Get Started with the Journey Builder API
To use the Journey Builder APIs, complete the Marketing Cloud API authentication process.
- To get a client ID and secret, create an installed package with an API Integration component.
- Using the above credentials, get an OAuth access token for authenticating your API calls.
- Use the access token in the header to authenticate each subsequent call.
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Create your event definition in Marketing Cloud. The event definition determines entry settings for the journey, controlling who gets in and when. Use the sendable data extension created in step 1 as the entry source. If using a custom application for Journey Builder functionality, you can also define an entry event via the API using the POST /eventDefinitions resource.
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Build the journey. Use the Journey Specification to build out the JSON of your journey.
- Define the activities. Activities determine the pace and content of contact messaging and data updates as the journey executes. Marketers create a chain of activities by dragging and dropping activities onto the Canvas.
- Define a goal (optional). A Goal measures the journey's effectiveness. The Marketing Cloud continually evaluates journeys. The Journey Builder dashboard displays their performance toward meeting goal targets.
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Publish the journey. Once a journey is active, Marketing Cloud continually evaluates Contacts using the entry event criteria to determine if a journey should be invoked.
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Fire an entry event. A journey begins when the event it is configured to detect occurs. Use the event definition key created for the event definition in step 2.