Automatically Save Form and Email Data to Spreadsheets with Zapier

Capturing leads, applicants, orders and other important information from web forms and emails is crucial for any business. But copying that data manually to spreadsheets or databases for analysis and backup is tedious and error-prone.

That‘s why leveraging automation tools like Zapier can be a total game-changer.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk through step-by-step how to use Zapier to automatically capture web form entries, emails from Gmail, and other key information – saving you tons of time while establishing critical data workflows.

Why Automating Form Data Capture is Vital

Manually managing form submissions and email data has some major downsides:

• It‘s incredibly time consuming to copy submissions one by one
• Important information can easily get lost or missed
• No way to effectively track, analyze or make use of the data
• No backup if your inbox or other systems fail

By automatically capturing submissions as they occur and adding them to a central spreadsheet or database, you can:

• Save hours not having to manually enter data
• Establish a failsafe so no submissions get lost
• Generate reports, analyze stats, identify trends based on all entries
• Back up your most critical information

For instance, let‘s say you operate an online store. Automatically adding each order to a spreadsheet lets you track purchase history, analyze sales numbers, identify your top selling products, and much more.

Or if you‘re making hiring decisions based on job applications, piping all submissions directly into an Airtable database allows you to easily compare candidates side-by-side.

The use cases here are nearly endless. But the bottom line is capturing this data automatically yields massive time savings while giving you greater access and control over critical information.

An Introduction to Zapier

So how does Zapier make this automated data capture possible?

In short, Zapier is a no-code automation platform that seamlessly integrates web apps and services to create instant workflows. Known as "Zaps," these automations connect events across your various tools to trigger actions instantly.

Some popular examples include:

• Adding email newsletter signups automatically to a CRM
• Saving survey responses to analyze in a spreadsheet
• Creating Asana tasks for client requests from a contact form

Zapier integrates with thousands of apps – including category leaders like Gmail, Google Sheets, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Slack and more. So odds are you can connect the tools you already use.

Now let‘s go over how to configure those crucial automation workflows…

How to Set Up Zaps to Capture Form & Email Data

Every Zap has two core components:

Triggers: These are events that activate the Zap, like a new submission from a web form or receiving an email.

Actions: Actions are what happen automatically as a result of the trigger. Such as saving that form data to a Google Sheet or adding info from an email to an Airtable database.

So your automation recipes follow an "if X happens, then do Y" structure.

Common Triggers to Use

Here are some of the most popular and useful triggers for capturing form and email data automatically:

• New Submission from Web Form Service – Includes options for tools like Google Forms, Typeform, Formstack, Jotform and most website builders
• New Email in Gmail – Could trigger on receiving any new email message or configure filters to target specific senders, labels, keywords etc.
• New Row in Airtable Table – For capturing entries from an Airtable form itself

You‘d simply select your desired trigger from Zapier‘s options during setup.

Common Actions for Saving to Spreadsheets

Typical actions to consider for piping form submissions or emails automatically into a spreadsheet include:

• Create Spreadsheet Row – Adds a new row for each instance with configured column data
• Update Spreadsheet Row – Could append additional data to an existing row
• Create / Find Airtable Record – Saves entries into a table view within Airtable
• Create Asana Task – Assign follow up tasks regarding each submission

You get the picture – the process is choosing a trigger, then pairing it with one or more spreadsheet or database saving actions.

Step-by-Step Setting Up a Zap

Let‘s quickly walk through an example:

1. Sign up for a free Zapier account

2. Click "+ Create Zap"

3. Under "Build from Scratch" choose your desired trigger app and event – like "New Submission" from a forms tool

4. Select an action app and event to pair it with, such as "Create Spreadsheet Row" in Google Sheets

5. Configure column mapping and options in the action to save the specific submission data you want

6. Customize filter rules or extra actions as needed

7. Turn on your Zap and start automating!

It only takes minutes to build even complex, multi-step Zaps while skipping any coding or reliance on developers.

Example Zaps for Saving Forms & Emails to Spreadsheets

To spark your creativity further regarding automations you could create, here are just a handful of public template Zaps available in Zapier:

Save Typeform Entries to Google Sheets

This adds new form submissions from Typeform as rows in a specified Google Sheet, with columns prefilled from the response data.

Log CallRail Emails in Google Sheets

Automatically appends details on any new emails received in CallRail into an existing spreadsheet. Helpful for tracking communications history.

Import Mailchimp Sign Ups to Airtable

Captures audience data on each new email newsletter signup from your Mailchimp account directly into an Airtable base. Enabling deeper analysis on your subscribers within Airtable‘s interface.

The possibilities here for custom workflows are nearly endless.

Tips for Making the Most of This Automation

To help you best leverage form and email capturing Zaps for your needs, keep these recommendations in mind:

• Be intentional regarding what specific data you transfer over, don‘t just copy everything
• Use Zapier‘s filtering options or tools like Zoho Sheet to clean up data before loading into spreadsheets
• Analyze and learn from your aggregated information
• Customize to fit your team‘s unique processes and evolving needs

The goal is to not just create backups, but centralized databases you can actually gain insights from.

Finally, be sure to check/confirm your Zaps periodically to ensure they are still functioning properly as you refine them.

Start Simplifying Today

If you handle web forms, inbound emails or other sources of data, getting it automatically captured into spreadsheets, Airtable or your database platform of choice is a total game-changer.

Now that you know the basics of building these kinds of automation recipes with Zapier, the only question is – what Zap will you create first?

What workflows could transform your business operations or data accessibility? Reach out below for help strategizing your data capturing automations!