How Automation with Apify and Make.com Can Supercharge Small Business Growth

How Automation with Apify and Make.com Can Supercharge Small Business Growth

Last month, a client who, like many small business owners, found themselves stretched thin by having to wear many hats as a small business owner. He wanted a solution to automate lead generation and free up his time for more strategic tasks. After exploring various options, we discovered a powerful combination that transformed his process: Apify and Make.com.

By integrating these two tools, we built an automated system that saved hours of manual work every week, kept his sales and marketing teams stocked with fresh leads, and ensured seamless, personalized follow-up communications. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how we made it work — and how you can use this setup to supercharge growth in your business.

The Problem: Manual, Time-Consuming Lead Generation

Lead generation is critical, but it can also be incredibly time-intensive. Manually gathering contact information from websites, entering it into spreadsheets, and keeping the database updated with accurate information is a recipe for burnout. This was exactly the situation my client faced. He knew he needed more efficient systems to ensure his sales team had a steady flow of leads, but he didn’t have the time or resources for costly enterprise solutions.

This is where Apify and Make.com came into the picture. These tools allowed us to automate the entire lead generation and follow-up process without breaking the bank, giving my client more time to focus on growing his business.

Step 1: Automating Lead Data Collection with Apify

Our first step was to simplify the process of gathering contact information. We used Apify’s Contact Details Scraper Actor, a powerful yet user-friendly tool that collects emails, phone numbers, and social media profiles from any specified list of websites.

Here’s How It Worked:

Choosing the Actor: Apify provides a variety of pre-built “actors” (i.e., automation scripts) for specific tasks, like scraping contact details. We selected the Contact Details Scraper Actor, a free email extractor perfect for pulling relevant information at scale from websites.

1. Configuring the Scraper: I customized the actor to target specific sites and extract data such as emails, phone numbers, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram profiles. This allowed us to gather high-quality leads aligned with my client’s ideal customer profile.
2. Automating Data Download: Once configured, Apify quickly extracted the data and allowed us to download it in multiple formats, including Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML, and XML. This flexibility made it easy to organize and store the data.

In a fraction of the time it would have taken manually, we had a comprehensive, up-to-date list of potential leads that we could now hand off to the sales team.

Step 2: Setting Up Automated Workflows with Make.com

Once we had our lead data, it was time to streamline how it moved through the client’s systems. Instead of relying on a manual data entry process, we used Make.com to automatically route this information where it needed to go. Make.com is a no-code automation platform that allows users to connect multiple tools and create workflows that simplify data handling.

Creating the Workflow:

1. Connecting Apify and HubSpot: The extracted data from Apify is uploaded into the client’s CRM, HubSpot, in real time. Using Make.com, I set up an automation that transferred the data directly from Apify to HubSpot, ensuring the client’s CRM was always populated with fresh leads.
2. Automating Data Entry: With Make.com, the contact details were automatically uploaded to HubSpot’s lead database, saving hours each week that would otherwise be spent on manual data entry.
3. Nurturing Leads with Follow-Up Sequences: We used Make.com to set up automated follow-up workflows in HubSpot. Each new lead triggered a personalized email nurturing flow, ensuring they received relevant, timely communication from the sales team without additional effort.

The result was a seamless workflow, with fresh leads moving automatically from Apify to HubSpot and then into an email nurturing campaign. This not only increased lead quality but also provided prospects with a consistent, professional experience.

Step 3: Reaping the Benefits of a Fully Automated Process

With the automation in place, my client’s business saw immediate results. Here’s a breakdown of the key benefits we achieved by combining Apify and Make.com:

• Time Savings: By eliminating manual lead generation and data entry, the client saved an estimated 10 hours weekly. This freed his team to focus on more strategic work, like engaging with high-value prospects and refining their outreach.
• Improved Accuracy and Consistency: Manual data entry is prone to error, which can disrupt follow-up processes and cause missed opportunities. Automating this process ensured data accuracy and enabled consistent communication with every lead.
• Enhanced Scalability: As the client’s business grew, so did the volume of leads. Thanks to Apify and Make.com, we scale lead generation efforts without the need for additional resources or team members.
• Increased Conversion Potential: Automating email nurturing sequence in HubSpot, leads received relevant follow-up emails right after their information was added to the CRM. This kept the client’s brand top of mind and improved the chances of converting leads into customers.

How You Can Do the Same

This setup is straightforward and can transform your lead generation and marketing operations. Here’s a quick summary of how to get started:

1. Sign Up for Apify and Make.com: Both tools offer user-friendly interfaces and affordable plans, making them accessible for small businesses. You can explore Apify’s free actors like the Contact Details Scraper to start building your lead list.
2. Define Your Target Leads: Identify which sites are most relevant for your audience. With Apify, you can focus on a specific industry, geographical area, or customer type to ensure you’re attracting qualified leads.
3. Automate with Make.com: Connect Apify with Make.com and your CRM. Once data is collected in Apify, Make.com can automatically upload it to your CRM and set up nurturing workflows to reach new leads immediately.
4. Watch Your Efficiency and Productivity Grow: With this system in place, you’ll have a steady, automated lead generation pipeline and the tools to nurture each contact effectively, all while saving time.

Ready to Transform Your Small Business with Automation?

Automating your lead generation and marketing workflows isn’t just for large corporations anymore. With Apify and Make.com, small businesses can access the same powerful tools to save time, reduce errors, and boost growth. If you’re ready to see the difference automation can make, click here to explore Apify and here for Make.com. Start your journey toward a more efficient and scalable business today!

About the Author:

Uko George is a Technical Growth Marketing Specialist and Co-founder of Dilon Innovations. With extensive experience leveraging AI tools to drive efficiency and automate workflows, Uko helps small businesses scale smarter. As a growth marketing expert, He has led strategies that resulted in exponential growth. A mentor and facilitator for global organizations like Meta, Google, and IBM, Uko is passionate about helping businesses harness the power of AI to achieve sustainable growth.

Feel free to connect to learn more about using AI to transform your business!