9 Airtable Integrations You Can Deploy in Minutes with Make
Man, I love Airtable.
As someone who has struggled with spreadsheets for a long time, Airtable felt like a game-changer the first time I tried it, around three years ago. I instantly loved everything about it: the colorful user interface, the tagging and notification features, and how the cells are able to contain and display images.
Unlike other tabular data programs, it doesn’t whisper “cubicle life!” into my ears when I use it. Furthermore, I love how it seamlessly integrates with other apps.
Airtable integrations are instrumental to accomplish the following:
Connecting bases to other apps
Automating data inputs and outputs
Creating data pipelines
In my opinion, here lies the key to understanding the importance of Airtable integrations. As Wired once put it:
Silicon Valley's main trick is just shoving things into a database and pulling them out again.
I really like this definition, because Airtable integrations do work a kind of magic for countless different projects out there.
What’s most, maybe you have a trick in mind. Perhaps you already have the data, and it’s already on Airtable. If so, now is the time to learn how to integrate and automate.
In this article, I will show you 9 Airtable integrations you can deploy with Make, including:
Google Sheets - Airtable integration
Google Calendar - Airtable integration
Slack - Airtable integration
And many others. Also, it is good to note that most of the integrations below are available as Make templates, meaning that you can use them right away without having to actually create them. The ones that are not available as templates were created by me using Make’s visual builder.
There’s no need to panic though, these are simple enough for everyone to create in minutes. Let’s take a look!
1. Airtable Google Sheets integration
Syncing Google Sheets and Airtable is relevant for a number of reasons, including:
Backing up your Airtable data on Google Sheets
Making data available to users that rely on Google Sheets, but not on Airtable
Overcoming the Airtable record per base limits
Whichever the case, being able to connect both apps is something many users need, and here’s how to do it using Make.
Basic requirements
Make account
Airtable account
Google Sheets account
How to connect Airtable to Google Sheets
First, you will have to log in to the accounts mentioned above. After that, you will have to pick the following modules on Make:
Once you select these, you will find yourself on Make’s scenario builder (also referred to as “visual canvas”).
There, you will have to connect your Airtable and Google accounts to Make. It’s easy, but for Airtable you will need your API key, which is available in your account overview page.
Now, all you need to do is fill in the blanks in the Airtable and Google Sheets modules, and select a trigger for the syncing to happen.
I usually choose a simple trigger: I add a column on Airtable that shows the last modified time for every row, and each time a row is added or modified, it gets added or updated in Google Sheets as well.
This way, you can sync the Airtable base to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Your integration will look like this:
And here’s the result after I run the scenario. First of all, here's the Airtable base as it gets filled with data:
And then, the resulting Google Sheet spreadsheet, which gets synced on a 15-minute interval (this was my choice; you can sync up to a 1-minute frequency):
Now, let’s move on to our next Airtable integration: Google Calendar.
2. Airtable Google Calendar integration
Make allows you to automate the creation of events on Google Calendar from Airtable inputs. In a similar manner to the Airtable - Google Sheets integration, this is a fairly simple integration you can deploy right away.
The example I created is set to help those who want to streamline their lead nurturing process by automating the creation of Google Calendar events like calls from Airtable records. Take a look:
As you can see, the Calendar module picks key data related to the call/meeting, namely:
Lead
Time of meeting
Subject of meeting
This way, each time an Airtable row containing call data is added or updated, an event with that data will be created on Google Calendar. This is the data I uploaded to the Airtable base:
And here is the result, visible in Google Calendar:
The modules you will need to create this integration are:
And that's it! Enter the world of automatic Google Calendar event creation, courtesy of Make.
3. Airtable Email integration
By using Make’s Airtable and Email modules (works with Gmail modules as well), you can get or send automatic email notifications each time a new row is added or modified in your base.
The cool thing about this integration is that you can customize the emails with row data and a message you deem appropriate.Check it out:
Modules you will need to create this integration:
4. Airtable Trello integration
As it happens with Google Sheets, there are multiple reasons why it makes sense to sync data between Airtable and Trello.
Fortunately, it’s easy to connect both with Make. As long as you have Airtable and Trello accounts, it shouldn’t take longer than a couple of minutes -- that’s what it took me, and I’m a very average Make user.
The integration above creates new Trello cards out of new Airtable rows, but it’s worth noting that Make features dozens of Trello modules, offering a world of possibilities when it comes to creating integrations using these two apps.
Modules you can use to create Airtable - Trello integrations:
5. Airtable Slack integration
This integration is available as a template. Now that you know how to create basic integrations on Make, working with templates will allow you to deploy even faster.
The Airtable Slack integration template does a very simple thing for you: every time a new record is added to Airtable, you will get a Slack message with the details of the record. It’s similar to the Airtable - Email integration above, albeit this one is available as a template.
All I can say is that I wish I knew of this Make template a few years ago when I started to use Airtable. Back then, I relied on an Airtable base to streamline the production of social media content, and after the copy was written, the designer would jump in to complete the workflow.
Having automated Slack notifications would have saved us a lot of time!
Link to template: Get a Slack message every time a new record is added to Airtable
6. Typeform Airtable integration
Using forms to collect data and spreadsheets to store and process it is a regular occurrence. The good news is that the process of funneling form answers into Airtable can be thoroughly automated with the template below.
Needless to say, you can pick other forms app if Typeform is not the one you regularly use. Make features modules for other popular forms apps like Google Forms and JotForm.
7. Google Docs Airtable integration
This is a super useful integration for anyone that needs to create and customize documents from new Airtable data.
For example, let’s imagine that each time a sale is closed, you need to forward a document with the terms of the agreement. This integration makes that possible by:
Filling the document template with relevant Airtable data (like lead name and date)
Converting it to PDF
Sending it over email
This exactly is a good example of why life is simpler with Make.
Link to template: Create a Google Doc with data from a record in Airtable and send it over email as a PDF
8. Shopify Airtable integration
Keeping track of products and orders is the first step towards success in e-commerce. This can be problematic if done manually -- erring is human -- but you can automate the process with Make.
This template will record new Shopify orders into Airtable as they come. I don’t know about you, but having fresh data automatically sorted out on Airtable for further analysis is something I’d be interested in pursuing.
Link to template: Shopify - Airtable integration
9. Facebook Custom Audiences Airtable integration
Marketers using Airtable cannot miss this template. It allows you to create Facebook Custom audiences from Airtable records - but that’s the easy part.
What makes this template unique is that it filters the email list according to your desired criteria, and then uploads the data to Facebook Custom Audiences. Instead of having to tinker around with Airtable records, you can define criteria and automate the entire workflow.
Link to template: Facebook Custom Audiences - Airtable integration
Bonus integration: Automatically post Airtable records to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
Posting on social media, even when you are good at it, takes some time. If you want to regain that time back for yourself, then I invite you to try this amazing template.
What does it do? Well, in little words, it watches Airtable records and creates social media posts out of them (with images!).
If you are ready to flex your Make muscles a little bit more, be my guest and try this out. You won’t regret it!
Link to template: Post new records from Airtable to social media
Conclusion: Airtable integrations for the win
If there’s a lesson I learned from using Airtable, this is it: spreadsheets don’t have to be boring.
The same applies to integrations, and that’s something I value about Make as well. Instead of relying on obscure methods buried deep into app documentation, I get to integrate as many apps as I need using one platform.
The result has been overwhelmingly positive: I’m far more productive now than I was before using Make.
And this can be you as well.
Happy automating!
