ApproveThis manages your Bitly approvals.

When Approval Processes Meet Link Management

Let's cut to the chase - nobody gets excited about approval workflows. But when your marketing team's sending 500 campaign links a month and legal's sweating over compliance, suddenly how you handle approvals matters. That's where pairing ApproveThis with Bitly through Zapier becomes your secret weapon.

Bitly's great at shortening links and tracking clicks. ApproveThis is ruthless about streamlining decisions. Together? They create a system where every link gets reviewed by the right people before it goes live, without creating bureaucratic gridlock. We're talking about eliminating spreadsheet trackers, reducing "who approved this?!" emails by 80%, and making sure your branded links actually stay on-brand.

Why This Combo Works for Mid-Sized Companies

If you're managing 50-5,000 employees, you've hit that sweet spot where manual processes start failing spectacularly. Here's what changes when you connect these tools:

Speed Without Chaos

Marketing teams can create Bitlinks for campaigns instantly, but ApproveThis acts as the guardrail. Example: A retail company launches 20 product pages weekly. Their workflow auto-creates approval requests in ApproveThis for each new Bitlink, requiring sign-off from both legal (compliance) and regional managers (inventory checks). Links only go live after green lights from all parties.

External Approvals That Don't Suck

Here's the kicker - approvers don't need Bitly logins. Your agency partner gets an email, clicks "approve," and the link gets created automatically. No license fees, no training, no "I forgot my password" delays.

Audit Trails That Actually Help

ApproveThis tracks who approved what link and when, while Bitly handles click analytics. Combine them through Zapier, and you've got full visibility from initial request to final performance metrics. Useful when compliance asks why a specific discount link was approved last quarter.

Real Workflows for Actual Humans

1. Campaign Links That Don't Embarrass You

The Problem: Marketing creates a Bitly link for a holiday sale, but nobody checked the landing page was updated. Cue 2,000 clicks to a 404 error page.

The Fix: Set up a Zap where new Bitlinks trigger approval requests in ApproveThis. The workflow requires:

• Content manager verifies landing page is live
• Legal confirms disclaimer language
• Approved links auto-post to social media queues

Healthcare tech companies use this to ensure patient-facing links meet HIPAA requirements before going public.

2. Automatic Link Creation for Approved Projects

The Problem: Sales teams delay campaigns waiting for IT to generate tracking links.

The Fix: Reverse the flow. When ApproveThis approves a new product launch request, Zapier auto-generates a Bitly link with UTM parameters. Sales gets the approved link in their CRM instantly. Enterprise software teams use this to maintain consistent tracking across regional launches.

3. Killing Zombie Campaigns

The Problem: Old referral links still floating around after campaigns end.

The Fix: When Bitly detects a new referring URL, ApproveThis triggers a review. Approvers either approve (keep active) or deny (redirect to homepage). Media companies prevent outdated partner links from driving traffic to expired promotions.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

If you can order DoorDash, you can build these Zaps:

1. Connect Bitly and ApproveThis in Zapier (takes 2 minutes)
2. Choose your trigger ("New Bitlink Created" or "Approval Completed")
3. Map key data points (URL, approver emails, campaign IDs)
4. Test with a low-stakes link (like your lunch poll)

Pro Tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields to auto-flag links needing exec approval. Example: If a Bitlink's estimated traffic exceeds 50k clicks/month, route it to the CMO automatically.

Department-Specific Wins

Marketing Teams

Stop herding cats for link approvals. Set up parallel approvals where design signs off on UTM tracking while legal reviews disclaimers. Bonus: Use approval thresholds to auto-approve minor edits to existing campaigns.

Operations

Ever had a vendor payment link get "accidentally" published before contract signing? Require dual approvals for any Bitlinks containing "invoice" or "payment" keywords. Audit trails prove who approved what when vendors get creative.

IT & Security

Reduce shadow IT by making Bitly the approved link tool. Configure ApproveThis to require infosec sign-off for links pointing to external domains. Plus, get alerts when unusual referral sources pop up.

The Unspoken Benefits

Beyond avoiding screw-ups, this combo actually makes teams want to follow processes:

Vacation Delegation: ApproveThis auto-reassigns approvals when someone's OOO. No more "Sorry, I was on PTO" delays for time-sensitive links.

Conditional Routing: Route high-risk Bitlinks (like those containing "discount" or "sale") to finance for margin checks before approval.

Real-Time Panic Button: See a problematic link live? Pause it in Bitly, and ApproveThis automatically notifies all original approvers with post-mortem requests.

Common Objections (And Why They're Wrong)

"We're using Bitly's built-in approvals." Cool - but can they handle multi-department sign-offs with custom rules? Didn't think so.

"We'll just use email threads." How's that working for version control? Exactly.

"Our current process works fine." Until someone accidentally publishes an unvetted link to 500k subscribers. Again.

Getting Started Without the BS

Here's your playbook:

1. Create a Zapier account (free tier works)
2. Connect Bitly and ApproveThis
3. Clone one of the templates we discussed
4. Run a test with your dev/staging environment
5. Document the process in your internal wiki (we know you won't, but we had to say it)

Total setup time: 23 minutes if you focus. 3 hours if you get distracted by Slack memes.

Bottom Line

Approvals shouldn't be where productivity goes to die. With ApproveThis and Bitly talking via Zapier, you get human oversight without human bottlenecks. Marketing moves faster, legal sleeps better, and nobody has to explain to the CEO why that typo-ridden link went viral.

Ready to stop playing approval whack-a-mole? Book a 15-minute demo or just start a free trial. Worst case? You'll finally have a system to blame when someone tries to approve a sketchy link.