ApproveThis manages your Freshmarketer Classic Integration approvals.

When Marketing Needs Speed (But Not Anarchy)

Let’s be real: marketing teams move fast. Campaigns get built, contacts get added, budgets get spent. But somewhere between the big ideas and hitting "publish," there’s always that one bottleneck – approvals. Someone needs to sign off on the budget. Legal needs to vet the copy. A manager needs to greenlight that new contact list. And suddenly, your 3-day campaign takes 3 weeks.

That’s where pairing ApproveThis with Freshmarketer Classic via Zapier changes the game. Think of it like adding traffic lights to your marketing highway – except these lights actually keep things moving instead of slamming on the brakes. You keep the speed, ditch the gridlock.

Why This Combo Works (Beyond Just “Automation”)

Freshmarketer Classic handles the heavy lifting of campaigns, tracking, and contact management. ApproveThis handles the human decisions that can’t (and shouldn’t) be fully automated. Together via Zapier, they make sure the right people get looped in at exactly the right time – without derailing the entire workflow.

Key benefits you won’t get from other tools:

• No more license headaches: Approvers only need ApproveThis access – no Freshmarketer seats required. Perfect for external agencies, legal teams, or execs who just need to approve, not poke around your CRM.
• Conditional logic that actually makes sense: Auto-approve routine requests under $500, but escalate big spends to the CFO. Send draft campaigns to legal only if they contain specific keywords. Basic rules, major time savings.
• Approval tracking that doesn’t suck: Every decision ties back to specific Freshmarketer contacts, campaigns, or budget lines. No more “Who approved this?!” panic during audits.

Real-World Use Cases (Not Just Theory)

1. Stopping Bad Data at the Source

The problem: New contacts get dumped into Freshmarketer from forms, events, sales teams… and 20% are duplicates, fake emails, or people who’d rather not hear from you. By the time someone notices, you’ve already blasted them with 3 campaigns.

The fix: Zapier triggers an ApproveThis request every time a new contact hits Freshmarketer. Your sales ops team gets an email with the contact’s info, source, and a big “Approve” or “Trash” button. Approved? The contact gets added to campaigns. Denied? Automatically scrubbed from the list.

Who needs this: B2B companies with high-value leads (think SaaS, enterprise services), e-commerce brands using gated content downloads, any team paying per contact in their CRM.

2. Campaigns That Don’t Get Stuck in Legal Limbo

The problem: Your team finalizes an email campaign in Freshmarketer, but it sits for days waiting for legal review. When they finally check it, there’s a typo in the disclaimer, and the whole process starts over.

The fix: Set up a Zap that creates an ApproveThis request whenever a campaign is marked “Ready for Review” in Freshmarketer. Legal gets an email with the content preview and one-click approval. If they reject it, comments auto-sync back to Freshmarketer for edits. Version control without the chaos.

Who needs this: Healthcare marketers, financial services, any industry with compliance-heavy content. Also overworked agencies tired of clients slow-walking feedback.

Setup That Takes Minutes, Not Days

Connecting ApproveThis and Freshmarketer Classic via Zapier isn’t one of those “need an IT degree” projects:

1. Pick your trigger: In Zapier, choose whether approvals start in Freshmarketer (like new contacts) or in ApproveThis (like needing to update lists after approval).
2. Map the important stuff: Connect Freshmarketer fields (contact email, campaign ID) to ApproveThis’s request details. No coding – just match dropdowns.
3. Set your rules: Add conditional logic in ApproveThis. Maybe auto-approve contacts from certain domains, or require dual sign-off on campaigns over $10K.

Pro tip: Start with one workflow (like contact approvals) before tackling more complex ones. Most teams get their first Zap live in under 30 minutes. Zapier’s guides fill in the technical gaps.

Who Actually Benefits (Beyond Just “Marketing”)

Finance teams: Get automatic approval requests when Freshmarketer campaigns exceed budget thresholds. No more surprise invoices.

Sales ops: Stop fighting with marketing over lead quality. ApproveThis logs show exactly who approved questionable contacts.

Compliance officers: Every approved/denied decision is timestamped and tied to a user. Makes audits less of a nightmare.

External partners: Agencies can submit Freshmarketer campaign drafts for client approval without giving full platform access.

Why This Isn’t Just Another Integration

Plenty of tools “integrate” with Freshmarketer. ApproveThis does three things others miss:

1. Email approvals that don’t feel like 1995: Approvers can review full context (campaign previews, contact details) right in their inbox – no logins, no PDF attachments.

2. Vacation coverage that works: If your CMO is offline, ApproveThis auto-reroutes approvals to their deputy. No more “Waiting on Gary’s OOO reply” holdups.

3. Calculated fields for smart routing: Automatically flag Freshmarketer requests that need extra scrutiny. Like calculating lead value based on campaign source, then routing high-value leads to senior approvers.

Getting Started Without the BS

ApproveThis doesn’t require a PhD in workflow engineering. If you can set up a Freshmarketer campaign, you can handle this:

1. Free trial: Start with ApproveThis’s 14-day trial – no credit card needed. Their pre-built Freshmarketer templates skip the guesswork.

2. Zapier’s always free: You don’t need a paid Zapier plan for basic workflows. Only upgrade when you’re hooked (and you will be).

3. Start small, then expand: Nail contact approvals first. Once that’s smooth, add budget checks or legal reviews. No need to boil the ocean.

The Bottom Line

ApproveThis + Freshmarketer Classic isn’t about flashy features. It’s about fixing the crap that slows marketers down – approvals stuck in inboxes, contacts rotting in limbo, campaigns waiting on someone’s cousin in legal. It’s workflow glue for teams that hate meetings about meetings.

If your approval process involves more Slack pings than actual decisions, it’s time to stop talking and start approving. Or if you’re the skeptical type, book a demo and make us prove it.