Webhooks allow magnews to automatically send information to external systems whenever a relevant event occurs on the platform.
In practice, instead of periodically checking magnews to see whether something has changed (for example, if a contact subscribed or opened an email), magnews notifies your system in real time by calling a URL you have configured.
This approach is particularly useful when magnews needs to interact with other tools in your digital ecosystem, such as CRM systems, eCommerce platforms, BI tools, or custom applications.
Why move from polling to events
A webhook is a push notification mechanism: when something happens inside magnews, the platform can call an external URL with the details of the event. From a technical perspective, this means outbound API calls.
The main difference compared to the traditional model is operational: with polling, you periodically query magnews to look for updates; with webhooks, events are pushed to your systems. This reduces latency and operational costs, because you no longer “check” magnews — you react to what happens.
- Polling: periodic checks → higher latency and higher resource consumption.
- Webhooks: event-driven → greater responsiveness and lower operational overhead.
Which events you can listen to — and how to use them
magnews supports several types of events (topics), covering the key areas for integrations and automation.
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Contacts: creation, updates, unsubscribe, deletion.
Useful for keeping CRM systems and external databases aligned. -
Communications: sends, opens, clicks, bounces, spam complaints.
Useful for reacting quickly to engagement and updating external systems. -
Transactional messages: events related to operational notifications (e.g. order confirmation, password reset).
Useful for orchestrating critical processes across systems. -
Workflows: events triggered within automation journeys.
Useful for integrating customer journeys and customer experience logic beyond magnews (e.g. if a customer clicks → increase score; if they don’t open → change segment).
For the complete list of available topics and technical subscription details, refer to the Webhook technical guide.
Business value: concrete scenarios and use cases
A) Data synchronization between magnews and external systems
A common challenge is having CRM and magnews out of sync: contacts updated in one system but not the other, unsubscribes not propagated, inconsistent data. This leads to decisions based on outdated information.
With webhooks, external systems can be updated as soon as a change occurs: when a contact is created or updated in magnews, the webhook notifies the CRM and the profile is immediately aligned. From there, you can trigger internal logic (segments, scoring, workflows).
Business outcome:
- reduction or elimination of periodic synchronization processes between systems;
- fewer status inconsistencies (e.g. unsubscribes not aligned) and greater data consistency.
Trade-off to consider:
- the receiving system must be able to handle potential re-delivery of the same event without creating inconsistencies or duplicates;
B) Reacting to engagement events
Periodic reports explain what happened, but often that’s not enough: in many cases you need to trigger immediate actions based on user behavior.
Typical examples:
- Open/Click → update segments or interest scores in external systems as well.
- Tracked conversions → trigger follow-up actions or personalized offers.
Business outcome:
- more timely and relevant actions based on actual customer behavior;
- greater conversion and loyalty opportunities thanks to faster response times.
Trade-off to consider:
- higher implementation effort compared to batch processes (requires designing reliable endpoints and handling retry and security), but with clear benefits in terms of time to action.
C) Transactional integrations and operational processes
Transactional notifications are often linked to critical processes. A webhook can become an orchestration layer between magnews and operational systems.
Examples:
- Order confirmation: when sent, the webhook can notify the order management or logistics system, updating status or automatically starting operational procedures.
- Password reset: the webhook can notify identity or control systems, keeping security information aligned.
Business outcome:
- reduced delays in operational processes;
- greater consistency of operational status across systems.
Trade-off to consider:
- ensure the endpoint is stable and always reachable;
- implement monitoring and notification systems in case of errors;
- define a controlled process for handling events that cannot be processed.
When NOT to use webhooks
Clarifying what webhooks are not helps avoid the wrong architectural decisions.
- When very high event volumes are expected and no suitable architecture has been designed to handle them (for example, tens or hundreds of thousands of events per day without queuing or scalability mechanisms).
- They are not a messaging system with strict guaranteed delivery order.
- They do not replace synchronous APIs when immediate feedback is required.
- They are not necessary if data can be processed through periodic batch jobs without impacting business outcomes.
Conclusion: how to decide whether you need them
If your organization requires near real-time data synchronization, responsiveness to customer actions, dynamic customer experience automation, and reduced latency in marketing and transactional processes, webhooks are an enabling component — not a luxury.