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Feature Use Case

What custom actions can Chatref perform for marketing automation?

Chatref Team3 min read / Updated June 16, 2026

Chatref’s custom actions let your AI agent perform real tasks inside the chat, not just answer questions. You can collect visitor details, trigger your own marketing tools, and automate account-level tasks, all grounded in your business docs. This turns your chatbot from a simple Q&A tool into an active part of your marketing automation stack.

What Are Custom Actions in Chatref?

Custom actions are tool-calling capabilities built into your AI agent. When a customer asks for something specific, like updating their email preferences or checking a campaign status, the agent can collect the necessary information and trigger a predefined action in your connected marketing tools. This happens without the visitor ever leaving the chat widget, creating a seamless experience for lead capture, support, and account management.

How Custom Actions Power Marketing Automation Tasks

For marketing automation platforms, custom actions bridge the gap between a customer inquiry and a completed task. Here are a few ways they work:

  • Lead Capture and Enrichment: When a visitor shows interest, the agent can ask qualifying questions and push the collected data directly to your CRM or email platform as a new lead.
  • Campaign Subscription Management: A customer can ask to be added to a specific email list, and the agent triggers that change in your marketing tool instantly.
  • Account Lookups: The agent can pull data like recent campaign performance or contact details from your backend, providing personalized answers without human intervention.
  • Event-Triggered Follow-ups: Based on a conversation, the agent can schedule a demo or send a follow-up resource, automating the next step in your nurture sequence.

Setting Up Custom Actions for Customer Support and Sales

Configuring a custom action in Chatref is a no-code process. You define the trigger, the data fields to collect, and the endpoint or tool to call. This means your AI agents can perform specific actions based on customer inquiries without any manual coding. For example, a support agent can reset a trial key, while a sales agent can generate a discount code, all within the same chat thread. This keeps your customer support efficient and your sales team focused on high-intent conversations.

Connecting Your Marketing Tools

Chatref’s custom actions are designed to work with your existing stack. By connecting to your marketing tools via webhooks or API calls, the agent becomes an active node in your automation flow. It can update subscriber statuses, log support tickets, or trigger transactional messages, ensuring that every customer interaction leads to a concrete outcome. This integration means your AI agent does not just deflect questions; it resolves them by taking action.

FAQ

What tasks can Chatref automate for marketing teams?

Chatref can automate lead capture, campaign subscription changes, account lookups, and event-triggered follow-ups. By connecting to your marketing tools, it can push data to your CRM, update email lists, and schedule actions based on customer conversations.

How do custom actions work in Chatref?

You define a custom action by specifying what triggers it, what information to collect from the visitor, and which external tool to call. The AI agent then executes this action during a chat, using the collected data to perform tasks like updating a record or sending a notification.

Can Chatref perform specific actions based on customer inquiries?

Yes. When a customer asks a question that matches a defined trigger, the agent can collect the required details and perform the linked action. This allows it to handle tasks like resetting passwords, applying discounts, or updating account preferences without human help.

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