A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your First No-Code Zapier Automation (Part 2/3)

In this article, we'll address Christine's automation concerns and challenges. We'll walk you through the process of building a Zapier automation using Christine's swipe file workflow as an example.

In Part One, we introduced the concept of outlining your workflows and identifying which tasks to automate first. If you missed it, be sure to check it out for a solid foundation.

By the end of this article, you'll gain a clear understanding of how to prepare your automation, build a Zap, and start automating simple, repetitive tasks. Let's dive in and explore the practical steps to enhance your productivity!

Case Study: Swipe File Automation

Christine’s current (manual) process looks like this:

1. When she receives an email in Gmail and wants to add it to her swipe file collection (in Airtable), she adds the "swipe file" label to the email.

2. Every Sunday, she reviews the emails in her swipe file folder and manually adds them to her Airtable database. This process takes her about 30–45 minutes.

If we use our “Automation Recipe”, "When X happens, then do Y," this is what we come up with:

When a new email is labeled "Swipe File" (in Gmail), add the email to Airtable.

Review Zapier’s App Ecosystem and Integrations

Note: There are several ways to automate this – for the sake of this tutorial and to keep it simple, I will cover the alternative methods in a future tutorial.

Getting familiar with automation and the available tools will help you develop the skill for finding the easiest and most effective ways of streamlining your workflows.

Hopefully, you’re now familiar with the difference between triggers and actions in Zapier. You should be aware that each app has its own triggers and actions. Check out this Scribe for more information on determining what triggers/actions your favorite apps offer.

Supported Zapier Triggers and Actions (Template Included)

Zapier supports 6K+ apps, and tracking which apps support which triggers and actions can be challenging, so I’ve included a template to help you keep track of your supported triggers and actions.

Use this spreadsheet to note triggers and actions for your favorite app(s), like the ones I’ve listed in the example.

Note: The Zapier plan you’ve selected affects your triggers. (Check out Zapier’s pricing.)

If the apps you use don’t have the proper trigger/action you need, or they aren’t listed, I recommend checking to see if they have an open API or webhook. I will cover this in a future tutorial, but feel free to message me if you run into this issue.

If you’re new to APIs and Webhooks, I highly recommend the following resources:

• What's an API?

• What are Webhooks?

Create a List of Data Points

Note: Typically, you don’t need to do these steps if you’re building a simple automation like the one we’re using in this example. I usually only do this when building multi-step automations (ones involving more than one step/action event). But going through this will help you better understand all that’s involved, using simpler automation.

Before building your automation, create a list of data points so that your data is transferred across different apps accurately and without bugs. This is important.

You can read more about the different field types in Zapier here.

Why is this important?

Whenever you "map" a specific piece of data, meaning you tie it from one app to another, it must match the data type (field type).

Below are the different data points Christine is going to need.

We’ll start with Gmail first.

Subject line: She’ll use this as the Title in her swipe file database

Body: As the Content

Link: Email URL

Attachments: (If any)

To help keep her database organized, she’ll also include the source and category.

Example Airtable database:

Data Points

You can see how I match all of these data points from Gmail to Airtable (this is the final step in this particular automation).

Remember that the names may change, depending on the app(s) you use, but the rules remain the same.

Next, take out a pen and paper and write down your own trigger-and-action steps, similar to what I’ve done below. Make sure the trigger/action you choose is allowed in Zapier. Use the spreadsheet I shared with you to help you with this step.

1. [TRIGGER] When a new email (in Gmail) is tagged with the "Swipe File" label

2. [ACTION] Then add the email to my Airtable database

Once you’ve written down your trigger-and-action steps, head back to Zapier and start building your automation.

Next, we’d typically use a flowchart diagram to map out our automation workflow. I always create one if it’s a complex workflow involving many steps.

Log into Zapier and follow the steps in the Scribe I’ve created. You’ll be able to confirm whether Zapier offers native integration.

Creating our Swipe File Automation in Zapier

1. [TRIGGER] When a new email (in Gmail) is tagged with the "Swipe File" label

Here we set up our trigger by selecting the label/mailbox we want our Zap to monitor.

2. [ACTION] Then add the email to my Airtable database

Here we map our data points:

Click “Test action” to run a test and ensure that it works properly.

And there you have it!

You can duplicate the Zap template yourself and try it out.

Let's recap how we crushed workflow chaos with automation magic.

Christine was wasting 30-45 minutes each week manually moving emails to her swipe file. So we mapped out a Zapier automation to eliminate this drudgery.

The recipe:

💡 When an email gets tagged "swipe file" in Gmail (trigger)

🤖 Automatically add it to Airtable (action)

By connecting the trigger and action, we automated the repetitive grunt work. Now Christine gets her time back to focus on more important things.

The key is understanding:

• How Zapier's triggers and actions work

• Which apps fit your workflow

• Mapping the right data between apps

This may sound complicated, but don't sweat it! Once you nail down these basics, you'll be automating like a boss.

Read Part 3/3 of this series: How Is No-Code Automation ROI Calculated