{"id":21694,"date":"2020-01-28T12:51:17","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T12:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/zapier"},"modified":"2026-09-14T11:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T11:36:50","slug":"zapier","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/zapier","title":{"rendered":"Zapier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/zapier-square.png\" alt=\"Zapier\" class=\"boxpad alignright\" style=\"margin-top:0\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/> <strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Zapier<\/strong> is an automation platform that connects applications and performs actions in response to events through workflows called Zaps. For example, it can receive data from a form and use it to create a contact in another application.<\/p>\n<p>It is used in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-marketing-agency-spain\">digital marketing<\/a> and other fields to connect tools without developing each integration from scratch. Many automations can be configured through a visual interface, although their scope depends on the features available in the connected applications and the access permissions granted.<\/p>\n\n<h2>What Zapier is used for<\/h2>\n<p>Zapier transfers data and coordinates tasks between applications. It can be used to record enquiries, update contacts, add rows to a spreadsheet or send notifications when an event occurs.<\/p>\n<p>A Zap starts with a <strong>trigger<\/strong>, which identifies the initiating event, and continues with one or more <strong>actions<\/strong>. The connection to an application provides the available events and operations; the Zap combines those capabilities to perform a specific task.<\/p>\n<p>Its applications include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Contact management:<\/strong> transferring form submissions to a CRM and updating existing records.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sales follow-up:<\/strong> creating tasks or notifying the team when an opportunity arrives.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communication:<\/strong> adding contacts to a list or initiating follow-up actions while respecting recorded permissions and preferences.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Information organisation:<\/strong> saving data in spreadsheets, creating documents or transferring files between services.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Team coordination:<\/strong> connecting project management tools, calendars and messaging applications to reduce repeated data entry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These automations can reduce manual operations, but they do not eliminate the need to review errors or adapt workflows when applications, fields or permissions change.<\/p>\n<h2>How Zapier works<\/h2>\n<p>Zapier connects the accounts of the participating applications and uses the trigger data in subsequent steps. Field mapping determines, for example, that an email address received through a form is saved in the destination system&#8217;s email field.<\/p>\n<p>Triggers can work through periodic checks or through notifications sent by the application when an event occurs. As a result, detecting a change is not always immediate. <a href=\"https:\/\/help.zapier.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/8496244568589-How-Zap-triggers-work\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zapier&#8217;s documentation on triggers<\/a> explains these differences.<\/p>\n<p>A workflow can combine several operations to process information before sending it to its destination:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chained actions:<\/strong> using the result of one step in subsequent steps, such as creating a contact and then assigning a task to it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Filters:<\/strong> stopping processing when the data does not meet a condition, for example, when a required field is missing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Conditional paths:<\/strong> performing different actions depending on the values received, such as assigning an enquiry to the appropriate team.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Data transformation:<\/strong> adapting dates, splitting names or normalising text to fit the fields in another application.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Workflows can also include steps that use artificial intelligence services to classify messages, extract information or generate text. Their output is not equivalent to a deterministic rule: it can vary or contain errors, so the workflow design must account for how that result will be used.<\/p>\n<p>The run history shows which steps have been performed, the data used and any errors encountered. An expired connection, an empty required field or a limit in the destination application can prevent an action from completing successfully.<\/p>\n<p>Zapier uses <strong>tasks<\/strong> as a unit of consumption for certain actions performed. A multi-step workflow can consume more than one task per run; counting rules and available features depend on the step type and the plan&#8217;s terms. Consequently, the number of configured Zaps does not, on its own, indicate usage volume.<\/p>\n<h2>Example of automation with Zapier<\/h2>\n<p>A company can connect a contact form to its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/crm\">CRM<\/a>. A new form submission acts as the trigger and starts a sales follow-up workflow.<\/p>\n<p>The process can be organised into these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Receive the enquiry:<\/strong> collect the submitted fields, such as name, email address, telephone number and service of interest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check the data:<\/strong> verify that the information needed to continue is present and adapt its format.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Find the contact:<\/strong> check whether the email address is already in the CRM.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Create or update the record:<\/strong> save a new contact or add the information to an existing one, depending on the operations supported by the integration.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prepare the follow-up:<\/strong> create a sales task and send a notification to the responsible team.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If several enquiries arrive, the workflow processes the events it receives according to its configuration. A new run should not automatically be interpreted as a new customer: the same person may submit the form more than once.<\/p>\n<p>A preliminary search can help avoid duplicates, but its result depends on the identifier used and how the CRM manages records. Likewise, creating a follow-up task does not mean that the person has been contacted or that the opportunity has become a sale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Zapier is used for and how Zaps, triggers, actions and tasks work, with an example connecting a form to a CRM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":79567,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1318],"class_list":["post-21694","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-automated-integration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/21694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=21694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}