7 Ways to Automate Airtable

Jacob Bank
Jacob Bank
Founder/CEO
Airtable logo

Airtable is one of those tools that gets more impressive the longer you use it. Its blend of spreadsheet and database truly revolutionizes data management. It empowers you to build just about anything—from a CRM to a book tracker to an automated editorial calendar.

Though Airtable’s table-based automations are great, their integration library is fairly barebones. If you plan on going beyond basic Asana and Google Drive actions, you’ll need to connect with a third-party workflow automation tool (like Relay.app!).

In this guide, we’ll show how Relay.app can automate your Airtable tasks by syncing data across your entire stack and automating crucial parts of your workday. You’ll be able to spend less time on manual data entry, and focus on the strategic work that truly matters.

What is Relay.app? Relay.app is a workflow automation tool designed for teams seeking efficiency without losing the human touch. It enables the inclusion of human approvals, in-line AI assistance, and collaborative playbook team creation. With deep integrations across major platforms like Airtable, Google Suite, and Slack, Relay.app simplifies complex processes, ensuring teams can focus on what truly matters.

Create new records from forms

Online forms are the cornerstone for gathering data online — whether it's capturing leads through Typeform, gathering feedback from Google Forms or registering event attendees through Fillout.

With Relay.app you can bring this vital information into your Airtable bases, neatly organized into each record. This saves you a bunch of time copying data between tools, and enhances the accuracy and usability of your data, by removing human error.

Create new records from emails

We all spend way too much time chasing that mythical inbox zero. Email automation is one of the best ways to free up time with minimal effort. A great use case is asking Relay.app to scan and parse incoming emails for specific criteria or keywords, and generate new records in Airtable only for those pre-defined emails.

This is indispensable for small teams using Airtable as a digital Swiss Army Knife for support tickets, sales inquiries, or tracking customer interactions. With this type of automation, you can turn a backlog of emails into a neatly organized database of actionable items.

Sync your calendar events

Sure, most calendar apps play nice with each other — Zoom, Google Meets, Calendly, you name it. But how much time do we waste manually prepping for meetings, or scribbling down action items and deadlines afterward? Spoiler: it's a lot.

Automating your calendar with Airtable via Relay.app can claw back some of that lost time. Events, meetings, deadlines — get them all synced directly to your Airtable base without lifting a finger. Whether it's Google Calendar or Outlook, keep your projects, tasks, and schedules in perfect harmony.

Send notifications

Keeping the team on the same page is crucial, but constant updates can turn into a full-time job. Here’s where Relay.app comes in. Set it up once, and let it automatically ping your team via email, Slack, or any platform you prefer whenever something important happens in Airtable.

Status updates, new records, milestones reached — whatever the trigger, Relay.app keeps everyone informed and in sync. It’s like having a super-efficient assistant who ensures nobody misses out on critical updates, boosting collaboration and cutting down on those endless catch-up meetings.

Update data across tools

Juggling multiple tools? It's 2024. Of course, you are! Get Relay.app to be your data conductor, ensuring that a change in one place echoes everywhere it should.

Imagine updating a project in Airtable and seeing it reflected in Trello, or syncing customer details between Airtable and Pipedrive automatically. Keep your content calendars aligned across Airtable and Notion without breaking a sweat. This isn’t just about saving time; it’s about maintaining a single source of truth across your tech stack, reducing errors, and keeping everyone on the same page.

Update records with documents

Creating consistent documentation can be a drag, especially when it involves pulling data from various sources. Relay.app makes it a breeze by automating document creation from Google Docs templates directly linked to your Airtable records.

Need to draft a blog post outline or whip up a campaign brief? Set Relay.app to pull the relevant data from Airtable, populating your document with the right info every time. This means your team always has the most current materials at their fingertips, streamlining your content creation process from start to finish.

Streamline e-commerce management

Running an e-commerce platform means your data never sleeps, and neither does the need for it to be accurate. Relay.app and Airtable together turn this challenge into a walk in the park. Automate tracking for refunded Webflow orders or create new customer records in Stripe straight from Airtable.

It’s about making sure your data accurately reflects every sale, refund, and customer add, all without you having to dive into the details. Keep your inventory and financial records spotless and up-to-date effortlessly, letting you focus more on growing your business and less on the nitty-gritty.

Over to you

Ready to boost your project management game, fine-tune your sales process, or level up customer interactions? Ditch the manual grind and step into the world of automation with Relay.app and Airtable.

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