If you’re a one man or one woman show with your Facebook ad agency, it’s no piece of cake juggling all the different to-dos and actually keeping each one in the air. I mean, you have emails piling high in your inbox, meetings filling your calendar to the brim, and—oh yeah—various client Facebook ad campaigns starting and running and stopping simultaneously.
Hot dang. You’re one busy dude (or chick).
That said, your dreams probably include a lot more free time. Especially when you feel you’ve tried all the lifehacks, and read your fair share of productivity articles and books. Gosh, it’s no wonder that, at this point, you’re beyond ready for a hallelujah moment—someone or something to swoop down and be the answer to your entrepreneurial prayers. And, add back more time to your plate.
Well, let’s see if I can help you out. Today, I’d like to introduce you to my ‘bot (short for robot) friend, Zapier.
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Heard of it before? If not, what rock have you been hiding under? But, no, in all seriousness, I’m here to give you the rundown on this popular tool. And, most importantly, the five genius ways it can automate tasks for your Facebook ad agency.
Get ready to come up with your own touchdown dance to celebrate. Because you’ll actually have time to do such a thing after reading what I’m about to dish out.
Here…we…go…
Before we get started, what exactly is Zapier? And, why does my Facebook ad agency need it?
Well, simply put, it’s an online automation tool that connects your favorite apps (two or more) to automate repetitive tasks. What that means for you? You won’t need to spend hours upon hours trying to learn how to code or relying on developers to build out the integration.
And, I’m not just talking a few apps here and there that you can connect. I’m talking more than 750.
Wowzers. Having a *pinch me, I’m dreaming* moment? Just you wait…
You can sign up for a FREE account to use most of them, which will also get you a 14-day trial to test the waters of its premium web app integrations. You only have to hand over your credit card if you’d like to continue using those bonus features or if you feel your usage is growing.
So, why would a Facebook ad agency owner like you want and need to use such a tool? Because we’re talking about creating more time for your Facebook agency biz thanks to Zapier’s ability to automate entire processes. That reason alone should be enough for you to jump on the ‘bot bandwagon.
Hello, I said you can create MORE time for yourself and your agency! Now, let’s peel back some of the automation layers and run through our favorite Zapier automation hacks.
5 Zapier Automation Hacks That Will Save Your Facebook Agency Time
1. Google Sheets.
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If you’re organized—as a successful Facebook ad agency owner should be—keeping a running list of potential clients, Facebook ad campaign performance, and even transactions and/or expenses via cloud storage is a must.
When I say cloud storage, yes, I am in fact referring to Google Sheets! This free spreadsheet creation tool is especially helpful if your computer were to ever go kaputz.
*Knocks on wood.* I’m not about putting that bad juju out into the universe.
As you may know, however, updating spreadsheets on a regular basis takes some freaking time. Time you don’t have. Oh, but guess what’s about to save the day? Zapier and its plethora of Google Sheets integrations to choose from.
To help you get started, let’s run through how to set up a Google Sheet to work with Zapier. Pay close attention!
- The first row of your sheet must have titles for any column headers you want to be able to see in your Zap (aka a blueprint for a task you want to do over and over again).
- The second row must have content for any columns you want to be able to see in your Zap.
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- There can’t be any completely blank rows before the end of your spreadsheet.
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- Turn off your Zap if you plan on editing your spreadsheet at any time. Zapier offers the best reason why: “Editing your spreadsheet while a Zap is already live is a bit like trying to fix a leaky faucet with the water turned on. Needless to say, you’re going to get wet.”
Now that you have the basics on how to get things rolling so Google Sheets and Zapier play well with one another, here are just a few of the popular tasks you can automate.
- Enrich company names in Google Sheets with data from Clearbit—company data often originates from a domain name. Therefore, once a company name is added to a Google Sheets row, this Zapier integration works to find the closest domain match via Clearbit. Then, it gathers public information on the company to update the Google Sheets row. This can be extremely helpful when you’re making a list of new clients to add to your roster.
- Add new lead information to Google Sheets and Gmail from a webhook—when you’re working hard to get your clients new leads through Facebook ads, it’s important to process them as quickly as possible. Thus, webhooks provide the ability to receive real-time updates about contacts and campaign activity. For example, you can create a webhook in ActiveCampaign to trigger a notification when a contact is added, and so much more. Then, use the custom webhook URL Zapier generates to insert into the ActiveCampaign webhook URL. Zapier will capture the new lead information and add it as a new row in Google Sheets and even send you an email via Gmail.
- Add new ActiveCampaign subscribers to Google Sheets as rows—as Zapier likes to say, “spreadsheets make flexible repositories.” And, that couldn’t be more true. With this integration, Zapier will automatically send all of the data collected from your contacts in ActiveCampaign straight to Google Sheets.
- Export new or update ActiveCampaign contacts to Google Sheets—it’s extremely difficult to keep each and every single lead’s contact information organized. Especially as you begin to collect more and more. But, not anymore. Whenever you update ActiveCampaign contacts or add new ones, Zapier will export those details and create a new row on your Google Sheet.
- Send completed CallRail data to Google Sheets—your clients’ office assistants can spend a lot of their precious time following up with Facebook leads over the phone. And, an essential part of making the most of that time is tracking all of the information to report back to the client! Zapier can help by sending completed phone call data straight to Google Sheets to generate reports and measure your efforts.
- Log SamCart orders to new rows in a Google Sheets spreadsheet—when a new client makes a payment, Zapier will send all of that information into a Google Sheet for safe-keeping in one place.
2. Google Calendar.
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It’s enough to keep track of your client’s ad campaign schedules via your digital calendar. But, pile on your very own business and personal schedules, and it starts to become a garbled mess. How will you ever stay on top of it and not miss a beat?
Yup, you’re following—with Zapier’s various Google Calendar integrations. They’ll help your calendar run the way you want it to. What all can you do? Take a look at some of these options:
- Copy new Google Calendar events to a different Google Calendar—managing multiple digital calendars for your clients and want to keep everything in one place for your agency? Zapier can automatically create a copy of a new Google Calendar event into another calendar of your choice.
- Find and update existing Google Calendar events when events on another Google Calendar are updated—tired of keeping track of ever-changing information for your meetings? This Zap will sound off when a specific calendar event is updated and replace the old information with the new on another calendar.
- Create events on Google Calendar from new deal tasks on ActiveCampaign—want to increase your efficiency? Each time you add a new task to a client deal in ActiveCampaign, your Google Calendar will be updated so you never drop the ball.
- Create Trello cards for upcoming Google Calendar events—what’s a good way to keep a client delighted? By showing up to meetings prepared. This Zap will watch your Google Calendar for upcoming events weeks in advance and add a new Trello card to your agency board. That way, you can brainstorm and add strategy notes to bring quality ideas and recommendations to the table.
- Create a Trello card when a Google Calendar event starts—meetings often produce follow-up items, and you need to keep track of those if you want to be successful. Thus, you can create a Zap that will connect your Google Calendar to Trello so it can create a new card upon the start of the meeting. All you have to do is be ready to type up some notes!
- Send emails from Gmail for new Google Calendar events—use this Zap to send out a customized email for your Google Calendar events. That way, you’ll have done all you can to ensure your clients don’t forget the next meeting!
3. Email Alerts.
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Dealing with an overloaded inbox on a daily basis is something many have to face. Unfortunately, however, it’s yet another daily biz task that takes up your precious time. And, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to control.
Lucky for you, though, Zapier offers the ability to automate your inbox using special email integrations. Here are just a few of those available to you:
- Get a daily email via Gmail for all kinds of reminders—this is perfect to help you form good habits, remember to get things done, and do a brain dump to focus on other things.
- Get an email reminder 1 hour before a Google Calendar event starts—you can finally stay on top of your schedule thanks to Zapier’s ability to send you reminders for upcoming meetings. You can customize your email notification to include the event summary, description, and more, along with the notification time.
- Get a summary of ActiveCampaign new deal tasks delivered to Gmail—when you land a new lead for your client, time is of the essence to get in touch with them. Thus, whenever a new deal task is created in ActiveCampaign, Zapier will add it to a digest email to deliver to you (and your client’s office assistant, if you’d like) for follow-up efforts.
- Get a summary of ActiveCampaign new campaign forwards delivered in Gmail—want to know who your most engaged customers are and who’s forwarding your most recent campaign? You can get a list of them and their contact information sent to you via Gmail on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
- Get email notifications for new apps on Zapier—this’ll help you stay in the know as new apps and updates are being added to Zapier almost on a daily basis.
- Wish clients “Happy Birthday!” with an automated email from your Gmail inbox—this is something completely optional, but fun. And, it can make your client feel super special! All you have to do is add their birthdays to your calendar, using their name as the Event Name and email address as the description, and Zapier will take it from there.
4. Text Alerts.
For most people, cell phones seem to serve as a third arm. We can’t go anywhere without it.
Reason being, you want to feel connected to and on top of each and every little thing as an agency owner. That can be tough, however, especially as you continue to grow.
At this point in time, maybe important messages are getting lost in the abyss of your inbox. Or, you’re even cutting it close for important meetings because, after all, you’re only one person. There’s only so much you can hold hostage in that brilliant brain of yours.
That said, let Zapier send you text (aka SMS) alerts to your phone for crucial activities, such as the following:
- Get SMS alerts for new Google Calendar events—again, if you’re managing multiple digital calendars, it’s so much easier to forget certain events. Not anymore, however. Each time you create a new event in your Google Calendar, this Zap will send you a text message with all the details.
- Get SMS alerts for approaching Google Calendar events—yes, Google Calendar sends you reminders. So, this Zap might seem a bit repetitive to some. But, because most people these days are very active texters, it just might save the day, helping remind you that an event is about to start.
- Get SMS messages for new emails matching a Gmail search query (such as, from:[email protected])—whenever an email matches your Zap search criteria (sender name, latest issue of your favorite Facebook industry newsletter, etc.), you’ll get a text sent straight to your phone to alert you. That way, you can read and respond ASAP!
- Get today’s weather forecast via SMS—this is another fun one! It’ll save you time figuring out how to dress appropriately for your next in-person meeting or donut bomb drop.
Note, you can also set up text message alerts in ActiveCampaign itself. That way, whenever a new lead opts-in to one of your client’s funnels, you’ll be in the know! Follow these instructions to get it up and running ASAP.
5. CRM Integration.
When your client gets leads from your Facebook ad efforts, they’ll only remain a potential customer for a fleeting moment. It’s up to your client to handle the follow-up process as quickly as humanly possible. Not to mention, document the entire thing to refer back to at a later date.
The problem is, all that information can be tough to keep organized—especially when you’re working with various apps to communicate with leads and reconnect with them (think ActiveCampaign and CallRail).
So, what’s the answer to your biggest headache? Zapier’s various ActiveCampaign integrations, which include:
- Add deals to ActiveCampaign for new calls received on CallRail—want to ensure the greatest success of landing new customers after your phone conversations? This Zap will work to add a new deal to ActiveCampaign for every single call you receive on CallRail. If you’re curious how CallRail can work for your agency, check out this blog post.
- Add or update ActiveCampaign contacts from new activity in ClickFunnels contacts—using ClickFunnels to create awesome landing pages and ActiveCampaign for your email marketing efforts? Use this Zap to automatically add or update your ActiveCampaign contacts when there’s new activity in your ClickFunnels account (ex. A new lead).
Best of all, ActiveCampaign is just one of many email autoresponders Zapier integrates with.
I know we covered a lot today. And, for that reason, I’ll leave you with one simple question: what are you waiting for? Don’t delay in adding time back into your busy life as an entrepreneur and start using Zapier to automate various tasks for your Facebook ad agency! Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Also, if you’d like more guidance on how to successfully run your agency from home, I invite you to join our exclusive mastermind—AdLab.
Tell me: have you used Zapier before? If so, what are some of your favorite integrations for the ultimate automation?
