Zapier: How to Automatically Update Ontraport Tags from WooCommerce Orders
Introduction
Are you using WooCommerce to sell products and Ontraport for your CRM and marketing automation? Automating your workflow between these platforms can save you valuable time and improve your customer segmentation. One crucial task is updating your contacts’ tags in Ontraport based on their WooCommerce orders. This allows you to tailor your marketing messages, offer relevant product recommendations, and track customer behavior more effectively. This article will guide you through the process of using Zapier to automatically update tags in Ontraport whenever a new order is placed in WooCommerce.
Why Automate Tag Updates with Zapier?
Manually updating tags in your CRM Check out this post: How To Delete Woocommerce From WordPress Completely is time-consuming and prone to errors. Zapier bridges the gap between WooCommerce and Ontraport, automating this process. Benefits include:
- Improved Segmentation: Tag customers based on purchase history for targeted marketing.
- Increased Efficiency: Eliminate manual data entry and save time.
- Better Customer Experience: Offer personalized content and product recommendations.
- Real-time Data: Ensure your Ontraport data is always up-to-date with the latest order information.
- Manually enter static tags: Type in the tag name (or comma separated tag names) you want to add to *all* contacts that trigger this Zap. This is useful for adding a general “WooCommerce Customer” tag.
- Dynamically map tags from WooCommerce order data: This is the most powerful approach. You need to identify *what* in the WooCommerce order data tells you *which* tags to apply. For example, if you have a product category called “Premium” and you want to tag customers who buy products in that category with a “Premium Customer” tag, you’ll need to:
- Ensure the product category information is available in the WooCommerce order data.
- Use Zapier’s “Formatter” or “Filter” steps to extract and transform the category data into the desired tag name. This might involve using a Lookup Table (Formatter) to map product categories to specific tags.
- Then map the *output* of the Formatter or Filter step to the Ontraport “Tags” field.
Main Part: Setting Up the Zap
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a Zap to automatically update Ontraport tags from WooCommerce:
Step 1: Connect WooCommerce to Zapier
1. Create a Zap: In your Zapier account, click “Create Zap”.
2. Choose WooCommerce as the Trigger: Search for “WooCommerce” and select it as the Trigger app.
3. Select “New Order” as the Trigger Event: This tells Zapier to trigger the automation whenever a new order is placed in WooCommerce.
4. Connect Your WooCommerce Account: Zapier will prompt you to connect your WooCommerce store. You’ll need to provide your WooCommerce store URL and API keys. Refer to WooCommerce documentation on how to generate these keys. Ensure you grant read/write permissions.
5. Test the Trigger: Zapier will pull a recent WooCommerce order as a sample. Test the trigger to ensure the connection is working correctly.
Step 2: Connect Ontraport to Zapier
1. Add an Action: Click the “+” button below Check out this post: How To Change Amount Of Rows Woocommerce the WooCommerce trigger to add an action.
2. Choose Ontraport as the Action App: Search for “Ontraport” and select it as the Action app.
3. Select “Update Contact” as the Action Event: This action updates an existing contact in Ontraport. If you need to create a new contact if one doesn’t exist, choose the “Create/Update Contact” action instead.
4. Connect Your Ontraport Account: Zapier will prompt you to connect your Ontraport account. You’ll need to provide your Ontraport API ID and API Key. You can find these in your Ontraport account settings. Keep these credentials safe!
5. Find the Contact in Ontraport: In the “Find Contact” section, you need to tell Zapier how to identify the contact in Ontraport corresponding to the WooCommerce order. The most common approach is to use the customer’s email address. Select the “Email” field in Ontraport and map it to the “Billing Email” field from the WooCommerce trigger data. You might see it as `Billing Email` or `Email`.
6. Update the Tags: In the “Update Fields” section, you will find a field for “Tags”. This field is where you’ll add the tags to update. You can either:
Example using a static tag: If you always want to add the tag “WooCommerce Customer,” simply type that into the “Tags” field.
Example using dynamic mapping (simplified): Imagine the WooCommerce trigger had a “product_name” field. Let’s say you want to tag users with “product_A_buyer” if they bought product A and “product_B_buyer” if they bought product B. You’d need to add a “Formatter by Zapier (Text) – Lookup Table” step *between* the WooCommerce trigger and the Ontraport action. In the lookup table, you would set it up like this:
* Lookup Key: `Product Name` (mapped from the WooCommerce Trigger)
* Lookup Table:
* `Product A` => `product_A_buyer`
* `Product B` => `product_B_buyer`
* Fallback Value: (Leave Empty or put something like “general_customer” )
Then, in the Ontraport “Update Contact” action, map the `Output` from the Lookup Table formatter to the “Tags” field.
Step 3: Test and Activate Your Zap
1. Test the Action: Zapier will update a contact in your Ontraport account using the data from the WooCommerce order you selected earlier. Verify that the correct tag(s) were added to the contact.
2. Turn on the Zap: Once you’ve confirmed everything is working correctly, turn on your Zap!
// Example of how you might Read more about How To Remove Publish Date From Woocommerce Product structure your WooCommerce product metadata to store tag information // This is purely for demonstration and assumes you have customized your WooCommerce product settings $product_id = get_the_ID(); $ontraport_tag = get_post_meta( $product_id, 'ontraport_tag', true ); // Custom field 'ontraport_tag' if ( ! empty( $ontraport_tag ) ) { echo 'Ontraport Tag: ' . esc_html( $ontraport_tag ) . '
'; // Displays the tag on the product page (for debugging) }
// You’d then need custom code to expose this ‘ontraport_tag’ value to the WooCommerce order data so Zapier can access it. This is beyond the scope of this article, but involves hooking into WooCommerce’s order processing.
Conslusion: Considerations and Potential Issues
While automating tag updates in Ontraport from WooCommerce is a powerful strategy, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Zapier Plan Check out this post: How Does Woocommerce Compare To Oscommerce Limits: Ensure your Zapier plan can handle the expected volume of WooCommerce orders. Free plans have limitations.
- Error Handling: Zapier’s error reporting is helpful, but you should periodically review your Zaps to ensure they are running smoothly.
- Contact Matching Accuracy: Email addresses are a common identifier, but consider alternative identifiers if necessary. For example, create custom fields in both WooCommerce and Ontraport to store a unique user ID for even more reliable matching.
- Duplicate Tags: If you already have automation applying tags, consider how the new automation will interact with the existing one to avoid unintended duplicate tag assignments. Carefully plan your tag strategy.
- Data Mapping Complexity: Dynamically mapping tags based on complex WooCommerce order data (e.g., product categories, attributes) may require more advanced Zapier skills, including using Formatter steps and conditional logic.
- API Rate Limits: While unlikely for most small to medium businesses, both WooCommerce and Ontraport APIs have rate limits. If you experience errors, check the API documentation for information about rate limiting.
By carefully planning and implementing this automation, you can significantly improve your marketing efficiency and create more personalized customer experiences. Remember to thoroughly test your Zap before activating it to ensure accurate data transfer and tagging.
