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What Is Zapier? (Explained Without Jargon)
Zapier is a service that connects your apps together. Think of it like a relay runner — it watches for something to happen in one app (called the "trigger"), then automatically does something in another app (called the "action").
Here's a real example: Every time someone fills out your contact form on your website (trigger), Zapier automatically adds them to your Mailchimp email list (action). You do nothing. Zapier does it for you, every single time, forever.
Each of these automated workflows is called a "Zap." You can have 5 Zaps on the free plan, which is enough to save 2-3 hours of manual work every week.
Trigger: The thing that starts the automation. "When X happens..."
Action: The thing Zapier does automatically. "...do Y automatically."
Zap: One complete automation rule (one trigger + one or more actions).
10 Zapier Automations Every Small Business Needs
These are the ten Zaps that consistently save the most time for local service businesses. Each one is set-and-forget — once it's running, you never have to think about it again.
Contact Form → Email List
Contact form submission → Mailchimp subscriber addedEvery lead who fills out your website contact form automatically joins your email list. No copy-pasting ever again.
New Booking → CRM Record
Calendly new booking → HubSpot contact createdEvery new appointment booking automatically creates a contact in your CRM with their name, email, and service requested.
New Lead → Welcome Email
Google Forms new response → Gmail: send personalized emailNew leads get a personalized welcome email within 5 minutes of submitting your form — while you're still working.
Completed Job → Review Request
Invoice marked paid in FreshBooks → Email customer review linkWhen you mark a job paid, Zapier automatically sends your customer a "thanks for your business" email with a Google review link.
Instagram Post → Facebook Post
New Instagram post published → Facebook Page post createdPost once to Instagram, and Zapier automatically reposts the same content to your Facebook Business Page.
New Customer → Welcome Text
New Mailchimp subscriber → Twilio SMS sentNew customers get a personal-feeling text from your business phone number within minutes of signing up.
New Booking → Team Notification
Calendly new booking → Slack / email notification to teamYour team gets an instant Slack or email alert every time a new appointment is booked — no one has to check the calendar constantly.
Contact Form → Google Sheet Log
Website form submission → New row added to Google SheetEvery inquiry automatically logged in a spreadsheet with name, email, date, and message — your lead log is always up to date.
New Invoice → Client Email
New invoice created in FreshBooks → Personalized invoice email sentClients get a branded, friendly email when their invoice is ready — with the invoice attached and a payment link.
Payment Received → Thank You Email
Stripe new payment → Gmail thank-you email sentEvery time a payment hits, the customer gets an automatic thank-you with their receipt and your next service offer.
How to Build Your First Zap (Step by Step)
Let's walk through building Zap #1 — the Contact Form → Mailchimp automation. This is the most universally useful Zap for any local business, and it takes about 20 minutes to set up.
Create Your Free Zapier Account
Go to Zapier.com and sign up for a free account. You get 5 active Zaps and 100 tasks per month at no cost. No credit card required.
- Sign up at Zapier.com with your business email
- Complete the brief onboarding questionnaire
- You'll land on the Zapier dashboard — this is where you manage all your Zaps
- Click "Create Zap" (the orange button) to start your first one
Choose Your Trigger App and Event
The trigger is the "when X happens" part. For our Contact Form → Mailchimp Zap, the trigger is "someone submits my contact form." Zapier connects to almost every form tool including Typeform, Google Forms, Gravity Forms, WPForms, Jotform, and your website's built-in forms.
- In the Zap editor, click the Trigger step
- Search for your form tool (e.g., "Google Forms") and select it
- Choose the event: "New Form Response"
- Click "Connect" and sign in to your Google account to authorize Zapier
- Select the specific form you want to monitor
- Click "Test Trigger" — Zapier will pull in a sample response so you can see your data
Choose Your Action App and Event
Now the "do Y automatically" part. We want to add the new form submission to Mailchimp as a subscriber.
- Click "Add Action" (the + button below your trigger)
- Search for "Mailchimp" and select it
- Choose the event: "Add/Update Subscriber"
- Click "Connect" and log in to your Mailchimp account
- Select your Mailchimp audience (email list)
Map the Data Fields
This is the "magic" step where you tell Zapier: "take the email address from the form and put it in the Mailchimp subscriber's email field." You click on each field and select the matching data from your trigger.
- In the Mailchimp action, click the "Subscriber Email" field
- A dropdown appears showing all the data from your form — select "Email" (from your form field)
- Do the same for First Name, Last Name, or any other fields you collect
- You can also add tags (e.g., "website-lead") to organize your subscribers
- Everything with a little "pill" showing data from your trigger is being dynamically filled in from each real form submission
Test Your Zap and Turn It On
Before going live, test it with real data to make sure everything flows correctly.
- Click "Test Action" — Zapier will try to actually add a subscriber to Mailchimp using your sample data
- If it says "Test was successful!" — great, you're done!
- If there's an error, read the error message — it's usually a missing required field or an account connection issue
- Once the test passes, click "Publish Zap" (or "Turn On")
- Your Zap is now live — every future form submission will automatically be added to Mailchimp
Pro tip: Submit a real test form yourself to verify the whole pipeline end-to-end before trusting it with real customer data.
Want a personalized Zapier automation plan?
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Take the Free Tool Finder Quiz →Zapier vs. Make: Which Should You Use?
You'll inevitably hear about Make (formerly Integromat) as an alternative to Zapier. Here's the honest comparison so you can make the right choice.
| Factor | Zapier | Make |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | ★ Easiest — linear, step-by-step builder | Moderate — visual flow diagram (more complex) |
| Free plan | 5 Zaps, 100 tasks/month | 1,000 operations/month (more generous) |
| Paid pricing | $19.99/month (750 tasks) | $9/month (10,000 ops) — much cheaper |
| App library | 7,000+ apps (larger) | ~1,500 apps (but covers most) |
| Complex workflows | Good for simple automations | Better for multi-path, conditional logic |
| Best for | Beginners, simple automations | Advanced users, cost-conscious businesses |
| Learning curve | ~20 minutes to first Zap | ~2 hours to get comfortable |
Start with Zapier. It's significantly easier to learn and will get you automating in 20 minutes. Once you've built 5-10 Zaps and understand the concepts, you can evaluate whether Make's lower cost and higher power is worth the learning investment. For most small businesses, Zapier is all you'll ever need.