ApproveThis manages your Mailgun Integration approvals.

Two Tools You Didn't Know Needed Each Other

Let's cut to the chase: approval processes suck when they live in email threads. Mailgun's great at moving mountains of email data, but it can't tell Susan from accounting her PO approval is late. ApproveThis nails the approval part but doesn't care about your email open rates. Together? They're like peanut butter and whiskey – unexpected, but surprisingly effective for grown-up business problems.

For teams drowning in "approve this" emails and "why hasn't this shipped?" Slack messages, this integration does three things ruthlessly well:

• Turns email events into actionable approval triggers
• Auto-notifies stakeholders without manual nagging
• Gives ops teams a paper trail that doesn't require forensic analysis

Why This Combo Works for Mid-Sized Companies

If you're between 50-5,000 employees, you've likely got:

• External vendors who shouldn't see your Mailgun stats
• Department leads who "forget" to check CRMs
• At least one spreadsheet named "Approval Backlog_FINAL(3).xlsx"

ApproveThis handles the gatekeeping without making approvers jump through hoops. Mailgun moves the data. Zapier (our middleman here) connects them so you're not paying devs to build custom API junk.

Real-World Use Cases That Don't Sound Like BS

For Marketing Teams: The "Why’d We Pay for That Click?" Workflow

Scenario: Your team sends a campaign via Mailgun that's getting unusual click-throughs. Instead of letting junior staffers panic-approve budget changes:

How it works: Mailgun detects spike in clicks → Zapier triggers ApproveThis request → CMO + CFO get email/Slack approval with calculated ROI impact → Auto-update budget sheets on approval.

Key feature win: ApproveThis' calculated fields automatically show cost-per-lead based on Mailgun's real-time data.

For Customer Support: The "Complaint Fire Drill" Preventer

Scenario: Complaints hit Mailgun → tickets get lost in Zendesk → customers churn. Classic.

Fix: Mailgun's complaint event → ApproveThis creates escalation ticket → Support lead approves/denies refund/credit → If approved, Mailgun auto-sends apology email with credit code.

Why it matters: ApproveThis' approval thresholds auto-approve small credits (under $50) but escalate bigger asks – stops $500 gift cards for "my email was late".

For Ops: The "New Vendor Onboarding" Time Sink

Scenario: Procurement needs 3 signatures to onboard vendors. Legal takes days to respond. AP hates you.

Automation: Vendor email arrives via Mailgun → ApproveThis pings Legal/Procurement/AP sequentially → Each approval step unlocks vendor list updates → On final approval, Mailgun sends welcome email with contract.

Secret weapon: Vacation delegation means if Legal's out, requests auto-reroute – no more "waiting on Bob's Bali return".

Setup That Doesn’t Require a PhD

If you can set up a Slack channel, you can do this:

1. In Zapier, connect Mailgun (needs admin rights) and ApproveThis
2. Pick your trigger: Mailgun event (clicks, complaints, etc.) or ApproveThis status change
3. Map the key data points – opens/clicks for marketing, complaint details for support
4. Test with a $10 test send in Mailgun before going live

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' conditional logic to route high-priority emails (like legal@) to shorter approval chains automatically.

Why Your Finance Team Will Actually Like This

Approval thresholds are the unsung hero here. Example:

Mailgun tracks a campaign with $20k budget. When clicks suggest 80% budget depletion, ApproveThis:

• Auto-approves 10% overages if VP-level OK'd upfront
• Requires CFO sign-off beyond that
• Updates the Mailgun send schedule if denied

All without Finance touching Mailgun's UI (which they’d break anyway).

The External Approver Advantage

Client needs to approve deliverables but you don't want them in your Mailgun? ApproveThis sends them branded emails (no login) → Their approval updates Mailgun to send final assets.

Clients think you're ultra-responsive. You avoid giving outsiders access to email tools. Everybody wins.

When Not to Use This Integration

We’re honest here:

• If you have <50 employees, just use email rules and pray
• If you need real-time stock trading approvals, maybe get Bloomberg terminals
• If your approvers still print emails, buy them a printer and save yourself the hassle

Bottom Line

This isn't about chasing "digital transformation." It's about stopping these conversations:

"Did you approve that?"
"I replied to the email!"
"Which email?"
*Cue frantic inbox searching*

ApproveThis + Mailgun via Zapier forces accountability into places where email chaos reigns. It’s not sexy, but neither are seat belts – and you still use those every day.

Get started if you're ready to actually know who approved what, or book a demo to see how calculated fields can make your CFO slightly less grumpy.