission to use the API, then reach out via chat and we'll help
❓ FAQ
What happens when I delete a product from CustomerHub?
CustomerHub deletes the matching product tag in ActiveCampaign.
What if a CustomerHub product has the same name as an existing tag in ActiveCampaign?
CustomerHub creates a new tag with "- duplicate" added to the name and links that tag to the product.
What happens if I delete a tag in ActiveCampaign that CustomerHub created?
Reconnect the ActiveCampaign connector and CustomerHub recreates the tag.
Does renaming a tag or product break the sync?
No. When a product is renamed, CustomerHub updates the tag in ActiveCampaign. When a tag is renamed, CustomerHub keeps syncing that tag. We recommend not editing tags that CustomerHub created.
What if I delete the CustomerHub list in ActiveCampaign?
It is recreated the next time a contact syncs.