The No-Nonsense Guide to Using Typeform with Zapier

Collecting user data is a critical part of every marketing strategy. Without it, you can’t create email campaigns, collect feedback, and do dozens of other things. 

Thanks to tools like Typeform, you can create high-converting forms and surveys without writing a single line of code. 

And with a Typeform Zapier integration, you can then move that data to a variety of different tools.

In this quick guide, we’ll look at how you can use Zapier with Typeform. We’ll dive into the why, its triggers, actions, and… situations when you should not be using the two! 

We’ll then look at how you can use Zapier to connect Typeform to Google Sheets. Lastly, you’ll see how to send Typeform data to a third-party app using a Webhook.

So, if you’re ready, let’s jump right in! 

Why Use Typeform in Your Automation Workflow

Typeform is a dynamic form creator that allows anyone to create engaging forms on any topic. Whether you need a survey, a registration form, or a quiz, Typeform makes it easy to create it all. Plus, their forms are pretty damn good-looking – and they know it: 

If you’ve never used it before, here’s a quick video introducing their forms.

And if you did, you know how robust and versatile it is. 

But, its versatility is not the only reason why you should incorporate it into your workflow. 

Other reasons include:

• Thanks to its drag-and-drop builder, you don’t need to be tech-savvy to build a well-optimized form. 
• On top of different form layouts, you can choose from a variety of different question types. These include multiple-choice questions, rating scores, or even pictures. 
• It’s tightly secure. Typeform is used by brands such as Apple and Uber and processes the data of millions of users every month. This forces them to take extra care of their form security. Which, in turn, helps ensure the security of your users’ data.
• The right form design can significantly increase the return rate of your forms. This, in turn, gives you more credible data and boosts your lead generation efforts. 
• It offers a wealth of native integrations. Typeform integrates with lead gen, automation, sales, and collaboration tools, among others. 

And while the list of benefits could get even longer, what’s most important for us is the last point – integrations. More specifically, we’re interested in a Typeform integration with Zapier. 

Why Integrate Typeform with Zapier?

Even though Typeform offers dozens of integrations, there are several reasons why you may still want to connect it to Zapier: 

• Zapier gives you access to apps that don’t yet have a native Typeform integration. With over 5000+ Zapier integrations (and easy-to-use Webhooks), the sky’s the limit. 
• Most native integrations let you send data one way. Moreover, they allow a connection only between the two apps in question. By integrating an app with Typeform right inside Zapier, you can make it a part of a more advanced workflow. This makes moving data between different apps even easier (and automated).
• Most integrations give you fewer options compared to those available inside Zapier. For example, a Typeform Google sheets integration gives you less control over data compared to a Zapier workflow. We’ll get to it later. 

The last reason is critical when thinking about whether to pick a native integration or build a Typeform Zapier flow. 

But, there are two situations when a native integration is a better solution:

1) You need a very simple build. An example would be moving Typeform data to an autoresponder, with no extra steps). In this case, there’s no point in building an entire Zap.

2) You trigger your key Zaps with a third-party tool that integrates with Typeform. For example, if you use Airtable to trigger your key lead processing Zaps, a native Airtable Typeform integration comes in handy.

That way, you can avoid building multiple two-step Zaps and can leave that part of your workflow inside Typeform.

In all other situations, building a Zap is just better. Speaking of which – let’s now look at the Typeform integration with Zapier. And it all starts with triggers and actions.

Typeform Zapier Triggers

In the triggers department, the Typeform Zapier app is pretty straightforward. There’s just one Typeform trigger that you can use: New Entry. 

Once you select it, you’ll then be able to choose the form that you want to use to trigger the Zap.

While just one trigger may not seem like much, it gives us exactly what we need. It starts the zap when someone submits the form. 

And, thanks to it being an instant trigger, the Zap will run the moment someone submits the form. 

Zapier Typeform Actions

Even though Typeform is used predominantly to collect submissions, you can also make it your action step. There are four available Typeform Zapier actions to choose from, split into two groups.

In the first group, “Create”, you can use one of three actions: 

• You can create an empty form. 
• You can duplicate an existing form.
• You can update drop-down, multiple-choice, or ranking question options. 

The first two actions probably won’t come in handy. But the last action allows you to make dynamic changes to your forms. 

The second, “Search”, is even shorter and offers just one action. It allows you to look up responses based on select criteria. 

In theory, it’s a pretty useful step. But, you’re unlikely to be using it. 

And the reason is simple. 

If you’re serious about lead gen (or any data collection), you want to create a database to store and easily access that data any time you need to. 

That database could be as simple as a Google Sheets document. Speaking of which, let’s look at a Zap that allows you to create exactly that.

Sample Typeform Zapier Workflows

There are hundreds of workflows that we could describe here. 

Many popular tools, such as Notion or Airtable, already offer decent native integrations. 

Each offers very good mapping options, allowing you to send the data exactly where you need to. And while Zapier gives you more customization options, there’s one Typeform integration that’s absolutely awful.

Yet, it’s a heavily needed one. I’m talking, of course, about a Typeform integration with Google sheets. 

That’s why we’re first going to look at how Zapier can help you integrate the two (and save the day).

Add Typeform Data to Google Sheets with Zapier

Now, I already mentioned that Typeform has a native Google sheets integration. The only problem is that there are very few options there.

All you can do is:

• Pick whether you want to create a new sheet or use an existing one
• If you choose the letter, you point Typeform to the sheet you’d like to use for the integration.

The problem with the second option is that you can’t map the fields to existing columns and rows. Instead, all the integration does is create a new sheet inside an existing spreadsheet. 

It then uses form questions for column headers. 

And, here’s what Google Sheets Typeform “configuration” looks like:

And that’s it. Thankfully, this is where Zapier comes in. Here’s how to connect your Typeform form to Google Sheets with Zapier. 

First, go to Zapier and create a new trigger with Typeform. 

Then, it’s time to pick a form. For this article, we’re going to use a simple form to collect the following data:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Email Address
• Website Address
• A Random Comment (long text data field). 

Once you select the form in Zapier, it’s time to start setting things up. First, test the trigger to let Zapier load the data:

If you’ve never used the form before, you’ll need to first submit some dummy data on your own. Then, hit the Test trigger and let Zapier load the data: 

Next, it’s time to play with Google Sheets. There are two things we can do: 

• Create a new spreadsheet row
• Update an existing spreadsheet row

We’re going to do both – starting with the first one.

Create a New Spreadsheet Row with Typeform Data

First, add an action to your Zap, select the Google sheets app and then Create a Spreadsheet Row for the event: 

Before you pick the worksheet, make sure that its headers correspond to your Typeform data. So, if you’re collecting emails, ensure there’s a column for you to store those emails.

In this example, we ask five questions in Typeform – so we’ll populate five rows:

Then, once you choose the account, it’s time to pick the drive, spreadsheet, and worksheet. 

After that, it’s time to map the fields to Typeform questions. This is what it looks like in our example:

As you can see, the mapping is super straightforward. All you need is to pick the Typeform question fields and map them to the right Google Sheets headers.

Next, hit continue to test the action. This is what the data looks like once it gets submitted to Google Sheets:

The beauty of this setup is that it takes just two steps – a trigger and one action step.

Of course, you’re free to add as many steps as you wish after that 🙂 

Now, let’s look at how we could update that data using Zapier, Typeform, and Google Sheets.

Update an Existing Sheets Row with Typeform Data

Now, imagine an existing lead has submitted a form to update their data. To do that, we’ll need two different steps. First, we need to find the existing row:

The setup is almost identical to what we just did. First, you need to add a Typeform trigger with the form that you want to pull the data from. 

Then, test the trigger to pull the Typeform data to Zapier.

Now, it’s time for the first action step – a Google sheets search step. First, connect the account and select the drive, spreadsheet, and worksheet.

Next, you need to choose a Lookup Column. It’s the column that you’ll use to look up someone’s data. You want to pick one that has a value that’s unique for each recorded case. 

If you’re doing lead generation, an email address is a perfect choice: 

After that, map Typeform data to the Lookup Value. You can also select the supporting lookup value and column. 

This is an excellent choice any time there’s a risk the data won’t be 100% unique.

Once that’s done, hit continue and test the action. If you’ve set everything correctly, Zapier should return the row number for that record:

Next, add a new Google Sheets step to update the row:

Again, you’ll be asked to pick the drive, spreadsheet, and worksheet. Now, select the row – go to custom and pick data from the previous step:

Next, you can select the rows that you want to update with new data. For this example, I am updating just two – website address and comments. I set the former to Zapier.com (I wish) and changed the comment: 

Of course, it’s all up to you which fields you decide to update. This will depend on the type of data that you collect and the Typeform form that you connect to this Zap. 

Note that you may need a filter step. This will prevent a Typeform submission from accidentally overwriting Google Sheets data.

And, here’s what the updated row looks like: 

Now, you should have no problems adding and updating Typeform data with Google Sheets and Zapier. 

Connect Typeform to Webhook

Next, let’s look at how you can connect Typeform to a Webhook with Zapier. 

Doing this will allow you to send Typeform data to any app you want that accepts webhooks. But, for this guide, we’re going to use TypedWebhook – a neat service for testing your webhooks setup.

First, head over to Zapier and create a Typeform trigger step – connect the account and pick a form.

Next, add a Webhooks by Zapier action step:

Then, select the POST event: 

Now, it’s time to configure the step:

• In the first field, enter your webhook URL.
• Next, pick the payload type. This is the data format that your app expects. In our case, we picked JSON. 
• In the data fields, you need to create key-value pairs using Typeform data

Next, you can choose whether you want to wrap the request in an array or attach a file to the request. 

Lastly, you can add headers and configure authentication. For our test, we didn’t need to set anything because the test webhook didn’t require us to. But, as you’ll see, the request is wrapped in an Array:

And, here’s what the Typeform data looks like in the JSON format. The [ ] indicate that the request was wrapped in an array: 

And that’s it. Now you know how to use Zapier to send Typeform data via Webhook!

Boost Your Data Collection with Typeform and Zapier

Whether you’re collecting leads or surveying clients, Typeform is an amazing tool to have in your marketing arsenal. It offers many great integrations that speed up your workflows and data processing. 

But, it’s only once you connect it to Zapier that it lets you build truly powerful workflows. 

If you’re already using it in one of your Zaps, don’t forget to leave a comment with your setup. 

And if you need help building a Typeform Zap, don’t hesitate to reach out. 

My goal is to help you build better workflows so you can focus on growing your business. Let’s have a chat and talk about your automation needs.