Connecting to Zapier

1. A 'trigger' app:
   This app is used to indicate based on which event you want an action to be performed within Zapier. 
2. An 'action' app: 
   This app is used to indicate which action should be performed following this event. The Spotler app for Zapier is an 'action' app. By using this action app, you can only perform an action in Spotler Mail+ as a result of an event in a different system.

In the image above, a zap between Facebook Lead Ads and Spotler Mail+ is shown in orange. It shows how you need the Facebook app for Zapier to pick up on the event of a new lead. You also need the Spotler app for Zapier to import the new 'lead' from Facebook as a contact to your Spotler Mail+ account. 

What are the possibilities of Zapier's Spotler app?

Based on an event in a different system, such as a new submission on a JotForm on your website, you can trigger the Spotler app to perform an action. There are two actions you can perform through the Spotler app: 

1. Adding (or editing) a contact in Spotler Mail+
   This way, you can keep your database in Spotler Mail+ up to date. 
2. Adding (or editing) a contact in Spotler Mail+ + starting a campaign
   You can send a thank you or welcome email to someone who subscribes to the newsletter, requests a brochure or makes a donation. 

How do you connect a system to Spotler Mail+ through Zapier? 

First, prepare your Spotler Mail+ account

You will be needing the key and secret from an API authentication from your Spotler Mail+ account to grant Zapier access. Make sure to use a logical name for the authentication, such as "Facebook Lead Ads", so you can see exactly which system you're connecting with in Spotler Mail+ (through Zapier). 

Please note: Check to see if you already have a connection with your Spotler Mail+ account Go to Settings in your Spotler Mail+ account and click on Integrations at the top of the screen. Check if there's an API integration in place already. If so, you already have a connection with a different system and your Spotler Mail+ account needs to be prepared for an extra connection. Contact your Spotler partner for further instructions.  Please note: Working with automated campaigns If there's a connection between Zapier and Spotler Mail+, you're using an external trigger for your automations. You can read more on external triggers in this article: Triggering automations.

Next, go to Zapier

1. Log in to Zapier.com or start by making a (free) Zapier account. Zapier is free of charge for most systems, but for some including Facebook Lead Ads and LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms, you need to purchase the "Starter" version or higher. You can find Zapier's plans and pricing here. 
2. After logging in, go to "Connect this app..." on your homepage and fill in which system you want to connect to your Spotler Mail+ account. Facebook Lead Ads for example. Next, fill in which system you want to connect to under "with this one!". Spotler Mail+, of course. 
3. Under "When this happens..." choose the event from which an action should be followed in Spotler Mail+. Choose the corresponding action under "then do this".
4. Press on the button "Try it".
5. You will land on a page where you can configure the connection between the two systems. First you configure the trigger app, Facebook Lead Ads in this example, followed by the action app - Spotler Mail+. Use the trigger app to connect Spotler Mail+ to the system of choice. Click the blue "Sign in to ..." button. A pop up will appear in which you grant Zapier access to the system you want to connect to Spotler Mail+. For some apps such as Facebook Lead Ads, you will be given the option to allow Zapier to perform various actions in your external system. This is usually not necessary for a connection with Spotler Mail+ (see FAQs).
6. Next, select the account of the external system which you want to connect to and click on "Continue". Under Set up trigger, choose the event from which an action should be followed, such as a new lead or a form entry. Click on "Test trigger" followed by "Continue". 
7. Now you can set up the action app, which is Spotler Mail+. Decide between: (a) "Add (Or Update) Contact", or (b) "Add (Or Update) Contact And Trigger Campaign". Next, click on "Continue". 
8. You can now connect to your Spotler Mail+ account. Click on the blue button "Sign in to Spotler Mail+". A pop up will appear in which you grant Zapier access to your Spotler Mail+ account. Fill in the key and secret from the corresponding API authentication in your Spotler Mail+ account click on "Yes, Continue". Select the Spotler Mail+ account that you have access to (it can only be one). 
9. You will see an overview of all profile fields in your Spotler Mail+ account. Decide which profile field you want to fill with a value from the external system. The following fields are required: (1) The External Contact Id which you have to fill with a unique value from an external system and (2), your contact's email address. If you've chosen an action with which you also want to trigger a campaign, you are required to select the right Campaign (3) from your Spotler Mail+ account . You can only select campaigns that have an external trigger as well as an active status in  your Spotler Mail+ account. Now, click on "Continue".
10. Click on "Test & Continue".
11. If the test succeeded, you can activate the zap by clicking on "Turn On Zap". Optionally, you can also give the zap a logical name. This is useful when you have multiple active zaps. 

What can you use the connection for best? 

You can best use the Spotler app for Zapier to grow or enrich your Spotler Mail+ database. It's especially valuable to sync new contacts or leads to Spotler Mail+ and to have the option to follow up with an automated email. Seeing as you're paying Zapier per successfully executed task, the costs can be significant when you upload large files through the sync to Spotler Mail+ on a daily basis. It's perfectly fine to sync a CRM system to Spotler Mail+ through Zapier, but it would be advisable to only sync new contacts. You can choose to only update modified contacts under certain conditions, i.e. when the changes have enough value to use in Spotler Mail+. 

Frequently used examples:

• Sending an automated confirmation of registration when someone subscribes to the newsletter through an ad from Facebook Lead Ads.
• Sending an automated email with a brochure or white paper when someone has requested it through an ad from LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms.
• Sending an automated thank you email when donors have made a donation through Typeform or ActiveForm. 
• Sending an automated confirmation of participation (with QR code) to someone who registered to an event through EventBrite. 
• Sending an automated email containing a voucher to new customers that have placed an order in your web shop for the first time. 
• Sending an automated notification to your sales department through Spotler Mail+ when a prospect has visited a certain web page, has reached a certain lead score or specifically asks for more information.

What are the conditions for a successful connection? 

There are some conditions attached to successfully connecting an external system to your Spotler Mail+ account through Zapier: 

• You will need a Zapier account. Take a look at Zapier's freemium model in order to decide which licence you will be needing. 
• The REST API must be activated in your Spotler Mail+ account. 
• Create a separate (REST API) authentication for the system you want to connect Zapier with in your Spotler Mail+ account. Give this authentication a logical name, such as "Facebook Lead Ads". If you already have an active connection with your Spotler Mail+ account, your account needs to be prepared for an extra connection first. 
• Spotler Mail+ automatically deduplicates based on the configured deduplication rules (deduplication is done by email address by default).

Spotler Mail+ provides support on Spotler Mail+ software and the 'Spotler App' that was developed for Zapier only. This app is maintained by Spotler. For other questions, please contact Zapier.

Zapier Helpers

Spotler Mail+ expects a specific value for some profile fields that doesn't always have to match the value from the external system (unfortunately). The best solution here is to use Zapier Helpers, such as Filter by Zapier, Formatter by Zapier and Paths by Zapier. You can use these as intermediate step(s) between the 'trigger app' and the 'action app' in order to save the right value to Spotler Mail+. You cannot use Zapier Helpers in the free version of Zapier. Two examples of Zapier Helpers are described below. 

Formatter / Utilities / Lookup Table:

Let's say you've published a form somewhere with which a certain product or service can be requested and through which you can also subscribe to the newsletter. When setting up the Spotler app in Zapier, you don't have the option of turning on the newsletter permission by default. 

In that case, Zapier Helper Formatter by Zapier offers the solution. Click on the 'plus' icon between the Trigger App and the Action app in your Zap and then search for 'Formatter'. Then select 'Utilities' as 'Action Event' and select 'Lookup Table'.

Under 'Lookup Key', select the checkbox question from the form in which you ask if they would like to receive the newsletter. Under 'Lookup Table' on the left, fill in the value that Zapier receives when someone checked this checkbox, 'True' in this case. On the right hand side, fill in the value that Spotler Mail+ accepts, value '1' (to turn on the first permission in the permission field) in this case. Make sure to leave the 'Fallback Value' blank. You don't want it to lead to someone unsubscribing when they do not subscribe to the newsletter here. 

Finish this step and choose the right (custom) value to save on the permission field in the configuration of the Spotler app. This way, the value '1' is saved correctly whenever someone subscribes to the newsletter and the value in Spotler Mail+ is preserved when someone does not subscribe to the newsletter.

This solution only works when you want to update the top permission in Spotler Mail+. 

Formatter / Text / Replace:

The method described above only works when you want to update the top permission in Spotler Mail+. If a respondent can select multiple permissions or interests, Zapier Helper Formatter by Zapier is once again the solution. But in that case, you will have to create a separate intermediate step per permission (or interest) in order to save the right value to Spotler Mail+. 

Click on the 'plus' icon between the Trigger app and the Action app in your zap and search for 'Formatter'. Next, select 'Text' as the 'Action Event' and select 'Replace'.

Under 'Input', select the incoming value of an individual permission (or interest). Start with the top permission (or interest) in Spotler Mail+. The advantage here is that the value is left blank when someone has not checked this permission (or interest) on the form. In this example, the value becomes 'Newsletter' when someone checks this permission on the form. 

To turn on the top permission in Spotler Mail+, you need to set the bitValue- as '1'. Fill in '1' under 'Replace'. 

Do the same for other permissions (or interests). Just make sure to give the right bitValue to the permission (or interest) in accordance with the table below. This value increases exponentially. 

We used three permissions in our example, which means the following three intermediate steps need to be created in order to sync the right values to Spotler Mail+. 

Finish these steps and select the right (custom) value per permission (or interest) to save to the 'permissions' field in the configuration of the Spotler app. 

Once you've done this for each permission (or interest), mapping in the Spotler app for Zapier will look like this: 

The great thing about this solution is that the existing value in Spotler Mail+ remains untouched when someone does not check certain permissions (or interests) on the form. In the example above, someone only subscribed to the second and third permission. 

Formatter / Text / Truncate:

Let's say you've published a form somewhere which entails a request or question for which you expect a specific value (such as an 'M' or 'F' for gender) or a value in a specific format (such as the date in a format that Spotler Mail+ accepts). In this case, you can use an intermediate step to convert this value to a value that Spotler Mail+ accepts. Below is in example that shows you how to save someone's gender the right way. 

Just like with the example of the permissions above, we cannot use the value 'Male' (of 'Female') for everyone, because this is not necessarily the answer from the form. Neither can we save the value from the external system as the 'custom' value, because the values 'Male' and 'Female' are not accepted by Spotler Mail+. 

The Zapier Helper Formatter by Zapier also offers the solution in this case. Click on the 'plus' icon between the Trigger app and the Action app in your Zap and search for 'Formatter'. Next, select 'Text' as the 'Action Event' and select 'Truncate'.

Under Input, select the question in which you ask for the respondent's gender. By using the 'Truncate' feature, we can adjust the value of gender to just the first letter, 'M' for 'Male' and 'F' for 'Female'. Under 'Max length', fill in '1' so that only the first letter of the original value remains (that Spotler Mail+ understands). 

Finish this step and select the right (custom) value to save to the 'Gender' field in the configuration of the Spotler app. 

This way, the 'M' or 'F' value is saved to Gender in Spotler Mail+. 

How do you connect Spotler Mail+ to another system through Zapier?

You only have the option of performing Zapier actions in Spotler Mail+ by using the Spotler 'Action' app for Zapier. There is no 'Trigger' app as of yet to perform actions in a different system based on events that happen in Spotler Mail+. And yet, there is another way to perform Zapier actions in a different system, under specific circumstances. This can be done when using Spotler Mail+ forms or surveys. You can sync new contacts that that were created from a subscription form in Spotler Mail+ through Zapier to another system automatically. The same goes for the responses on different forms or surveys. 

Connecting Spotler Mail+ forms or surveys to Zapier

With each Spotler Mail+ form, you have the option to set up a so called POST action (a type of 'webhook'). You can use this to send the data of the respondent directly to a different system. Maybe your system can collect this data in order to process it. If not, 'Webhooks by Zapier' may hold the key to a solution. We'll explain this feature step by step. 

1. Log in to Zapier.com or create a (free) Zapier-account first. Zapier is free for a lot of systems, but for 'Webhooks by Zapier', you need to purchase the "Starter" version or higher. You can find Zapier's plans and pricing here.
2. After logging in, go to "Connect this app..." on your homepage and fill in which system you want to connect to your Spotler Mail+ account. 'Webhooks by Zapier' in this case.
3. We will sync a new form result from Spotler Mail+ through Zapier to a Google Sheet document for the purpose of this example. Select 'Google Sheets' under "with this one!".
4. Next, select 'Catch Hook' under "When this happens..." and 'Create Spreadsheet Row(s)' under  "then do this". Next, click on "Try it".
5. You will land on a page where you can configure the connection between the two systems. You do not have to set up the trigger app. Click through to 'Test Trigger' and copy the webhook that appears.

6. You will need this URL for the form (or survey) you want to sync in Spotler Mail+. Go to step 3 of processing a form (or survey). Under 'Forward', select 'Yes, send the form to an external system (POST request)' and paste the URL that you have copied from Zapier.

    

   Don't forget to fill in the label names   You will need to name the fields that you want to sync to an external source. You can decide on the name(s) yourself. The  fields that you do not name will not be synced.

7. Click on  "Send & Save" and fill in the form or survey at least once so you have a test result in Zapier. 
8. Go back to the trigger settings of your Zap in Zapier and test to see if your test result from Spotler Mail+ comes through successfully. Click on "Continue". Now you've arrived at the part where you set up the action app. Connect your Google Sheets account and select the spreadsheet you want to sync the data to. Please note: The columns from which you want to sync data must be named in the top row of the document. Name, Email and Mobile for example (if this is what you're asking for in your form or survey).
9. For each column in your spreadsheet, select the value from your test result to fill it. This is how you establish how future data will be processed. 
10. Proceed with "Test & Continue". If the test was a success - a row was added to your spreadsheet - you can now press the button "Publish Zap". Optionally, you can give your zap a logical name at the top of the screen. This is advisable when you have multiple active zaps. 

FAQs