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  • How do I create automation to transfer contacts from Google Sheets to HubSpot for free?
Question

How do I create automation to transfer contacts from Google Sheets to HubSpot for free?

Branch192 PR

I swear I got this sorted and then it stop working.  I think it was because I was on the trial of an upgrade which allowed me to have 3 Zapier steps.

Explanation:
I am a volunteer with my Legion Branch and am given contacts on a regular basis.  I collect all these contacts in various tabs, in Google Sheets.  This is done because not all information or Newsletters sent out go to everyone.

The Old Way
Instead of me having to export Google Sheets into CSV files then importing them into Hubspot I thought I could use a Zap to do this for me.

What I Tried:
This is the basic setup of the Trigger and Action used. Note I hope to make a Zap for each tab (in Google Sheets) I have to go into each list (in Hubspot)


The Trigger:


The Action:


What is happening is it seems to work in Zapier and shows the correct information in the Transfer pulled from Google Sheets but does not update the Hubspot lists.

I am hoping for a free solution as we don’t have the money to spend on a upgraded account being a non-profit. But it would save me a lot of time running back and forth and I appreciate any advice or solution. If you require more screenshots, please let me know.  Thanks!
 

This post has been closed for comments. Please create a new post if you need help or have a question about this topic.

12 replies

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @Branch192 PR 

Good question.

Can you clarify what you mean by it’s not updating the HubSpot Lists?

 

NOTE: The Zapier free plan only comes with 100 Tasks/month.

With the 2 step Zap you’ve configured, that will only work to add/update 100 Contacts from GSheets.

 

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
Branch192 PR

Hey @Troy Tessalone sorry I didn’t expect an reply right away.

I have separate lists in Hubspot, for example.

  1. Executive
  2. Members
  3. Other

And I have three different lists in Google Sheets, named the same.

Zapier seems to pull everything from Google sheets, even when I add new rows and change infos.

Zapier is supposed to send those details, including new entries to Hubspot, based on the Zap created. It does not.

Regarding your Note:
The test list I am using right has only 27 members, I doubt I will be adding or editing more than 10-20 contacts per month.

Yes, some lists have more, but if for the next few months it only adds a 100 at a time, until the lists are complete on Hubspot.  I can handle that.

I hope this helps you with helping me solve this.

Thank you.

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Branch192 PR 

Can you post screenshots with how the top couple rows of your GSheet tabs are configured?

Help articles for using GSheets in Zaps: https://zapier.com/apps/google-sheets/help

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
Branch192 PR

Sure thing. I have to fake emails at the bottom (as you can see) and I blacked out the other private infos.  I hope that is okay and enough infos for you to go on.

 


Cheers

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Branch192 PR 

If you are trying to add Contacts to Lists, then you will need to add this Zap action: HubSpot - Add Contact to List

 

I'm getting an "Unable to add unknown contact to list" error

The Add Contact to List action requires that the contact already be in HubSpot before they can be added to a list. The best way to ensure this is to add the HubSpot Create/Update Contact action before the Add Contact to List action. This guarantees that the contact exists and can then be added to the list.

 

Smart List is not available in the dropdown

The Add Contact to List action only works with Static Lists in HubSpot. Smart Lists will not show up here. You'll need to change your list in HubSpot to be a static list, or else use the Create/Update Contact action to update the property that would make a contact automatically qualify for a Smart List.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
Branch192 PR

Is this a 3rd action (extra cost) or does this replace the action I used?

I am guessing it is a 3rd action as this will need to be added before “ HubSpot Create/Update Contact “

I will try it with just the 2 and see if it still works...if not I guess I can’t use Zapier to help.

If any more suggestions are available, even outside of Zapier, I am more than willing to try them out.  Thanks for your ongoing help @Troy Tessalone 

Cheers

Branch192 PR

Boo :(


 

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Branch192 PR 

It would be added as Step 3.

 

I'm getting an "Unable to add unknown contact to list" error

The Add Contact to List action requires that the contact already be in HubSpot before they can be added to a list.
The best way to ensure this is to add the HubSpot Create/Update Contact action before the Add Contact to List action.
This guarantees that the contact exists and can then be added to the list.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
Branch192 PR

So unfortunately I won’t be able to use Zapier to do this as I am only allowed 2 steps in the free version.

….Unless I can create to different Zaps.  One to do the pulling and one to do the putting.  Problem is I am limited to 5 in the free account as well.

Thanks

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Branch192 PR 

Non-profit discounts

Zapier gladly offers non-profits a 15% discount on any paid plan. Learn more at https://zapier.com/non-profits/.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
Branch192 PR

Thank you, it will be hard to convince the group to do this but if I am given a budget, I might use it for this.

I also tried to do this:
 

Where Step 1 is:


And Step 2 is:

Which I might have mixed up.  Also when I originally started this forum post Hubspot was showing that the last time my lists were updated was June 29th. However when I returned to today to look at your response one of the lists shows July 21 exactly 5 ago when I reached out.  So Banana Peel got added, but didn’t show up until today.  Perhaps Zapier is slow to send, or Hubspot slow to retrieve. Hmm
 

SamB
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Hi there @Branch192 PR! 👋

It’s very odd that it took days to trigger the Zaps and add the test contact to the list. From your recent screenshots it looks like the Zaps were edited recently. When editing, did you run any tests in the Zap that would have added the Banana Peel test contact to the HubSpot list? If so, then I’m thinking that might account for the long delay in the Zaps seeing the contact.

If you add another contact to the Google Sheets spreadsheet now, while the Zaps are still switched on, that should then trigger the first Zap, followed by the second Zap that then adds the contact to the relevant HubSpot list.


Can you give that a try and confirm whether the Zaps trigger and add the contact as expected? Keen to ensure you’re all set here! 🙂

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