ApproveThis manages your VerticalResponse Integration approvals.

When Approval Workflows Meet Email Marketing

Let’s cut to the chase: marketing moves fast, but approvals move slow. That’s why pairing ApproveThis (your approval quarterback) with VerticalResponse (your email marketing playmaker) through Zapier isn’t just smart – it’s borderline unfair to your competitors. We’re talking about turning “waiting for sign-off” into “campaign launched” without the endless Slack pings or follow-up emails.

For companies between 50-5,000 employees, this combo solves two big headaches: keeping marketing agile while maintaining financial/compliance controls. Think automated approval chains that trigger actual marketing actions – not just more busywork.

Why This Integration Doesn’t Suck

VerticalResponse handles the heavy lifting of email campaigns. ApproveThis handles the bureaucracy of getting 3 people to sign off on that campaign. Together via Zapier, they handle the entire process from “should we send this?” to “it’s live”.

The magic sauce? Approvers only need ApproveThis access – no extra VerticalResponse seats required. Perfect for:

• Getting client sign-offs without sharing your marketing tools
• Cross-department reviews (legal ➡ marketing ➡ leadership)

Real example: A mid-sized e-commerce company slashed their promo email approval time from 48 hours to 90 minutes. How? Automatic routing from VerticalResponse drafts ➡ ApproveThis ➡ legal team inboxes ➡ campaign launch.

Four Ways This Combo Actually Works

1. The Gatekeeper: New Contact Approvals

Problem: Sales teams adding unvetted leads to marketing lists. Solution: Auto-create approval requests when new VerticalResponse contacts appear.

How it plays out:

1. New lead enters VerticalResponse via webform
2. Zapier pings ApproveThis
3. Marketing manager gets email: “Approve this contact?”
4. One click ➡ contact stays. Deny ➡ gets flagged

Who cares: B2B companies where not all leads are sales-ready. Stops unqualified contacts from getting nurture emails.

2. The Enforcer: Post-Approval List Building

Problem: Contacts lingering in approval limbo. Solution: Auto-add approved contacts to VerticalResponse lists.

Real-world use: A nonprofit uses this to validate donor info before adding to fundraising campaigns. Approval includes checking for duplicate entries or outdated info.

3. The Bouncer: List Creation Oversight

Problem: Junior staff creating poorly segmented lists. Solution: Require manager approval for new VerticalResponse lists.

Example: Marketing agency client requires all new email lists to be approved by both the account lead and compliance officer. No approval? List doesn’t go live.

4. The Matchmaker: Sync Approved Requests to Contacts

Problem: Sales-approved deals not making it to marketing. Solution: Create VerticalResponse contacts from approved requests.

Case in point: A SaaS company auto-adds approved free trial extensions to their “At Risk” nurture list. No more manual CSV uploads.

Setup That Won’t Make You Rage-Quit

For the “New Contact Approval” flow:

1. In Zapier, connect VerticalResponse (trigger = New Contact)
2. Add ApproveThis action (Create Request)
3. Map these fields:
- Contact email ➡ Approval subject
- Custom field: “Lead source” ➡ Approval description
4. Test with your CEO’s email (they love being test subjects)

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ approval thresholds to auto-approve contacts from trusted domains (@company.com) while flagging personal emails.

Department-Specific Wins

Marketing Teams

Stop being the approval nag. Set up rules like:
- Auto-approve under $500 promo offers
- Require CMO sign-off for list imports >10k contacts

Operations Teams

Kill the “Who approved this?!” fire drills. Every VerticalResponse action ties back to an audit trail in ApproveThis.

Finance Teams

Require PO numbers for paid campaigns. ApproveThis can block requests without valid billing info.

Features You’ll Actually Use

Beyond basic approvals, this combo handles:

Vacation Coverage: Auto-route approvals when Karen from Legal is OOO
Calculated Fields: Auto-flag lists with >20% free email addresses
Conditional Paths: Send high-value leads to sales managers first

When Not to Use This Integration

This isn’t a magic wand. If you:

- Have single-approver processes (just use VerticalResponse’s native tools)
- Need real-time chat about approvals (try Slack instead)
- Require 10+ signatures per campaign (we need to talk about your governance)

Your Move

The hard truth: Your current approval process probably sucks. Marketing’s waiting on legal, sales is spamming unvetted leads, and nobody knows who approved what.

ApproveThis + VerticalResponse via Zapier fixes the bureaucratic crap without slowing down campaigns. Setup takes 18 minutes (we timed it).

Get started free or book a 12-minute demo to see how approval workflows should actually work.

P.S. If you’re still manually forwarding approval emails, we’re judging you (lovingly).