How Integrating Your Forms With Other Apps Will Save You Time and Effort

Does your company use forms? If so, you already know there are plenty of creative ways to use them, from gathering customer feedback to processing product orders and answering questions. But do you also know that your forms can do so much more than that? Your forms, when combined with other helpful productivity apps, can save you a ton of time and effort. How?

Two words: automated tasks.

When you set up a form, the last thing you want to do is track every entry, send a bunch of emails, and follow up with everyone who’s submitted a form on your site. That’s why it’s a necessity to set up automated processes for everything that happens after users hit “Submit.”

If you’re using a content management system like WordPress, you're probably using plugins to manage your forms, which means you already have some level of automation in place. But there's plenty more you can do with automation that can save you huge amounts of time (and that lets you do much cooler things).

So where’s the best place to start? With tools, of course.

Automation Tools

When it comes to automating tasks, Zapier is the granddaddy of all automation tools.

Zapier helps individual apps work together to create an automated workflow. You choose two apps to integrate, and when something happens in one app – someone fills out your form – something happens in the other app – you get a notification (or something much more creative, but we’ll get to that).

There are other alternatives to Zapier, like Pipemonk. But with over 1,000 apps supported, you have a better chance of finding the app you need using Zapier.

Once you’re setup in Zapier, which apps should you combine? Well, you should start with your form, obviously. After that, you’ll need to determine which app will help accomplish your goals. Let’s look at a few options.

Integrated Apps

Apps are a great way to get things done with minimal effort. They take heavy tasks like sending emails and creating databases off your shoulders so you can focus on other things. Here are some great examples of how apps can integrate with your forms to save time.

Send Marketing Emails

Chances are if you have a form, you’re probably collecting emails. But once a user gives you their information, where does it go? Do you collect all the form data together and store it away in some spreadsheet never to be seen again? If so, you’re missing a huge marketing opportunity.

By using a tool like Zapier, you can integrate your forms with apps like MailChimp or Intercom to send targeted emails to your users. It could be something as simple as a quick thank you email, or a follow up to a question or concern, or even a promotional email targeting a product or service they were interested in. Either way, sending out a quick, personalized message is the perfect way to keep customer attention and make sure your piles of gathered email addresses don’t waste away in a database somewhere.

Apps to consider: Email or marketing app such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Intercom, HubSpot, Pardot, Infusionsoft, etc.

Build and Save Databases

Of course, if you’re the type who still needs to collect form data in spreadsheets (and you actually plan on using it later), you can still automate the process to save you some time. Integrate your forms with apps like Google Sheets or Excel to capture bulk information quickly to save or use how you please.

This is especially helpful if you share your databases with other businesses or clients. You can connect your customer forms to any app needed, whether it’s setting up a card in Trello or sending form submissions to Go-To-Webinar. Either way, having your databases easily accessible is a great benefit.

Apps to consider: Database and form apps such as Google Sheets, Excel, Zoho CRM, Knack, FormKeep, Gravity Forms, etc.

Send Team Notifications

Your customers aren't the only ones that need to receive notifications once a form is complete. You might also consider notifying your team so they can work to process any data that’s been submitted. That’s where SMS and other team notifications come into play. Use apps like SMS by Zapier, Slack, or Flowdock to send notifications to those who need it.

Of course, different notifications work best depending on your situation. Sometimes sending an SMS to every team member is the best choice, whereas a private chat message to a specific team member may be a better alternative. Whichever way you choose, you can use notifications to keep on top of your workload in real time.

Apps to consider: Instant messaging apps such as SMS by Zapier, Pushbullet, Notify My Android, Slack, HipChat, Flowdock, GoToMeeting, Jabber, etc.

Gather Leads for Social Content

Maybe you need your apps to do something a little more creative than standard notifications. How about setting up a workflow that turns your forms into social media posts? Apps like Buffer let you integrate forms (that you can design to gather specific pieces of information) that you can use for social updates.

This system also works to help manage content for your blog. If you use your forms to gather information like customer testimonials, you can easily create documents full of content that can be used to develop new posts later on. The Vadamalai Media Group did something similar by creating a vBulletin forum about agriculture where members could post products they wanted to buy or sell. Then, they made a Wufoo form that allowed visitors to fill out information about the items they want to buy or sell, gathered that information, and used it to create content.

Apps to consider: Lead generation or social apps such as Wufoo, Unbounce, vBulletin, Buffer, Yammer, etc.

Create Surveys

Surveys are a great way to find out what your customers are thinking, but sorting through the data can be a time-consuming job. If you use forms to gather customer feedback, why not integrate with other apps that automate all that information?

You can input your form surveys to a database or spreadsheet, then have those databases send feedback emails and even Twitter mentions to keep your customers feeling special.

Apps to consider: Any survey, database, or social app such as SurveyMonkey, Webflow, SurveyMethods, Twitter, Facebook pages, Google Sheets, etc.

Track Purchases and Orders

While most forms are about collecting basic information like names and emails, some forms are used for more serious business, like processing transactions and purchases. If you use your forms to take payments, then integrating with apps that make that process easy and secure is a must.

If you need mobile payments, you can use apps like Xero to process payments and track invoices. PayPal and Zoho Invoice will also do the job nicely, and most pair well with Zapier to connect seamlessly to your form software of choice.

Apps to consider: Ecommerce or billing apps such as Xero, PayPal, Square, Zoho Invoice, WooCommerce, Shopify, Braintree, Chargify, etc.

Manage Schedules and Bookings

Do you use forms to manage your business calendar and schedule customers for appointments? If so, you might want to consider integrating your forms with your favorite calendar apps to save time.

Some businesses use forms to help customers manage bookings, like the Visit Sierra Leone team. They have an airport transfer and travel guide service, so they created a form for people to submit their arrival information. When someone fills out the form, Zapier connects with Google Calendar and sends a confirmation email to the customer and an SMS message to the airport.

Apps to consider: Booking apps such as Google Calendar, YouCanBookMe, ScheduleOnce, Calendly, etc.

Give Customer Support

If you have customers, you have customer inquiries. If some of the forms on your site are dedicated to taking customer questions and feedback, you’ll want to make sure that process is as smooth as possible. There’s nothing customers hate more than a delayed response when they need help.

That’s where Zapier and other integrated apps can help. Apps like Zendesk make it easy to answer customer questions from one location, and you can import your forms directly to the virtual helpdesk. Do you need to give real-time answers to your customers? Try using a text or chat app like LiveChat to reach customers faster.

Apps to consider: Customer support apps such as Zendesk, Help Scout, LiveChat, LiveAgent, Pure Chat, etc.