5 things you should automate today

You use dozens of tools to get work done—and you'll need to move information between them to keep operations running effectively. Chances are, you're probably moving this data manually at least some of the time. But as your workflows get more complex (and they will), you'll need to automate those business-critical processes so you can drive actual results—at scale. 

With Zapier, you can automate individual tasks with automated workflows—we call them Zaps. You can even build out systems of Zaps that connect all of your work tools. Whether you're just getting started or ready to orchestrate full systems across apps, data and teams, here are five workflows that will transform your work.

Five things you should automate: 

• Notify your team about new leads or customers

• Message your leads or customers

• Automatically create and track calendar events

• Consolidate information in a spreadsheet or database

• Streamline your social media

Message your team about leads or customers

If a lead comes in and nobody acts on it, did it actually come in? We can't answer that question—we'll leave that to philosophers—but what we can do is help you make sure this never happens. 

You could say it's one of the things we do best. People commonly use Zapier to notify teammates about leads.

It's a simple Zap—what we call our automated workflows—to set up. All you need to do is connect whatever source you're getting leads from to whatever communication tool your sales or marketing team uses the most. That way your team gets notified every time a new lead comes in, in the place they're most likely to see it, so they can take action right away.

For example, you could send an email to your team whenever a lead comes in. Here are some quick Zaps to get you started.

You could also set up notifications in your team chat app, either in a public channel or as a private message.

SMS is also an option.

You could even add a filter step to notify your team only when certain conditions are met—like if the lead comes from a specific campaign, has a company email address, or includes key details like job title or budget. It's a smart way to focus on high-quality leads and avoid notification overload.

Pro tip: Try Zapier Agents and let Zapier's AI orchestration platform handle these sorts of routine tasks autonomously in the background, so you can focus on what matters most.

Message your leads or customers

It's one thing to find out about new leads quickly, but what if you could follow up with leads without needing to do anything? It sounds like a dream, but you can also set that up with Zapier. 

You could instantly follow up with new leads via SMS or email by having Zapier automatically send a message to your new leads.

You could also sign those leads up for your email newsletter, saving you from having to add them manually. Just make sure they've opted into the subscription first to make sure you're staying compliant with GDPR.

You can even add an AI step using ChatGPT or AI by Zapier to generate more personalized emails. Stand out from the crowd without putting in any extra effort—just sign off and click Send.

Automatically create and track calendar events

We'd be lost without our work calendars. Yet, it's inevitable that you may miss an important meeting, all because the details were in a separate app. 

If you're juggling multiple calendars, you can keep all of them updated—even if they're not in the same app. 

If client meetings are a part of a specific project, you can track them in your project management system or database. 

And of course, once you have all your calendars updated, you shouldn't be late. You can set up notifications for upcoming meetings in your team chat app.

Another key part of meetings? Transcripts—and what you do with them. With Zapier, you can automatically extract insights from tools like tl;dv or Fathom using ChatGPT, then turn those insights into useful follow-ups or documentation. Whether you're summarizing key takeaways into an email or adding action items to Notion, these Zaps help you turn raw transcripts into next steps—without doing it manually.

Consolidate information in a spreadsheet or database

Spreadsheets are a great place to store all kinds of information, but manually adding information to them is time-consuming. This is why Google Sheets is one of the most popular apps on Zapier.

It's easy to set up automatic workflows that send information to a spreadsheet, so you don't have to spend time copying and pasting it in yourself. For example, you can send the information from forms that your customers have filled out to a spreadsheet.

You can also keep track of leads. 

Or sales, if that's what's important for your business.

There's really no limit here. If there's information that's incoming, somewhere, you can use Zapier to send it to a Google Sheet or to a database app like Airtable.

You can even move data between Google Sheets and Airtable if you want.

Stop copying and pasting information into spreadsheets or databases. Let the computers do it for you. They don't get bored and also tend to make fewer mistakes.

Streamline your social media

There are too many social media networks, and you want to post on all of them. You could copy and paste from network to network, but who has the time? Instead, set up a Zap to do it for you.

For example, you could post every YouTube video in your YouTube channel to Facebook:

You could also automatically post every Instagram post or new WordPress article on Facebook, or cross-post between Instagram and Pinterest or Loomly.

Or, if you're the sort of person who forgets to post on LinkedIn, you can automatically send content there.

Need to schedule posts and content in advance—without posting manually every day? With Zapier, you can automate your social media queue by adding new content to Buffer directly from your RSS feed, YouTube channel, or even Google Sheets. That way, you're staying active and relevant—without putting pressure on your social media team. 

Start orchestrating your way to smarter systems

These are just a few examples of what you can automate—but they're the building blocks for something bigger. With the right workflows in place, you can start building smarter systems that scale with you.

Whether you're automating simple tasks or building entire processes with AI, Zapier's AI orchestration platform gives you the tools to streamline the way your team works—so you can focus on what actually moves the needle.

Ready to see what automation can do for you today? Try these workflows and start building the foundation for something bigger tomorrow.

This article was originally published in February 2020, with previous contributions by Justin Pot and Krystina Martinez. It was most recently updated in June 2025 by Elena Alston.