New API Connection Feature Added to Thrive Leads!

Author 
Shane Melaugh   240

Updated on February 15, 2021

Thrive Leads has been updated with a major new piece of functionality, that opens up many new possibilities. Here's a first look at the new API connections feature.

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When you update Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Leads to the latest version, you'll see a new way to integrate with your favorite online marketing services in the "API Connections" feature.

Up until now, you could connect to autoresponder services by pasting the HTML code of signup forms generated within those services. That's still possible, but we've now also added the option to connect via API, to these services (click the links to see the setup tutorials):

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign

Integration with ActiveCampaign email marketing
View tutorial
Amazon SES

Amazon SES

Affordable email delivery by Amazon
View tutorial
AWeber

AWeber

Integration with AWeber email marketing
View tutorial
Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor

Integrate with Campaign Monitor for email marketing & email delivery.
View tutorial
Constant Contact

Constant Contact

Integration with Constant Contact email marketing
View tutorial
ConvertKit

ConvertKit

Integration with ConvertKit email marketing
View tutorial
Drip

Drip

Integration with Drip email marketing
View tutorial
Dropbox

Dropbox

Set up an API Connection with Dropbox
View tutorial
Everwebinar

Everwebinar

Integration with Everwebinar, an online tool for webinars
View tutorial
Facebook

Facebook

Integration with the "Facebook for Developers" page
View tutorial
FluentCRM

FluentCRM

Integration with FluentCRM email marketing
View tutorial
GetResponse

GetResponse

Integration with GetResponse email marketing
View tutorial
Google

Google

Set up an API Connection with a Google Account
View tutorial
Google Drive

Google Drive

Set up an API Connection with Google Drive
View tutorial
GoToWebinar

GoToWebinar

Add new registrants to GoToWebinar events
View tutorial
HubSpot

HubSpot

Integration with HubSpot email marketing
View tutorial
iContact

iContact

Integration with iContact email marketing
View tutorial
Keap (Infusionsoft)

Keap (Infusionsoft)

API Integration with Keap(Infusionsoft)
View tutorial
KlickTipp

KlickTipp

Integration with KlickTipp email marketing
View tutorial
MadMimi

MadMimi

Integration with MadMimi email marketing
View tutorial
Mailchimp

Mailchimp

Integration with Mailchimp email marketing
View tutorial
MailerLite

MailerLite

Integrate with MailerLite email marketing
View tutorial
MailGun

MailGun

Send transactional emails through MailGun
View tutorial
MailPoet

MailPoet

Integration with the MailPoet autoresponder plugin
View tutorial
MailRelay

MailRelay

Integration with the MailRelay autoresponder
View tutorial
Mandrill

Mandrill

Use Mandrill for transactional emails
View tutorial
Ontraport

Ontraport

Integration with Ontraport email marketing
View tutorial
Postmark

Postmark

Use Postmark for transactional emails
View tutorial
reCaptcha

reCaptcha

Prevent spam signups with reCaptcha checks
View tutorial
SendFox

SendFox

Integration with SendFox email marketing
View tutorial
SendGrid

SendGrid

Integration with the SendGrid autoresponder
View tutorial
SendinBlue

SendinBlue

Integration with SendinBlue email marketing & email delivery
View tutorial
SendLane

SendLane

Integration with SendLane email marketing
View tutorial
SendOwl

SendOwl

Integration with SendOwl ecommerce platform
View tutorial
Sendy

Sendy

Integration with Sendy email marketing
View tutorial
SG Autorépondeur

SG Autorépondeur

Integration with SG Autorépondeur email marketing
View tutorial
Slack

Slack

Set up an API Connection with Slack
View tutorial
SparkPost

SparkPost

Get emails to inboxes securely with SparkPost
View tutorial
Twitter

Twitter

Set up an API Connection with a Twitter Account
View tutorial
WebinarJam Studio

WebinarJam Studio

Add new registrants to WebinarJam Studio events
View tutorial
WordPress Users

WordPress Users

Register WordPress user accounts for new leads
View tutorial
Zapier

Zapier

Integration with Zapier, an online tool for connecting various apps
View tutorial
Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Campaigns

Integration with Zoho email marketing
View tutorial

Plus, with the API connection, we've been able to new services and options that weren't accessible through the HTML form method:

Why API Connections?

For most autoresponders and email marketing services, the HTML form method of integration worked without issues (and still does), so why did we add these API connections?

There are a few advantages, some of which will become clear with future feature releases. One advantage is, of course, that the feature enables connections to new services like GoToWebinar and MailPoet.

In the case of GoToWebinar, you'll usually want to sign up new leads to a webinar event and a mailing list at the same time - something that can now easily be done thanks to the API feature.

In some cases, setting a custom Thank-You page to show to new leads after they sign up is quite complicated or even impossible (looking at you, MailChimp). That's where another advantage comes in: when using an API connection, you can set a custom thank you page that overrides whatever is set in your autoresponder service.

Finally, there's a convenience factor: you no longer have to find and copy HTML forms whenever you create a new opt-in form on your site. Once connected to a service, any future form integrations you create are much quicker and easier and you don't have to leave your WordPress admin interface to do it.

Check out the links above to see tutorials for the services you want to integrate with and let us know your thoughts about this new addition by leaving a comment below!

Shane

by Shane Melaugh  May 20, 2015

240

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Leave a Comment

  • Hi Shane,that’s a great update especially custom thank you page feature.
    I also noticed content lock short code element and its integration with api auto responder.
    You haven’t explained about it.

    • Hi John,

      Okay, noted. If there’s enough demand for it, we’ll add it in a future update.

    • We too, would like to vote for a Sendy API addition. Sendy is a script interface to Amazon SES. We are just beginning with Sendy and Amazon SES, but it is supposed to be a highly reliable and cheap email service. It is usable with all of our brands and/or also can resell access to the services provided.

      I do not mean to insult, but Thrive always releases some amazing shiny objects. The difference between Thrive and the competition is that EVERYTHING conceived within the Thrive organism is CONVERSION-FOCUSED, exactly what we needed, a melding of design plus marketing, allowing us to Thrive in the marketplace.

      Let’s hope that your competition continues their long naps.

      Please consider the request. Be Safe.

    • Infusionsoft integration is coming very soon. They have a really awful API, from what I understand. But we’re hard at work wrestling it into submission.

    • Grazie per il tuo commento! Ho provato Google Translate, ma non ha aiutato a capire completamente la tua domanda. Scusi.

  • This is pure awesomeness guys! I recently got Thrive Themes and was developing a site and then unfortunately found out there was no Mailpoet integration. Now there is, this is so great!!

    • Thanks for your comment, Michiel! Looks like the new feature came right in time for you. 🙂

  • Thank goodness! I prefer using the api instead of having to copy and paste the code all the time. Great job!

  • excellent. just updated today. Any chance of including 1shoppingcart and GVO? I use both as my AR service for different businesses.

    I am frustrated that the html code from 1shop is not responsive. I’d like to integrate with Thrive so it all looks consistent. Thanks!

    • Hi Harvey,

      If there’s enough demand, we’ll add integrations for new platforms in future updates.

  • Would love to see constant contact added. I don’t really care for their platform, but I work with quite a few small businesses that use CC and would like to add TL to their sites.

    • Thanks for your comment, Matt! If there are enough requests, we’ll add it in a future update.

    • Infusionsoft is coming very soon. They don’t make it easy to create an integration, so it’s taking a bit longer than the others.

    • Hi Lucy,

      As a non-programmer, the way I understand it is that an API is basically something that makes it easy for different applications to “talk to” each other. APIs are made specifically to make different software products work together in various ways.

      • I thought you were a programmer. Surprise, surprise. 🙂

        Great update, btw. LOVE IT! 🙂

        Just curious: what do you in your company? 🙂

      • Oh, I don’t work here, I’m just the mascot. 😛

        Just kidding, of course. I’m in charge of marketing and content and some management and whatever else needs doing, that isn’t related to programming.

  • Shane, excellent additions and as always- ahead of the curve. With this new feature and the announcement that Automattic has acquired WooCommerce, I am anticipating some very exciting times ahead. Keep up the #awesomeness!

  • Hi Shane,
    Great new features, but please don’t ever stop using the html option. We use Instant Customer for all auto-responders (and a lot more) and it’s always overlooked when it comes to integration.

    Thrive Leads is the ONLY WP plugin I’ve been able to find where it integrates seemlessly without us having to mess with the code. This has been a god send to getting stuff implemented quickly and with no technical input so I’ve become very attached to it!

    We now won’t use anything else except a Thrive Theme and your plugins on any WP site we create. They just plain work and are so easy to use.

    Keep up the great work!

    • Hi Simon,

      The HTML integration isn’t going anywhere, don’t worry. Integrating via HTML forms works great in many cases and while API connections have their advantages, there are also some things that are more easily done with the HTML form method. So we are definitely going to keep both options, going forward.

  • Beyond Awesome. When I saw this feature in thrive leads yesterday I was looking for a place to say how pleased I was–glad you sent this email.
    Kudos–this is a game changer–I was having small issues and now it not only works easier but dare I say slightly faster.

    Now I hear a custom thank you page is an option..even better.

  • Great work. Thanks for that. it’s more easy to work with MailChimp and bring more possibilities.

    • This is the first request for it so far, but if more people request it, we’ll look into integrating with that as well.

  • Will this api and leads functionality be retrofitted into the thrive themes focus groups? I find myself wanting to do ab testing there as well.

    • That’s part of the long-term plan, yes. It will take a while before this becomes a reality, though.

    • Hi Bert,

      Please click the links for the services you want to integrate with to see short videos that show how to use them. 🙂

  • Darn Shane, just left Mailchimp for not being able to use a custom page. Changed to Freshmail -which is really powerful and user friendly- for this and other reasons. Not many paople know Freshmail but I hope you will get more requests 🙂
    Perfect evolution of your plugins. Chapeau!

      • Hi Shane,

        Im looking actually around for the best newsletter system for my needs and also checking Freshmail, which seems impressive. But I bought Thrive leads, so My question is: it is compatible with thrive leads, trough API, or any other way to connect each other (HTML signup)? Thanks for your help!

      • We don’t have an API integration with Freshmail, but it will work with the HTML integration method.

  • Shane, I think I am a leeetle (just a leetle) bit in love with you! Every turn around there is a super cool email from you with a great new feature. I am new at this website game, but you make it like Christmas, every two weeks. Thanks! Now I just have to use it. 🙂

    • Thank you, Kristen, but you give me too much credit. I’m just the messenger for all the cool stuff our developers keep creating. 🙂

    • Hi Vladimir,

      New integrations will be added based on demand. Of course, integrations with hundreds of services still work using the HTML form integration method. But if we get enough requests for a new service such as MadMimi, we will add API support for it in future updates.

  • That’s awesome 🙂 I checked the MailChimp video and could tell if the new feature allows/pickups hidden fields/groups for a form instance.

    • Hi Simon,

      Hidden fields are supported with the HTML integration method. For the API connection, the available fields are name, email and phone number.

      • Hi Shane,
        What’s the reason that for the API connection only name, email and phone number are supported? Why not all fields in the form? Is that gonna change in future?

      • Hello David,

        The more fields we want to support, the more complicated, time consuming and error-prone each integration becomes. We could support more fields and we could support many more services via API for that matter, but it would be at the cost of countless other features and plugins that wouldn’t be released because of it.

        The fields and services we support in the current version cover 90% or more of all use cases in our customer base, so that’s where we drew the line. One of the things we have to do at Thrive Themes is constantly evaluate how we’re spending out resource. Our goal is to serve as many people as possible in the best way possible. As an example, we could either create an API integration that supports a dozen different field types for some relatively exotic service or we could use the same time and resource to create a new feature like the content lock we recently added. The API integration might benefit a few dozen people in a small way. The new feature, on the other hand, can benefit thousands of customers in a big way. In a situation like this, we always try to make the choice that brings more benefit to more people.

      • Hello Shane,

        Thank you for the information – it should be added to your Thrive Leads FAQ, if you ask me.

        I can see that this feature hasn’t been yet implemented.. Are there any plans to do so in the near future?
        Thank you in advance!

        Kind Regards,
        John

      • Hi Shane,
        are the Hidden fields still supported in Thrive Leads?

        I’m already a Thrive Leads user and I’d like to know how to setup the HTML integration within my forms…
        Who can I ask to?

        Thank you in advance
        Matteo

  • We’re a webinarjam user as well so looking forward to that one getting added to the horribly overpriced Gotowebinar option.
    Plus agree with the Active Campaign shout-out, great to see this included 🙂

  • So I’m an Ontraport user and sign up to Thrive Themes yesterday wondering how (but assuming ‘it’s all good’) I’m going to integrate. Then pow, this happens! Yes! Thanks guys, I’m stoked.

  • Truly great job… The redirect to URL is amazing and opens up a ton of opportunity! Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but a couple of simple enhancement seem well within reach. 1) Would be great to be able to redirect to a state as well as a page. 2) In MailPoet, the ability to subscribe a user to multiple lists is something that is supported by a few other Plug-In integrations using Check boxes as opposed to the drop down. Again, would be a great addition to an amazing step forward. Thanks!

    • Hi Donovan,

      You can subscribe a user to multiple different services at the same time, but not multiple lists in the same service. To do that, you should use automation rules within the service itself.

      • Hi Shane, was the ability to redirect to a state on optin ever added? I don’t want my subscribers to leave the page, I just want them to see a confirmation message that the requested ebook/video etc has been sent. I don’t see where or how to do it but hoping that functionality exists 🙂

        Thanks!

      • Hello Dawn,

        This is a feature that we are currently building. Stay tuned for updates coming soon!

  • Thanks for your commitment to ongoing development, Shane, Paul and the whole gang. My request is for SendReach API integration.

  • I am afraid the Mail Poet integration is not really helpful at all. There is no integration with the error messages or the other confirmation messages that Mail Poet uses when it confirms. I have had to switch back to the old HTML method which works.

    • Hello Gordon,

      Please post details about this in the support forum, so we can take a closer look.

  • Shane, What Thrive Leads footer post template are you using for your footer on this site?

    I love the flat design buttons and don’t see them as an option on the lead generation module 🙂

  • Awesome addition, thank you!

    One question though… will the API feature work if you have an iContact MCC or Agency Account? We have all of our clients managed on iContact Agency account and know that in the past we had issues trying to connect the API.

    I will be testing it of course, but thought I would just ask first to see if there were any limitations.

    • Hi Chris,

      I don’t know the answer to this question, unfortunately. What I can tell you is that we simply built an API integration with a basic iContact account in mind. If the MCC or Agency thing requires something beyond that, then it won’t work. But if this API was well built on iContact’s side, I’d say it should work no matter what type of account you have.

  • Hi Shane,

    Can you consider in the future to implement facebook connect in both simple and 2 step otin forms? This will provide more accurate reliable leads.

    • Hello Diogo,

      We have no plans to add this, no. Our previous lead generation product, Hybrid Connect, was based on the Facebook connect opt-in. We saw that over time, this method of adding leads became less and less effective. It seems that most people don’t like using their FB account to sign up for something, so we opted to not add this feature in Thrive Leads.

    • Hello Klaus,

      We have no plans for it yet. If there is a lot of demand for it, we’ll consider it, of course.

      • For Germany an the new gdpr rules cleverreach ist the only way to go, if you want to be on the safe side. So…high demand for it for german users…

    • Thanks for your comment, Cory! I’ve noted the request for this integration. If we see enough demand for it, we’ll take it into consideration.

  • Shane, since you’re working on integration with Infusionsoft, perhaps look at Mautic.org too. Their new open-source marketing automation software will disrupt the world of marketing automation.

  • hi Shane, it sounds great, but… I´m from Germany and I use klicktipp.com
    Can I get some API-stuff like these for klicktipp? thx!

  • Hi Shane, The Netherlands calling here : -)

    Very happy with this new feature indeed! Thanks a lot. Will it be possible in the near future to add groups to the MailChimp API?

    Kind regards
    Thijs

    • Thanks for your comment, Thijs!

      We’ll treat this request like any other: if there’s enough demand for this added functionality in the MailChimp connection, we’ll consider implementing it.

  • I just love all your plugins. TCB and Leads are the like a perfect couple 🙂
    I’m so happy to see the API connectors coming in. While the HTML responders were easy to use, I think the API is a better and clean way.

    I just hope that the Sendy API gets integrated soon, this way I will get rid of mailchimp for good 🙂

  • Hi Shane,I think there’s a problem going on between active campaign and thrive leads.when i submit my email through the default AC optin form.The confirmation email is triggered.but if i submit through thrive leads the confirmation email is not triggered but the email is added to the list.

  • Thanks Shane for good work.
    I am voting for Fluttermail API. I was introduced to Thrive products by someone from this autoresponder service. I use Fluttermail. My vote please.

    • I also use Fluttermail, and am sad that there is no API integration for them yet =(

      Please can we have this API up soonest, and show us how to do it the HTML way interim?

  • When adding a lead to Infusionsoft, it’s useful to have a FirstName and LastName field rather than a single Name field. I’ve found that if I use a service that only allows a Name field, that many contact records get messed up since some people put in “John” and some “John Smith” and then we have contact records with inconsistent info, including some existing records that get updated (by an extra opt-in) to be “John Smith Smith” (because they already had a LastName, and now the Name field supplies the full name into the FirstName field in Infusionsoft).

    If possible, please add at least this option to your API – the ability to have separate FirstName and LastName fields rather than ONLY a Name field option.

  • Shane,
    Thank your for all the good work until now.
    I use mailchimp. Will it be possible to populate hidden fields by using the app method? I hate that ugly error message when a user try to subscribe to a old list.

    • Hi Julian,

      We don’t have plans for adding features like this through the API connection. The reason is that there are many different additional options for different autoresponders and different sets of them are or are not available through the API. The further we go into that area, the more development hours we need to pour into solutions that will only be used by a very small portion of users. And time we invest in something like this means time that we DON’T get to invest into things like new features, new plugins, new themes etc.

  • Hi Shane, i’m a big fan of your products! Wish it integrated with Mymail newsletter plugin…. Any plans to add this?