ApproveThis manages your Zealot Integration approvals.

Why Approval Automation Matters for Community-Driven Brands

Let’s cut through the noise: manual approval processes kill momentum. For companies using Zealot to manage customer advocates and community initiatives, waiting days for mission approvals or ambassador vetting isn’t just annoying – it directly impacts your ability to mobilize your superfans. That’s where ApproveThis comes in. We’re not here to sell you buzzwords. This integration solves three concrete problems:

• Eliminating spreadsheet-based approval tracking
• Preventing mission/reward delays caused by MIA approvers

When you connect Zealot’s member activity data with ApproveThis’ workflow engine through Zapier, you create a system where every community action triggers the right approval process – without manual handoffs.

How It Works: Zealot’s Triggers Meet ApproveThis’ Rules Engine

Zealot tracks what matters: new members joining, missions submitted, rewards redeemed. ApproveThis handles the “what happens next” through customizable workflows. Here’s the breakdown:

Zealot’s Strengths

Real-time tracking of community engagement metrics and member-initiated actions. Perfect for identifying when something needs review – like a high-value reward redemption or a member-submitted mission that crosses budget thresholds.

ApproveThis’ Additions

Conditional routing (send $500+ missions to finance, others to team leads), automatic escalations, and email-based approvals that don’t require approvers to log into yet another system. Critical for external partners or execs who won’t adopt new software.

Three Use Cases That Actually Matter

1. Vetting New Brand Ambassadors (Without the Email Chaos)

When a potential advocate joins your Zealot program, you need to verify their qualifications fast. But sending “Hey, can you review this?” emails to three different managers? That’s how good candidates slip through the cracks.

How it works: Zealot triggers an ApproveThis workflow the moment someone applies. The request auto-routes based on the applicant’s region/experience level. Sales teams at cybersecurity firm DarkTrace use this to qualify technical advocates in under 4 hours – their previous average was 6 days.

2. Approving Community Missions That Drive Real ROI

Your most engaged members submit missions (content creation, event hosting, etc.) through Zealot. But if marketing doesn’t review budget requests or legal needs to vet contracts, those initiatives stall.

The fix: Missions trigger approval chains in ApproveThis with parallel paths. Example: A gaming company routes streamer event proposals simultaneously to community managers (for brand fit) and finance (for budget checks). They’ve cut mission launch time by 70%.

3. Preventing Reward Program Abuse (Without Micromanaging)

When advocates redeem high-value rewards in Zealot, you need checks – but manually auditing every redemption kills scalability. Nonprofit Water.org uses ApproveThis thresholds to auto-approve rewards under $100 while flagging larger redemptions for fraud checks. Their ops team saves 11 hours/week.

Setup: No Coders Needed

If you can use a toaster, you can connect these systems:

1. Create a Zapier account (they have a free tier)
2. Choose a Zealot trigger (New Member, Mission Submitted, etc.)
3. Map key data points to ApproveThis’ request form
4. Set approval rules (who needs to sign off, escalation paths)

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ calculated fields to auto-flag missions exceeding budget. Example: If a Zealot mission submission includes a $5K budget request, ApproveThis can route it directly to your CFO’s email with one click approval/deny.

Features Your Team Will Actually Use

Vacation Overrides That Don’t Suck

We’ve all been CC’d on “John’s OOO – who handles this?” emails. ApproveThis automatically reassigns approvals based on Outlook/GCal integrations. Marketing teams at mid-sized agencies love this for seasonal campaigns when multiple approvers are out.

Audit Trails Your Legal Team Won’t Hate

Every approval/rejection in ApproveThis includes timestamped notes. When a Zealot mission goes sideways, you can trace exactly who approved what – without digging through Slack history.

Who Benefits Most?

Community Managers

Stop chasing down approvals for every minor mission tweak. Set rules in ApproveThis to auto-approve low-risk changes (social post captions) while flagging high-stakes items (sponsorship deals).

Finance Teams

Get granular control without being a bottleneck. Require CFO approval for Zealot reward redemptions over $1K, but let team leads handle smaller amounts. All tracked in your ERP system via Zapier.

External Partners

Agencies and vendors can submit missions/rewards through Zealot and get approvals via email without needing Zealot logins. Client services teams at PR firms use this to streamline client reviews.

The Bottom Line

This isn’t about “digital transformation” – it’s about removing friction in programs that already work. If your Zealot community drives even 10% of pipeline or brand awareness, delaying missions/rewards over approval delays is literally leaving money on the table.

ApproveThis doesn’t require contracts or IT involvement. Set up a single workflow (like mission approvals) in 20 minutes. If it sticks, expand to other use cases. If not? No harm done – but we’re betting your ops team will ask for more.

Get started free or book a 10-minute demo to see live examples from similar companies.

FAQs

Q: Do approvers need Zealot access?
Nope. They approve via email or ApproveThis’ dashboard. Huge for external partners.

Q: Can we set different rules per product line?
Yes. ApproveThis’ conditional workflows can route based on Zealot tags/fields.

Q: What if we change our Zealot setup later?
Zapier handles field mapping updates without breaking existing workflows.