Integrating Linktree with Buttondown

Overview

Linktree is a tool that compiles social media pages, websites, and newsletters in a single shareable landing page.

This guide explains how you can grow your Buttondown subscriber base through Linktree. To do this, you must create a webhook in Zapier.

Webhooks are useful tools that can automate workflows between two or more apps. Zapier relies on webhooks to create "Zaps" (which is just their term for "automated workflows"). In this guide, we'll use Zapier to create a webhook that takes new subscribers' information from Linktree and adds it to your Buttondown subscriber base.

Prerequisites

To complete this process, you must have:

A paid Zapier account
A Linktree Pro account
A Buttondown newsletter (registration's easy, and Zapier is already included in our standard plan)

Create your webhook

To create your webhook in Zapier, log into Zapier account and click Create Zap to begin setting up your webhook.

Determine your webhook's trigger

Next, you must assign the webhook's trigger, or the event that your webhook recognizes in order to perform a followup action. Here's how:

Search for "Webhooks by Zapier" and select this as your trigger app.
Scroll through the menu of possible trigger events and select Catch Hook.

This video shows how to search for "Webhooks by Zapier" and choose the "Catch Hook" event.

Test your webhook

Now it's time to test your new webhook. Here's how:

Scroll to the "Test" tab, where you should see a custom webhook URL.
Copy that URL, but don't close out of your Zapier editor yet.

Next, you'll add the webhook URL to Linktree. Here's how:

Navigate to your Linktree Pro settings and find the "Mailing List Integrations" section.
Enable the switch to add an "Email Sign-Up" field. Customize your sign-up field however you like.
Click the Zapier logo listed under "Storage."
Paste the webhook URL you copied into this section.

After you add the webhook URL, your new sign-up field should appear on the preview of your landing page.

Test your webhook's trigger

Now it's time to trigger your webhook. Here's how:

Navigate to your updated Linktree landing page.
Enter a test email address in the sign-up field. This test email address must be a real email address, as Buttondown may not recognize it otherwise.
Back in Zapier, click Test Trigger. Within a moment or two, Zapier will let you know that they've found a request that includes your test email address.

Determine your webhook's action

Next, determine the action that your webhook will complete after it's triggered. Here's how:

In Zapier, search for the latest version of "Buttondown" and choose it as your action app.
Then scroll through the menu of possible action events and select "Create Subscriber."

Connect your Buttondown account

At this stage, if you haven't already integrated your Buttondown account with Zapier, you may be prompted to sign in to your Buttondown account with your API Key. You can access your API key in the "API" section of your Buttondown Settings.

Inform your webhook's action

Now you can select the data that your webhook will deliver to Buttondown. Select "Email," and otherwise include as many other options as you'd like.

Test your webhook's action

In Zapier, click Test Action, and within a few seconds, Zapier should send you a result featuring your test email.

Now, navigate to your Subscribers page in Buttondown. Your test email should appear here as well.

This means your webhook is up, running, and ready to be published.

Publish your webhook

You've done it! Click Publish Zap in Zapier and marvel at the wonders of automated workflows.

Going above and beyond

Add tags and metadata

Webhooks can do a lot, including adding tags and metadata to new subscribers.

You can use Tags to sort your subscriber base, as well as to send out targeted email blasts. Like tags, metadata can also provide additional context for subscribers.

So, how do you add tags and metadata to webhooks? In this case, start by scrolling down to the "Action" tab in your Zapier editor. From here, you can populate the "Tag" and "Metadata" sections. Just make sure to double check that any new tags and metadata show up when you test your webhook action!

After you test your webhook's action in Zapier, your new subscriber, their tags, and their metadata, will appear in your Buttondown subscriber base. Navigate to the "Notes" for any given subscriber to manage their tags, metadata, and other details.

That's it! On top of sending new subscribers to Buttondown, your webhook will now also help you sort them into your subscriber base.