How to add contacts to ActiveCampaign from your website

To add contacts to ActiveCampaign from your website, take the API URL and API key from Settings → Developer, then POST each lead to /api/3/contact/sync. Sync creates the contact if the email is new and updates them if not. Add them to a list or tag them, and an automation can take it from there.

Find your API URL and key

In ActiveCampaign, open Settings → Developer. You’ll see:

• URL: something like https://yourname.api-us1.com. The first part (yourname) is your account name.
• Key: a long string. It acts as you, so keep it on a server.

Add or update the contact

POST https://yourname.api-us1.com/api/3/contact/sync
Api-Token: <your API key>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "contact": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "firstName": "James",
    "lastName": "Carter",
    "phone": "+447700900321"
  }
}

The reply includes contact.id. Use it for the next two steps.

Put them on a list (only with consent)

Adding someone to a list means they can get your campaigns. Only do this if they ticked a box agreeing to marketing. Our guide to consent when sending leads to your CRM explains the difference between “contact me about this job” and “send me offers”.

POST https://yourname.api-us1.com/api/3/contactLists
Api-Token: <your API key>
Content-Type: application/json

{ "contactList": { "list": 3, "contact": 101, "status": 1 } }

status: 1 means subscribed. The list number is in the list’s web address.

Start an automation with a tag

For a lead who wants a price for one job, a tag is better than a list. Create a tag like website-lead, add it to the contact, and build an automation that starts with Tag is added. Good first steps:

1. Email the customer straight away to say you’ve got their enquiry and when you’ll call.
2. Create a deal in your pipeline if you use ActiveCampaign’s CRM.
3. Wait two days, and if the deal hasn’t moved, remind yourself to follow up.

Doing it in RoughFigure

In RoughFigure we’ve built two ActiveCampaign connections, both connected with a click once you’ve pasted your key:

• ActiveCampaign (CRM), under Send leads to your CRM: every lead is synced as a contact with their name, email and phone. See it.
• ActiveCampaign email marketing, under Add leads to your newsletter: only customers who ticked the marketing box and confirmed by email are subscribed to your list. See it.

Paste your API key and account name, add a list ID for the newsletter one, and click Connect.

Questions

Is my account on api-us1 even if I’m not in the US?

The address in Settings → Developer is the one to use, wherever you are. Copy it exactly rather than guessing.

Will contact sync unsubscribe or resubscribe people?

Sync only changes the contact’s details. List subscription is a separate step, so someone who unsubscribed stays unsubscribed unless you add them to the list again.

Can I send custom fields like postcode?

Yes, with a fieldValues array on the contact, using the ID of each custom field from Contacts → Fields.