Create or Update Custom Object
Custom Objects let you store related records — orders, registrations, subscriptions, applications — against your Contacts and Accounts. This Action writes those records for you, from anywhere Actions run: form submissions, workflows, CSV imports, CRM sync, lead scoring thresholds, and the rest.
A form submission can create an Order record. A workflow can stamp a Subscription record as it advances. No API integration required.
The Action runs once for every contact it covers, and each run either updates an existing record or creates a new one — you control which, and how the existing record is found.
Choosing the Custom Object
Select the Custom Object definition the Action should write to. Where its records attach is determined by the relationships the definition declares:
- A definition related to Account attaches records to the Account. When the Action runs over several contacts at the same Account, they share one record — it does not create one per contact.
- A definition related to Contact attaches records to each Contact individually.
The form shows you which applies as soon as you pick the definition. A definition with no relationship to Contact or Account can't be used here — its records would have nothing to attach to — so add a relationship to the definition first.
Which Record Gets Written
Next, tell the Action how to decide between updating an existing record and creating a new one. There are three modes:
Always create a new record
Every run mints a fresh record. This is the right choice when one Contact or Account legitimately accumulates many records — an Orders object where every purchase is its own record, or an Event Registrations object where every sign-up counts.
This mode isn't offered for Account-attached Custom Objects. A single Action run can cover many contacts at the same Account, which would create a separate record for each of them — almost certainly not what you want. Use "Match on a field value" instead.
Update the most recent record
The Action updates the Contact's (or Account's) newest record, and creates one only if none exists yet. A good fit for objects where each Contact or Account effectively has one current record — a Membership Status, a current Subscription.
Match on a field value
The Action looks for the record whose chosen field equals a value you define, updates it when found, and creates a new record when there's no match.
The match value is defined exactly like a field value — it can be a static value, or copied from a Contact, Account, or Opportunity field. That's what makes this mode precise on objects with many records per Contact: "update the Order whose Order Number equals the value in this Contact's Latest Order Number field" finds the right Order among dozens.
This is the mode to reach for whenever records need to be updated later by something other than recency.
Setting Field Values
With the record targeting settled, define what gets written. Click Set a Field Value for each field you want the Action to set — as many as you need, each field once.
Values are defined with the same editor as the Set Field Values Action, so everything you can do there works on Custom Object fields too:
- Set a static value
- Copy from a field on the Contact, its Account, or its most recent Opportunity
- Concatenate text and field tokens into a single value
- Set a value conditionally, based on criteria you define
- Perform math on numeric fields
- Use the current date/time on date fields
- Clear a field
Read-only and system fields (ID, Created Date, and the like) aren't offered — Paminga maintains those itself. Lookup fields can't be set by the Action.
Putting It to Work
A few patterns this Action unlocks:
- Forms writing business records. An event registration form creates a Registration record per submission — attendee data lands as structured, segmentable records instead of a pile of contact fields.
- Workflows maintaining state. A workflow updates a Membership record's status and renewal date as the Contact progresses, using "Update the most recent record."
- Imports enriching objects. A CSV import of order updates matches each row to the right Order record by order number and updates its status.
And because Segments can filter on Custom Object fields, everything this Action writes is immediately available to drive the rest of your automation.
