[Limited Availability]{class="badge informative"}
Get started with custom channels get-started-custom-channel
On this page: Learn what custom channels are in Adobe Journey Optimizer, how they compare to custom actions, and the overall workflow for bringing any outbound HTTP endpoint into AJO so you can use it in campaigns and journeys.
Journey Optimizer’s Custom channels capability lets you bring any outbound channel into Journey Optimizer so you can use it in campaigns and journeys—just like any native channel. Using the Channel Builder, administrators can create and configure new channels without engineering involvement, and marketers can immediately start using them to communicate with customers.
What problem does it solve? why-custom-channels
Journey Optimizer natively supports Email, SMS, Push notifications, WhatsApp, LINE, and other channels. However, many organizations use messaging platforms that are not natively integrated—such as WeChat, Kakao Talk, Messenger, or an external provider—and want to use them in Journey Optimizer for orchestration and campaign creation while still delivering with their own vendor.
Custom channels fill this gap: they enable you to use any outbound HTTP endpoint as a full Journey Optimizer channel, unlocking:
- Full channel capabilities – Optimization (content experimentation and targeting), OOTB reporting and monitoring, consent and governance enforcement, and expression fragments.
- Unified orchestration – Manage all your messaging channels in a single place, regardless of the underlying delivery provider.
- No-code setup – Admins configure the channel through the Channel Builder UI; no custom code or engineering effort is required.
Custom channel vs. custom actions custom-channel-vs-custom-action
If you have used custom actions in Journey Optimizer journeys before, custom channels address a different set of use cases.
Use custom channels when you need to send messages to end users through a platform not natively supported in Journey Optimizer—such as WeChat, Kakao Talk, or a custom messaging gateway. Custom channels are available in campaigns and journeys, and support:
- Full personalization through the personalization editor, similar to native outbound channels
- Visual/form payload editor, preview and proof
- Content experimentation and targeting
- OOTB reporting and monitoring
- Multiple API credentials and channel configurations
- RBAC/ABAC
Custom channels support POST as the only HTTP method.
Use custom actions when you need to retrieve data from or push information to an external system—such as a call center, logging platform, or offline database—as a step within a journey. Custom actions are available in journeys only and support GET, PUT, and POST methods.
Use cases use-cases
Custom channels are ideal for:
- Unsupported messaging platforms – Channels like WeChat, Kakao Talk, Messenger, Telegram, or regional messaging services that do not have a native Journey Optimizer channel.
- Custom delivery providers – Organizations that have invested in an external provider they want to keep using for message delivery, but prefer to leverage Journey Optimizer for orchestration, personalization, and campaign management.
- Legacy channels – Proprietary or legacy messaging gateways that expose an HTTP endpoint.
- Industry-specific channels – Secure messaging for healthcare, banking alert systems, or government notification services.
How it works how-it-works
Setting up and using a custom channel follows the main stages below:
- Configure (Admin) – An administrator creates a custom channel in the Channel Builder, defining the endpoint, authentication, throttling policy, and message payload structure. A channel configuration is then created and linked to the custom channel.
- Create (Marketer) – A marketer adds the custom channel to a journey or campaign, selects a channel configuration, and authors the message payload using Journey Optimizer’s personalization editor.
- Send – When a profile qualifies, Journey Optimizer sends the personalized payload to the configured endpoint. The external system processes the call and delivers the message.
- Monitor (Admin/Marketer) – Administrators and marketers can monitor the custom channel’s performance and reliability through Journey Optimizer’s reporting and monitoring dashboards.
This section contains structured knowledge intended to support interpretation, retrieval, and question answering related to this topic.
For complete understanding, this information should be combined with the documentation on this page. Neither source is intended to stand alone; the page describes the feature, while this section provides additional context that helps disambiguate terminology, intent, applicability, and constraints.
- TL;DR: This page introduces Journey Optimizer custom channels, which let you bring any outbound HTTP endpoint into Journey Optimizer as a full channel using the Channel Builder, explains how they differ from custom actions, and outlines the configure, create, send, and monitor workflow.
Intents:
- Understand what custom channels are and what problem they solve
- Decide when to use a custom channel versus a custom action
- Identify use cases suited to custom channels, such as unsupported messaging platforms or custom delivery providers
- Understand the end-to-end workflow of configuring, creating, sending, and monitoring a custom channel
- Learn which capabilities custom channels support in campaigns and journeys
Glossary:
- Custom channels: A capability that lets you bring any outbound channel into Journey Optimizer for use in campaigns and journeys, like a native channel (product-specific)
- Channel Builder: The interface where administrators create and configure new custom channels without engineering involvement (product-specific)
- Custom actions: A capability for retrieving data from or pushing information to an external system as a step within a journey, available in journeys only (product-specific)
- Channel configuration: A configuration created and linked to the custom channel that a marketer selects when adding the channel to a journey or campaign (product-specific)
Guardrails:
- Custom channels are available in Limited Availability; contact your Adobe representative to gain access.
- Custom channels support POST as the only HTTP method.
- Custom actions are available in journeys only and support GET, PUT, and POST methods.
- Configuring a custom channel is an administrator task performed in the Channel Builder; adding the channel to a journey or campaign is a marketer task.
Terminology:
- Canonical name: Custom channels — Acronym: n/a — variants: custom channel capability, custom channel
- Synonyms: “Channel Builder” = the UI used to create and configure custom channels
- Do not confuse: “Custom channels” (send messages to end users through a platform not natively supported, available in campaigns and journeys, POST only) ≠ “Custom actions” (retrieve data from or push information to an external system, available in journeys only, GET/PUT/POST)
FAQ:
- Q: What are custom channels? — They let you bring any outbound HTTP endpoint into Journey Optimizer as a full channel so you can use it in campaigns and journeys, just like a native channel.
- Q: When should I use a custom channel instead of a custom action? — Use a custom channel when you need to send messages to end users through a platform not natively supported, and use a custom action when you need to retrieve data from or push information to an external system as a step within a journey.
- Q: Which HTTP method do custom channels support? — Custom channels support POST as the only HTTP method.
- Q: What are the main stages of setting up and using a custom channel? — Configure the channel in the Channel Builder (Admin), create the message in a journey or campaign (Marketer), send the personalized payload when a profile qualifies, and monitor performance through reporting and monitoring dashboards.
- Q: Do I need engineering effort to set up a custom channel? — No, administrators configure the channel through the Channel Builder UI; no custom code or engineering effort is required.
- Q: What are typical use cases for custom channels? — Unsupported messaging platforms such as WeChat or Kakao Talk, custom delivery providers, legacy messaging gateways that expose an HTTP endpoint, and industry-specific channels such as healthcare or banking notifications.