Last updated on July 31, 2022, 8:45 AM
Zapier says: “the easiest way to automate your work”, so to speak the easiest way / or the easiest tool to automate your work. After a few years of using Zapier, I have to say that the claim fits quite well.
Zapier now supports hundreds if not thousands of applications that you can connect using the zaps.
I would explain it by saying that with Zapier you can use the APIs (interfaces) of the applications without any programming knowledge. Furthermore, the data exchange can also be automated and one saves manual work.
Zapier and Marketing Automation
There is of course a huge range of marketing automation from small tasks to full-blown CRM systems that integrate a whole marketing palette and email systems.
An example of using Zapier on a small scale for marketing automation would be: an email marketing newsletter list from a tool (e.g. Mailchimp) automatically transferred to Google Sheets for further analysis. Zapier could also be used to filter out certain email addresses and not transfer them at all.
An example of where Zapier is used on a larger scale is usually the automatic transfer of data between CRM systems. Often companies and the systems they use grow and it can happen that Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, … all use different systems and tools, which then require a data synchronization (fully automatic).
Other common use cases for Zapier that I have encountered so far are also:
- The fully automated transfer of the attendee list / leads from a webinar into a CRM.
- The fully automated transfer of all leads from LinkedIn Lead Form campaigns into a CRM.
With Zapier, you can actually build just about anything you can imagine. Theoretically you could build your own email marketing automation system ala Mailchimp/Cleverreach, etc. with Zapier and Gmail alone. :) There are no limits to your imagination.
If you want to look for Zapier Alternatives, Integromat* is a very promising contender for the throne in my opinion (and based in the EU, if you want to avoid legal and GDPR issues).
Zapier is an automation tool which can connect various tools without programming knowledge. Data can flow between the tools / apps via Zapier and the data be modified by means of filters and formatting options.
A Zap is a “process” or a created action in Zapier. Usually at least two tools/apps are linked in the Zap and the actions are defined in the Zap that should occur with the data. E.g.: A transfer of newsletter contacts into Google Sheets.