1. To start off, you need to understand that plugins (sometimes called integrations or connectors) allow Infusionsoft to “communicate” with another solution or tool so each can do more for you. They usually pass information either from one to the other, or, back and forth.

2. There is a difference between direct integrations and 3rd party integrations.

Some tools integrate directly with Infusionsoft. To use an analogy, when you have a direct integration it’s like Infusionsoft and the other tool can speak the same language, so they don’t need to hire an interpreter to talk to each other.

But sometimes a third party is required to integrate Infusionsoft with another app or tool. Keeping with the analogy, let’s say Infusionsoft speaks English, and the other tool you are trying to integrate with speaks Spanish… and neither one wants to learn the other language to make life easier for you as the end user. When that is the case, a 3rd party integration comes to the rescue and acts as an interpreter so the two can work together and you get what you need from both tools.

Shout out to Jordan Hatch for the analogy assist.

3. You will need to give the two tools permission to talk to each other. This is a good thing, otherwise any tool could integrate with your Infusionsoft account and wreak all sorts of havoc.

If you are working with a direct integration you typically only have to authorize that tool to talk to your Infusionsoft app.

If you are working with a  3rd party integration you will need to authorize the 3rd party tool (remember this is the interpreter) to talk to your Infusionsoft app AND the other tool you want to integrate with Infusionsoft.

4. There are generally two ways to grant permission

• The first is call OAuth. Don’t worry about the term, this just means to grant permission by entering your username and password for Infusionsoft (and/or the other tool if they are set up with OAuth as well), and then click a button that says that you give the integration permission. It’s that easy. You’ve probably done this many times (like when you used your Facebook account to login to your Candy Crush or Clash of Clans account).
• The second is by providing your API key and app name.  This is the ‘old’ way of integrating. It is a little less secure, but still does the trick. If your integration is asking for your app name and api key you can follow these steps.

5. You need to understand how the integration will communicate with Infusionsoft.

Most of the time you will be working with integrations that tie into the campaign builder. If that’s the case, there are typically two goals that your integration will use to trigger automation to start or stop, and one way for Infusionsoft to trigger your other application to do its thing.

Normally integrations trigger automation in Infusionsoft by either achieving a campaign API goal or applying a tag.

API goals are one of the scarier goals to work with initially because most of us don’t write code, or completely understand what is happening in the background. When you go to configure an API goal it asks you for your “Integration” and “Call Name”.  You don’t need to worry about the specific terminology here. Your integration is essentially sending a signal to Infusionsoft with these two key pieces of Information and Infusionsoft is watching for those to know which campaigns need to be triggered.

All you need to do is ensure that the “Integration” and “Call Name” you set up in the tool you are integrating match the “Integration” and “Call Name” you configure in your campaign.

The majority of integrations with Infusionsoft work by applying tags. Back when Infusionsoft’s campaign builder was released tags were really the only way to trigger automation to start and stop from an integrated tool. And thus, tags became the Infusionsoft API developer’s go to tool.

For this, and a handful of other reasons, tags cause more confusion than they should.

Tags were originally designed to segment your database into lists, and to be able to slice your lists any way you could dream of, but when developers started using tags out of necessity to trigger campaign automation, things got a little messy, but with a good tag naming convention you can overcome this confusion and make tags work for you.

(If you don’t have a tagging system yet, check out this list of options Greg put together.)

One gotcha you need to account for when using tags to start or stop campaign sequences is that a tag cannot be applied to a contact who already has that tag.

So, if you ever need to achieve the same goal multiple times you will need to remove the tag before reapplying it. This can be done automatically in campaign sequences, but you’ve gotta plan for this scenario if you don’t want to bang your head against the wall while you try to figure out why the integration isn’t working the way you were expecting it to.

In my opinion, completing an API goal is the cleanest way to trigger automation from an Infusionsoft integration. Unlike tags, API goals can be achieved multiple times without issue.

Whenever I have the option between these two, I go with the API goal completion.

The way Infusionsoft can trigger things to happen in your plugin tools (such as sending an SMS, or triggering a batch of delicious cookies to be sent to the contact) is by sending an HTTP post to a dedicated URL that will be provided by your integration provider. Typically, the tool you are working with will provide you with detailed instructions on how to set up these HTTP posts.

6. Have a strategy.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of everything you need to know to integrate every tool out there with Infusionsoft; that would take years to compile. But this is a list of the basics you need to know when integrating another tool with Infusionsoft.

But knowing how to tie two systems together and having a strategy to effectively use multiple tools in your marketing automation efforts are two different things. If you don’t have a well planned out strategy you will end up frustrated and disappointed.

So, once you understand what it’s going to take to integrate a tool with Infusionsoft, take the time to create a solid strategy that will help you get results and not just a new shiny object in your automation toolkit.

Editor’s note: Justin is a long time friend of mine, and established expert in the Infusionsoft ecosystem, if you’d like to learn more about working with him or his team you can check them out at Bandera Marketing.