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What: The Zendesk connection allows you to enrich BlueConic profiles with data from Zendesk users. This connection supports scheduled batch import. 

About BlueConic: The BlueConic customer data platform harnesses the data required to power the recognition of an individual at each interaction, and then synchronizes their intent across the marketing ecosystem. Learn more about the BlueConic platform.

Why: By bringing Zendesk data and ticketing events into BlueConic, you can use the information to individualize your customers' experiences.

Adding a Zendesk connection

To install the Zendesk connection to your BlueConic tenant, follow the steps outlined below.

1. Click Connections in the BlueConic navigation bar.
2. Click Add Connection.
3. A pop-up window appears. Enter "Zendesk" in the Search bar.
4. Click Zendesk connection.
   The Zendesk connection page opens. You can expand or collapse the metadata fields (to mark it as a favorite, add labels, or write a description) by clicking the gray + or -.
5. In the metadata section you can choose whether to get email notifications when the connection runs or fails to run.
6. Enter a name for your connection at the top of the page

Configuring a Zendesk connection to BlueConic

To set up a connection between BlueConic and Zendesk, you need to add your authentication credentials, create at least one import goal, turn the connection on, and either schedule or run the connection. Follow the steps outlined below.

Setting up the connection

1. Select Set up and run in the Setup section in the left panel.
2. Enter your Zendesk authentication credentials:
   • Subdomain: Enter your Zendesk account subdomain.
   • Authentication: The first time you authenticate the connection, click Connect with Zendesk. A pop-up window will appear where you can provide your Zendesk account credentials. If you return later to reset the authentication in the connection, you need to first go to Zendesk and log out. Then you can re-authenticate the connection.
3. Save your connection settings at the top of the page.

Your connection should not show an error, which means that BlueConic can now exchange customer data with Zendesk.

To make the connection work, you have to add at least one import goal, save your settings, and switch the connection on at the top of the page before you run it. In the goals, you specify how data from BlueConic should be linked and mapped to Zendesk.

After you run the connection, the Data exchange section shows the number of unique profiles exchanged with Zendesk. 

Importing data into BlueConic from Zendesk

In the bottom left panel, click Add goal > Import profiles to create an import goal or click Import data into BlueConic on the left panel to set import goals for the connection.

1. Link identifiers between Zendesk and BlueConic profiles.
   You can optionally choose to create new profiles if no matching identifier is found.
2. Map Zendesk data to BlueConic profile properties. In the drop-down menu on the right of each mapping, you can specify determines how a value imported from Zendesk will be stored into the BlueConic property. These are the options:
   • Set: Copy the value exactly to the profile property, overwriting the previous value.
   • Set if empty: Copy the value from Zendesk exactly to the profile property but only if it is empty. If the profile property already has a value, do nothing.
   • Set or clear: The value in the profile property will be cleared if it contains no value.
   • Add: Add the value to a list of values already in the profile property if it hasn't been added yet, omitting duplicates.
   • Sum: Numerically add the value from Zendesk to the value in the profile property. If the profile property was empty, it will be regarded as value 0. This only works for profile properties and values that contain integer numbers.
3. Optional: Import Zendesk ticket data into BlueConic.
   BlueConic automatically provides a Timeline event type to import Zendesk ticket data into the profile timeline. You can choose to import ticket data by mapping your Zendesk ticketing fields to the timeline event fields.
   Use the advanced setting to limit the time frame for imported tickets. You can select a date to to import only tickets created on or after the date you select. This can help make sure you don't import a large amount of old or out-dated ticketing events when you import Zendesk tickets. The next time you run the connection, the import will include new events added since the previous connection run.
   
   Learn more about Timeline events in BlueConic.
4. Run the connection. See Running the connection below for details.

Running the connection

To run the connection, turn the connection on at the top of the page and save your changes. Use the settings in the Run history section of the Set up and run page. See Scheduling connections for details on running connections.

Connection status

Once you've set up and saved your connection, the icon at the top of the window reflects the status of the connection.

An arrow runs between BlueConic to Zendesk, signifying the direction of the data import. When the arrow is green, the connection is ready to be used.

Privacy management

Connections can be added to Objectives, allowing for privacy management of the information that is being picked up. A connection will only process the profiles of visitors who have consented to at least one of the objectives that the connection is linked to.