ApproveThis manages your MessageMedia SMS approvals.

Why This Integration Isn’t Just Cool – It’s Practical

Let’s cut to the chase: approvals slow things down. SMS gets ignored. But when you connect ApproveThis (the approval ninja) with MessageMedia SMS (the text message workhorse) through Zapier, you’re not just automating workflows – you’re fixing two broken systems at once. For companies juggling multiple departments, external clients, or compliance-heavy processes, this combo turns “waiting for a response” into “already handled.”

What Happens When You Stop Playing Approval Tag

ApproveThis isn’t another project management tool. It’s a laser-focused solution for companies where decisions cost real money or legal risk – think procurement teams approving vendor contracts, marketing needing legal sign-off on SMS campaigns, or operations greenlighting emergency purchases.

MessageMedia SMS does one thing exceptionally well: sending/receiving business texts at scale without getting flagged as spam. But here’s the rub – most companies use it for basic notifications, missing the chance to make it part of their decision engine.

The Nuts and Bolts of the Integration

Through Zapier, three key connections matter:

• Inbound SMS → Approval Requests: Turn customer replies into tracked approval tasks
• Approval Decisions → SMS Notifications: Push approvals/denials directly to phones
• Approval Triggers → SMS Workflows: Launch SMS campaigns after internal sign-offs

Real Teams Getting Real Results

Customer Support: No More “I’ll Get Back to You”

A regional bank uses MessageMedia for SMS fraud alerts. When customers reply “YES” to confirm a transaction, ApproveThis automatically routes it to fraud analysts. If analysts don’t approve/deny within 15 minutes (thanks to approval thresholds), it escalates to a manager’s phone via SMS. Result? Reduced chargebacks by 37% in Q1.

Field Operations: When Deskless Teams Need Paper Trails

A construction company’s site supervisors request equipment rentals via SMS. ApproveThis converts these into approval chains requiring CFO sign-off over $5k. Approved? MessageMedia auto-texts the rental company. Denied? Supervisor gets a rejection reason via SMS. All without anyone opening a laptop.

Marketing: Compliance Without the Headaches

An e-commerce brand routes SMS campaign drafts from their agency through ApproveThis. Legal approves messaging, then MessageMedia fires off the campaign. If customers reply STOP, ApproveThis creates a task to remove them from all lists within 24 hours (enforced via calculated fields).

The Silent Killer Feature: External Approvals

Here’s what nobody talks about: your client’s legal team doesn’t have (or want) access to your MessageMedia account. With ApproveThis, external approvers get email-based decisions – they click approve/reject without logins or licenses. Audit trails stay intact, and you avoid paying for guest seats in your SMS platform.

Setting This Up Without Overcomplicating It

For the “New SMS Reply → Approval Request” workflow:

1. In Zapier, set MessageMedia’s “New SMS Reply” as trigger
2. Filter to only include messages needing approval (e.g., containing “APPROVE”)
3. Map key SMS data (phone number, message) into an ApproveThis request
4. Set approvers based on dynamic conditions (e.g., dollar amounts in messages)

Total setup time: 12 minutes if you’ve used Zapier before. Less if you’re angry at how long approvals currently take.

When to Use This vs. When to Stay Old School

This integration shines for:

• Time-sensitive approvals needing mobile responses (emergency purchases, crisis comms)
• Processes involving external parties without app access (clients, contractors)
• Industries requiring SMS audit trails (finance, healthcare, public sector)

It’s overkill for: Informal team polls, low-stakes decisions that could just be a Slack thread.

The Hidden Costs of Not Automating This

Without connecting these tools, you’re:

• Losing hours weekly to manual data entry between systems
• Risking compliance gaps from untracked SMS approvals
• Annoying clients/vendors with slow response times

Example: A logistics company lost a $240k client because purchase order approvals via email took 3 days. Their competitor approved same-day via SMS-linked workflows.

Beyond the Basics: Pro Tips

Use ApproveThis’ calculated fields to auto-approve routine SMS requests under set thresholds (e.g., refunds under $50). Pair with MessageMedia’s templates to instantly reply “Approved – processing now.”

For global teams, set up vacation delegation so afternoon SMS approvals in London get rerouted to your Chicago team before the sender’s day starts.

Getting Started Without the Sales Pitch

If you’re already using MessageMedia SMS, try this:

1. Sign up for ApproveThis’ free trial
2. Build one approval workflow mirroring a current SMS process
3. Connect via Zapier using their pre-built templates
4. Run a test with your phone – approve/deny via email

If it doesn’t save your team at least 4 hours in the first month, we’ll eat our hat. (Not really – but you’ll know within days if it’s a fit.)

The Bottom Line

Approvals aren’t glamorous. SMS isn’t new tech. But combining them through ApproveThis and MessageMedia SMS creates something rare: a process that actually works how your team already operates. No app downloads for approvers, no complex training – just decisions happening faster, with full visibility.

Ready to stop being the approval bottleneck? Get started or schedule a 10-minute demo showing how your specific workflows could run.