HubSpot Custom Workflow Guide: How to "Search" for Marketing Campaigns and Use Their Data

Purpose of the Action

The primary purpose of this action is to search for a "Marketing Campaign" that matches specific criteria (e.g., Campaign Name) during a contact workflow. It then outputs multiple pieces of information about that campaign, such as its "Campaign ID," "Campaign Name," and "Campaign Notes."

The ultimate goal is not just association, but to use this retrieved data to update the contact's properties or to add detailed context to automated tasks for your sales or marketing teams.

Common Use Cases

This action is valuable for connecting a contact's activities with your marketing initiative data.

• Link Form Submissions to Campaign DataA contact (Contact A) submits a form and selects an "Event Name" (e.g., "test1"). The workflow searches for the campaign with that name, finds its "Campaign ID," and copies that ID to a custom property on Contact A's record (e.g., "Attended Campaign ID").
• Automate Enriched Sales TasksWhen a contact meets certain criteria (e.g., "Demo Requested"), the workflow searches for a related campaign (e.g., "2025 Fall Sale"). It then retrieves the "Campaign Name" and "Campaign Notes" (which might contain key talking points for sales) and creates a task for the sales rep, automatically including this context in the task description.
• Branching Logic Based on Campaign DetailsUse an If/then branch after the search action to change the workflow path based on the retrieved data. For example, if the output campaignNotes contains the keyword "VIP," add the contact to a "VIP Follow-up" list.

Step-by-Step Guide from the Video Demo

The video demonstrates the setup and execution of the "Campaign Search Action."

Step 1: Add the Action (0:04 - 0:09)In the workflow editor, click the "+" icon. The left sidebar opens, and the user selects the "Custom Workflow Business V2" app.

Step 2: Select "Campaign Search Action" (0:10 - 0:12)From the app's list of actions, click "Campaign Search Action" to add it to the workflow.

Step 3: Configure Search Criteria (0:13 - 0:20)In the action's setup panel on the left, you define which campaign you are looking for.

• Query:Enter the name of the campaign you want to find (e.g., "test1"). This field can accept a static value (like in the demo) or a personalization token from the enrolled contact (e.g., a "Campaign Name" property from a form submission).
• Campaign ID:(Optional) Use this field if you need to search directly by a specific, known Campaign ID.

Step 4: Save Configuration (0:21 - 0:23)Click the "Save" button to complete the action setup.

Step 5: Run Workflow & Check History (0:24 - 0:32)The workflow is turned on and run. In the "History" tab, the "Campaign Search Action" shows as "Action succeeded."The log details (right panel) show the "OUTPUTS." You can see that campaignName ("test1"), campaignId, and campaignNotes have all been successfully retrieved.

Step 6: Verify the Result (0:33 - 0:36)(As a supplement to the demo) The user then switches to the "Campaigns" list in HubSpot and confirms that the campaign named "test1" with the matching ID exists.

How to Use the Retrieved Information (Examples)

This action only retrieves the data. To use it, you must add subsequent actions.

Example 1: Update a Contact Property

1. After the "Campaign Search Action," add a standard HubSpot "Set property value" action.
2. Choose a custom contact property to update (e.g., "Related Campaign ID").
3. For the value, select the [campaignId] token from the "Campaign Search Action" data source.

Example 2: Add Context to a Task

1. Add a standard HubSpot "Create task" action.
2. In the task "Title" or "Notes" field, insert the [campaignName] and [campaignNotes] tokens from the "Campaign Search Action." This creates a much more informative task for your team.

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