Efficient integration of EMM and third-party systems
E-Marketing Manager (EMM) enables companies to link their marketing activities with a variety of important tools and platforms. By integrating with various CRM, CMS and ERP systems, EMM increases efficiency, optimizes workflows and supports data-driven decisions. Thanks to automated processes, everything works seamlessly and without manual effort, allowing companies to focus their resources on strategic initiatives. The seamless connection to systems ensures optimal management of customer data and interactions.
EMM and OpenEMM now also support the Make and N8N integration platforms.
Advantages of integration
The integration of the E-Marketing Manager (EMM) with various systems offers numerous advantages for companies that want to make their marketing processes more efficient:
Connectors for integration without interfaces
To fully exploit the potential of email and marketing automation, OpenEMM and EMM should not be isolated solutions.
That’s why both systems now support the well-known integration platforms Make (make.com) by the Munich-based company Celonis and N8N (n8n.io) by the Berlin-based startup of the same name. Make is offered as a cloud service and N8N as a license and via cloud. Both platforms are based in Germany, which means their cloud services are GDPR-compliant and not subject to the US Cloud Act.
Make and N8N allow OpenEMM and EMM to be connected to a variety of other products such as CRM systems, CMS software, or AI agents in order to automatically exchange, transform, and enrich data. This eliminates the need to develop proprietary interfaces, and future changes to the automations can be implemented directly and visually via graphical user interfaces.
Compared to traditional product-related interfaces, an integration platform offers a whole range of advantages:
- OpenEMM and EMM can be connected to any application for which the respective integration platform offers a connector.
- The connection between OpenEMM or EMM and the desired application and the type of automation do not have to be extensively programmed, only configured.
- Changes to the automation can be implemented directly visually via a graphical user interface without any programming knowledge (usually using drag & drop and drop-down menus). Even individual test runs are displayed visually in the workflows.
- The integration platforms allow conditions, loops and transformations in the process, so that even very complex workflows can be implemented.
- Automated workflows can also integrate more than just two applications, for example a CRM system for customer data, an online store for product data and OpenEMM/EMM for marketing automation (“hub-and-spoke architecture”).
- If the native interfaces of an application change, no additional adaptation effort is usually required because the manufacturers also update their connectors accordingly so that the automated workflows continue to function.
- The use of an integration platform strengthens digital sovereignty: a company no longer has to be tied to a provider that offers everything from a single source due to concerns about the development of interfaces, but can instead select the best providers (“best of breed”). Individual providers can be replaced if necessary, so that companies are not forced to make a costly and risky complete switch if changes are required.
In Make, the connectors are called “App” (e.g. “OpenEMM-App”). If you want to use Make for OpenEMM or EMM, AGNITAS provides an OpenEMM connector (“app”) with a dozen useful function modules via the link https://www.make.com/en/hq/app-invitation/3f0bdd0765fe88b748a515b50d72782c. Templates (“Blueprints”) for Make workflows (“Scenario”) can be found via this link.
Make Triggers & Actions
Example: Make Scenario – from Google Sheets (representing a CRM) to OpenEMM
Example: Make Scenario – from OpenEMM to Google Sheets (representing a CRM)
In N8N, the connectors are called “nodes” (e.g. “OpenEMM nodes”). If you want to use OpenEMM or EMM in N8N workflows, install the OpenEMM package for N8N with npm install @openemm/n8n-nodes-openemm to be able to use various OpenEMM action and trigger nodes. Demo workflows for N8N can be found here.
N8N Triggers & Actions
Example: N8N Workflow
Good to know:
The functional scope of the OpenEMM app for Make and the npm package for N8N is constantly being expanded in order to cover as many conceivable use cases as possible. AGNITAS is happy to receive suggestions by OpenEMM and EMM users for further action and trigger methods or the extension of existing methods in the OpenEMM forum, subforum “Suggestions”. The code for Make and N8N is open source and can therefore be modified and extended by OpenEMM and EMM users at will.
A word about the costs: There are of course costs for configuring and using an integration platform. But even for conventional interfaces, there are usually one-off setup costs, ongoing operating fees and maintenance costs for interface changes. The advantage of the integration platform is its simplicity and flexibility when it comes to changes in operation and the connection of additional applications.
Centralized management of content and business processes
Thanks to the seamless connection to a variety of CRM, CMS and ERP systems, companies can make their marketing processes more efficient. EMM supports CRM systems such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM and HubSpot, among others, to enable optimal management of customer data and interactions. Content and marketing campaigns can be managed centrally for CMS platforms such as WordPress and Shopify. ERP solutions such as SAP and Lexoffice can also be easily integrated to optimize business processes and data flows between different departments. In addition, companies can use tools such as Asana, Google Sheets, JIRA and Zendesk or connect their existing databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and MS SQL Server directly to EMM.