You may have seen “webhooks” mentioned in apps you use, and wondered what they are and if you should use them. The answer is, probably, yes. Webhooks are a way in which apps send information to other apps. This can be incredibly useful, yes, also for you! In this article, we explore what webhooks are in general, and more specifically, what the Smart Webhooks feature is in the Nudgify app (spoiler alert: you can use Smart Webhooks to easily turn data from ANY app into powerful Social Proof notifications for you site).
What are Webhooks?
Webhooks are a way in which apps communicate with each other. When you set up a webhook, you create a connection between two apps. Webhooks are incredibly useful for a lot of different scenarios, and because of that, a lot of apps support webhooks. This is great news, because any app that supports webhooks, can be connected to Nudgify via a Smart Webhook.
For apps, supporting webhooks is like owning a phone. If I own a phone, and you own a phone, we can communicate! All you need in order to call me, is my phone number! Similarly, any if App A supports webhooks, and App B supports webhooks, they can “call” each other if they have each other’s “phone number”. In the world of webhooks, this “phone number” is a URL, also called a “Webhook URL”, or “endpoint”.
Webhooks versus Polling
To give some background as to what makes webhooks so popular, I will compare webhooks to the other main way an app can communicate with other apps: polling.
If App A wants to inform App B that something new has happened, it can communicate this update via polling or via a webhook:
- With polling, app B actively needs to keep checking in with app A, to see if something new has happened yet.
- With webhooks, app B gets notified automatically when something new happens.
Simply put, polling is you actively asking your colleague for updates every day. Some days, they have an update for you, other times, you ask but they have nothing new to report. Webhooks is automatically receiving an update from your colleague every time they have something new to share. You don’t have to ask.
What are Smart Webhooks in Nudgify?
In Nudgify, you can use webhooks to notify Nudgify every time something happens in another app that you use. If you give Nudgify’s “phone number” (Webhook URL) to another app, this app can send automatic updates to Nudgify every time someone places an order, subscribes to your newsletter, leaves a review, etc.
For example, you can use webhooks to notify Nudgify every time you have a new purchase in ClickFunnels, or someone submits a JotForm, or you receive a new review via Stamped.io. You can then show this information in Purchase Nudges, Sign-ups Nudges, or Review Nudges.
What makes Smart Webhooks “smart”?
We designed our webhooks feature in a smart way (hence “Smart Webhooks”), to make it as easy as possible (and code-free) to set up a webhook connection, and show the information you want in your Nudges. These are a few things we did to make it extra easy to set up a Smart Webhook in Nudgify:
- We provide you with a Webhook URL that you can copy/paste in the app you want to connect
- We created designated set-up flows for each of the three data types you can connect via Smart Webhooks: purchases, sign-ups, and reviews
- We created drop downs to let you select which information you want to display in Nudges
You can set up your first Smart Webhook by following the step-by-step instructions. To make it even easier, we have created specific how-to guides for some popular apps:
Featured – Smart Webhooks in Action
Nudgify users are utilising the Smart Webhooks feature to turn data from the tools they use into Social Proof. We have highlighted two of our favourites below.
Pete from Pictory has connected his Zoho subscriptions via Smart Webhooks. Pictory.ai helps creators turn their scripts and blog posts into videos quickly, easily and cheaply (try for free, no credit card required). By displaying his latest subscriptions in Social Proof Nudges on his site, Pete can boost his conversions and help more people turn their text into videos.
Gayle, from Gayle Fitzmaurice Real Estate, uses Kajabi for her online real estate courses. By connecting her Kajabi sales via a Smart Webhook, she can show off every new subscriber to help her with the launch of her latest course. You can see her Nudges in action on how-to-sell-50-properties-in-12-months.com.
Start using the power of webhooks for your benefit!
Webhooks may sound daunting and technical, but they are truly not as scary as you think. Webhooks can be incredibly useful and powerful for anyone. As the Nudgify Smart Webhooks feature exemplifies, if you have a website, you have a use for webhooks! At Nudgify, we made an effort to make it easy and code-free for anyone to use the power of webhooks in their favour!
If you have never worked with webhooks before, the Nudgify Smart Webhooks feature is a great place to start. Create an account (start for free for 7 days, no credit card required) and set up your first Smart Webhook to create powerful Social Proof for you site today!
