Content Upgrades is pretty lean on the email marketing integrations available. However, you can be thankful for Zapier. But do you understand how it works? Are you able to get it setup and running without much of a challenge? Recently we had a customer ask us some of these exact questions.
I figured this was a great opportunity to show you how to use Zapier with Content Upgrades. If you are new to Zapier, it is where all the power really is. Zapier allows you to send data to any email marketing tool or really just about any other tool imaginable. Let’s get started.
If you want a video version of the tutorial, I’ve included that below.
Creating a Zap
Before we get too deep in this tutorial, it’s worth mentioning that to use Zapier, you will need to have a paid account. At the time of this tutorial, you will need to purchase the minimum paid account. It currently costs $19.00 per month. In the video above and the screenshots to follow, I’ll be using my personal Zapier account.
To create a zap you’ll need to login to Zapier and click the “Create Zap” button. From there you’ll be on the screen below.
In the box you’ll need to type in “webhook” and then click on the icon that appears directly underneath the text field. Zapier will automatically move you to the next screen.
Under “Choose Trigger Event” you’ll need to choose “Catch Hook.” Once you’ve done that, click continue and you’ll get the next screen. On this screen is a field called Custom Webhook URL. You’ll want to pause here for a moment while we get our website setup.
We’re gonna go ahead and copy this webhook URL. But it’s important that you stay on this page and open a new browser tab for the next step.
Accessing Your Site
OK. Next, in our new browser tab, we need to open our site’s wp-admin. You’ll want to navigate to Content Upgrades > Settings and then click on the Integrations tab.
Finally, click on the arrow next to Zapier and you’ll have a field to enter your webhook URL.
With Content Upgrades, you have the ability to add all content upgrades to a single Zap or enable a feature to use an individual zap on each content upgrade. I’m not covering how to add a separate zap for every content upgrade, but for that to work, all you need to do is select the check box and you’ll be able to add a webhook URL on each individual content upgrade.
Once you have pasted your webhook URL from Zapier in this box, click save. You’ve just connected Zapier to your website, specifically for all your content upgrades.
Bonus: Creating a Content Upgrade
If you haven’t created a content upgrade yet, let’s walk through what that process looks like right now. The first thing you need to do is navigate over to Content Upgrades > Add New Content Upgrade from your WP-Admin.
Next, give you content upgrade a title, upload or paste in a link to the bonus content file path. If you want to customize the popup that will come up when an user clicks on the button, you’ll want to click on the popup tab and fill out the headline, description, and button text. There’s some other customization options on this page you can change as well if you want to go further. But these are the ones you need to fill out at the minium.
Once you are done, click publish and you have created your content upgrade.
Adding Your Content Upgrade to a Post
Adding a content upgrade to your post is easy as adding another block. In this example, I’m updating an existing blog post and adding a content upgrade in between two blocks. Navigate to the block before you want to add the content upgrade, click on the black square to add the block, select the content upgrade block and it will add in. The final step is to select the content upgrade you’d like to display.
You do have options in the block settings to change the call to action and button text. So you can customize the text depending on where you are adding the content upgrade. Once you are done, click update on the post and you are all set.
Finishing Your Zap
Now that we have our content upgrade on a post we need to fill it out. Go ahead and do that now.
You need to do these next couple of steps pretty quick in succession, otherwise you may not see your test submission. Once you’ve filled out and submitted the form from the content upgrade we need to go back into Zapier. It’s handy if you have your zap in another tab.
In your Zapier tab, you should be on the Find Data step of catching your hook and there should be a big blue button that says test now. Click that and if timing is on your side, you should get the following screenshot. This shows the hook found your submission and you’ll be able to see what the hook is catching. With Content Upgrades it will send over three fields: email, first name, and the content upgrade title.
Once you are successful in this step you can click continue. The trigger step is now done in your zap and it’s ready to move add where you’d like the content of the hook to go.
In the video tutorial above, I walk through adding your content upgrade entries to Google Sheets. If you are wanting to see how that process, check out the video around the 5:25 mark. Otherwise, you can add your entries to your favorite email marketing provider.
Wrapping Up
Zapier provides you with unlimited options to send your content upgrade entries to. It gives you the ability to add them to a single or multiple locations with the power of a zap. And because webhooks are instant, you get your content upgrade entries over to whatever tool you are sending them to within seconds of someone filling them out.
If you haven’t purchased Content Upgrades yet, give it a try. You can get a single site license for just $39.