Automation is the name of the game these days and if you’re not playing, you might as well give up your spot on the roster. Computers and technology have come so far that we’ve got tools like Webflow, an entire production-ready website builder that lets you bring your vision to life, including eCommerce platforms and CMS databases, without using a single line of code. Plus, you can take your time building and it’s totally free until you add a site plan or a custom domain, making it easy to tinker around before you commit.
Webflow has been helping brands create platforms that fit their business, no matter what business that might be. That kind of agility and scalability is exactly what is shaping future technology, and the future is now.
Zapier is an automation tool that’s taking the business world by storm. If you haven’t heard of it yet, pay attention: Using Zapier, you can automate workflows to take the busywork off your hands and make your tech stack work smarter, and harder, while you tend to other things.
Zapier works with more than 3,000 apps and software platforms, allowing you to create workflows known as “zaps” that automate all kinds of routine, mundane, and time-consuming tasks that you don’t need to waste your people’s effort on. It’s one of the most powerful automation tools available today and the company is constantly working to add more apps and tools to its integrations library, delivering a promising solution for anyone who wants more from their tech stack.
Zapier can provide automation for:
Here at Smith.ai, we love tools like Zapier. We’re all about streamlining and improving operations—it's literally what we do. With our 24/7 virtual receptionists, we can make sure that your mission-critical services are handled so that you can focus on other tasks. Plus, we can also integrate with your tech stack to keep all of your information organized and your tools running smoothly, whether we’re handling a one-time service or partnering for the long haul.
Of course, you should embrace automation with Zapier, which will allow you to get rid of the busywork and get back to business. If you’re using Webflow to develop your platform, we’ve got some great workflows for you to check out below.
A lot of small business owners rely on tools like Google Sheets for spreadsheet and database management. Zapier works with the whole suite of Google tools, including Sheets, providing robust integrations that deliver everything that people need. This Zap will automate all of the data transfers that you want, sending any information from Webflow to Google Sheets by your request. This makes it easy to keep track of your Webflow data and forms, and helps you keep everything organized without doing the work yourself.
You can use this workflow integration to collect any data from Webflow and automatically send it to Mailchimp to add a subscriber to a list or update information for a subscriber already on your lists. Let’s say you have someone sign up for a newsletter at your Webflow site—simply use this Zap to have that data automatically added to the Mailchimp list of your choosing and get started with email marketing right away.
Notifications save us from a lot of repetitive checking. When you have this workflow in place, you’ll be able to keep working, knowing that you’ll get an email anytime there’s a form submitted on your Webflow site. You can use this to keep tabs on what’s going on and never miss a thing, even without checking in regularly. Keeping track of incoming leads and other form inquiries is a must for your business and if you want to improve automations, this is a great place to start. Simply set up the form submission process and then set the trigger to email you each time a response comes in.
In the same way that you can notify yourself or other team members via Gmail, you can also send notifications or the entire form submission to Slack. Slack is a great tool for messaging and collaboration and when you’re working with a remote team, it’s a great way to keep everyone on the same page. Choose this workflow to respond every time a form is submitted on Webflow by generating a new channel, message, or card on Slack that notifies the appropriate people that a response has come in.
If you use ActiveCampaign as a way to keep track of your marketing campaigns or customer relations, you’ll appreciate this integration. You can easily take each submission from Webflow and have it automatically generate a new contact in ActiveCampaign. You can also have it update existing contacts based on the submission received, and so much more. The trigger is pre-built and ready to go, or you can modify it with various details to make it entirely your own.
Zapier’s own email tool is a great way to stay in touch. Just like with other email apps, you can set up this workflow to notify you via Zapier’s email platform when your Webflow forms have been received. You can even choose to get notifications at certain times or only for specific form submissions, or just get an email letting you know when anything at all comes in. That way, you can stick to taking care of business and still keep an eye on things like this.
If you use an RSS feed to keep tabs on everything, automation is going to help you take it one step further. With this workflow, you can easily create CMS items in your Webflow platform automatically, just by adding them from your RSS feed. When you set up this automation, it will take note anytime a new item shows up in your RSS feed. Then, the trigger will send Zapier to work turning that feed post into a Webflow CMS item. All this can happen behind the scenes while you’re taking care of other things.
This workflow makes it easy for you to import all of the information from your Webflow forms right into Salesforce as leads, contacts, or any other details. You can pick and choose which forms get transferred or even set them up to go to specific destinations within the Salesforce platform, depending on what you need. If you just want the basic functionality, you can integrate it as-is. This will at least save you the trouble of transferring the leads yourself and avoid the serious risk of errors along the way.
When you use Airtable as a database, you’re going to have access to a bunch of robust features and functions that will make your database work for you. One of those is the ability to create CMS items for Webflow from your Airtable records. Just choose which records you want to use, set the trigger to turn them into CMS elements, and you’re done. The Zap will do the heavy lifting while you sit back and watch (or better yet, get back to focusing on the other areas of your business).
If your team uses Trello for project management and collaboration, this Zap is going to save you the hassle of checking up on your Webflow submissions. You can choose to just be notified or you can choose to have form data populated into a Trello card, but either integration will serve to give you updates and keep you aware of what’s going on with Webflow without having to monitor it separately. This also helps you know that everyone was notified so that no one can claim they “didn’t know” about a lead or another form submission.
If you’re here looking for improvements to your operations, you should take a minute to step back and assess the technology that you’re currently using. You'd be surprised just how many businesses get all the way to considering automation before they realize they’re actually missing critical pieces of the technology puzzle already. Make sure that you’re set up to do business for the future because the future is now and you’re going to get left behind if you don’t embrace as much AI and technology as you possibly can.
With the integrations above, as well as the thousands of other automations and integrations that Zapier has to offer, you’ll never have to lift a finger for the tedious work again. All you have to do is set up the workflows and let the apps do the rest. It’s the best way to go and the only way to get that efficiency that you’ve been hearing other brands brag about.
Technology and automation can improve business operations by:
It’s easy to see why we love automation. We also love being part of the solution that makes your business better. Hire our virtual receptionists and we’ll act as the face of your company for every single need, from live website chat to after-hours call answering and so much more. Plus, our team can even collaborate with you to craft the ideal strategy for fielding all your needs, no matter what they are.
Zapier is among our favorite tools available today because it allows everyone to effortlessly create smart workflows between the business software tools that they use. And Zapier is also the reason that Smith.ai integrates with over 3,000 apps and tools so that each text, call, and chat gets logged in your business software, whether that’s in your CRM, marketing platform, or anywhere else.
Check out our apps to explore how we connect to Zapier! Learn more about Smith.ai’s Answering Service app on Zapier, and explore Smith.ai’s Website Chat app on Zapier.
Schedule a consultation to find out how our receptionists can make sure that your business never sleeps, even when you do. You can also send questions to hello@smith.ai or reach us at (650) 727-6484 to discuss how our solutions can free up your time and create the professional image you have in mind.