Getting Started with SurveyMonkey Automations
Certifier Automations is a simple 2-step “trigger → action” system that issues credentials the moment your data arrives.
With SurveyMonkey, you can instantly turn responses into credentials using our Sheets-Powered Automations.
How Sheets-Powered Automations Work
Sheets-powered automations use a connected spreadsheet as a universal bridge between your data collection tools and Certifier. Here’s how it works for SurveyMonkey:
SurveyMonkey → Google Sheets: Each new form response creates a row in the connected sheet.
Google Sheets → Certifier: Certifier monitors the sheet and automatically issues a credential for every new row.
That’s it! In just a few quick steps, your SurveyMonkey responses start generating credentials on autopilot.
⚠️ Important: SurveyMonkey requires a subscription to be integrated with other apps.
Before You Begin: Prepare Your Survey
To get started quickly, create a new survey with 2 required questions:
Recipient Name: stores your recipients' full names.
Recipient Email: stores your recipients' email addresses.
⚠️ Important: Regardless of your workflow, we recommend starting with an empty survey. Only share the survey with actual recipients after activating the Automation.
If your survey already has some responses, they will be processed, and credentials will be issued as soon as you activate the Automation. To prevent this, you will have to clear the existing responses in the connected spreadsheet before activating the Automation.
Step-by-Step Setup
This guide walks you through setting up your first SurveyMonkey automation via Google Sheets. Let's get started!
Step 1. Connect SurveyMonkey to Google Sheets
Enter your survey and go to the Connect Apps section. Then, find the Google Sheets integration and click on Create new sheet.
Connect your Google Account via OAuth: Press the Connect button, and complete login via secure OAuth – click on Continue and Allow.
Configure the integration: Enter a name for your new sheet in the Spreadsheet Name field. Then, manage the conditions for your integration:
Choose the data to include: Click on Include survey data to choose the questions, answers, and metadata you want to send to the sheet.
Filter the responses: Select Target specific responses to specify which responses will trigger this quick action. By default, all responses will be sent to a spreadsheet.
Once you’re ready, press the Activate button.
Before moving forward, make sure you have all the data you need for your credentials.
💡 Tip: Submit a testing response with the Recipient Name and Recipient Email headers for SurveyMonkey to "activate" your sheet.
This row will trigger one “Failed” run in Automation Runs because there’s no valid email. This is expected and harmless.
To double-check your connected sheet, navigate to your Google Workspace – Sheets.
If everything looks fine, you're ready to automate! 🥳
Step 2. Create Your Automation
Go to Automations → + Create Automation.
Select the SurveyMonkey template.
Press Use Template → Connect via Google Sheets.
Step 3. Configure the Trigger
Open the Trigger Configuration
To get started, click on the Trigger. The setup will be preconfigured for you – you'll just need to press Continue to move to Configuration.
Configure the New Row Added Trigger
Connect your Google Account via OAuth: Press the Connect Google Sheets button, and complete login via secure OAuth – click on Continue and Allow.
Once you do that, your account will appear as selected. If you need to use a different account, just unfold the options and select or connect another one:
Select the Spreadsheet and the Worksheet: Click on the fields below Spreadsheet ID and Worksheet IDs, and choose the spreadsheet and sheet you created in SurveyMonkey Integration.
Optional Props: If you see any optional properties, do not configure them, as this could break the automation.
Once you're ready, press Submit. And that's it! Your Trigger is set up 🤓
Step 4. Configure the Action
Open the Action Configuration
Click on the Action. The setup options are automatically selected, so just press Continue to move to Configuration.
Configure the Issue Credential Action
The final step involves mapping the data and configuring how you want to issue your credentials.
Group: Select the group to which you want to issue credentials. Click on the field to expand it, then choose the group's name from the list.
💡 Tip: To map a field to a column in your spreadsheet, type {{ into the input box and select the matching column name from the list.
For example:
Recipient Name →
{{Column A}}(if Column A contains names)Recipient Email →
{{Column B}}(if Column B contains emails)
Repeat this for any additional custom attributes you’ve set up.
Recipient Name: Map to the column that stores the recipients’ full names.
💡 Tip: If first and last names are in separate columns, combine them in the Recipient Name field by adding a space between the two columns.
Example: {{Column A}} {{Column B}} (if Column A contains the first name and Column B contains the last name)
Recipient Email: Map to the column that stores the recipients' emails.
Issue Credential: Choose whether you want your credentials to be automatically issued when your automation is triggered (True) or if you prefer to save credentials as a draft and publish them manually from the Certifier dashboard (False).
💡 Tip: If you want to test an automation before making it live, set Send Credential to False. This will create credentials as drafts only – nothing will be sent to recipients. Once you’ve confirmed the workflow works as expected, recreate the automation with Send Credential set to True to send them out.
Send Credential: Choose whether you want your credentials to be automatically emailed to the recipient once issued (True) or not (False).
Custom attributes (optional): If you see additional fields, these are custom attributes available on your account (for example, course name, speaker name, etc.).
To use them in the automation, map each one to the corresponding column in Google Sheet – just like you did with Recipient Name and Recipient Email.
⚠️ Important: Certifier tracks the column position you mapped (e.g., {{Column A}}, {{Column B}}), not the header name you gave it (e.g., Recipient Name, Recipient Email).
After activating your automation, do not reorder columns or insert new ones in between – this will break the mapping and cause the automation to fail.
Once you're happy with everything, press Submit.
Step 5. Finalize & Activate
Now, there's just one more step – you'll need to:
Click Save & Activate.
Give your automation a clear name (e.g., “Conference Invites from SurveyMonkey via Sheets”) and press Next.
💡 Tip: Give your automation a clear name (e.g., include your group name) so you can easily spot it – especially if you're planning to connect multiple spreadsheets. Don’t worry, you can rename it anytime after activation.
You’ll see a confirmation warning saying that if there are any records in your spreadsheet, Certifier will use them for credential issuance upon activation. Check the box and click Confirm & Automate to proceed.
And that's it! Once you choose to activate it, your new automation will be live. 🥳
⚠️ Important: Once your automation is active, it can’t be edited.
If you need to change anything – such as re-mapping columns, adding new custom attributes, or updating your credential settings – you’ll need to delete the automation and create a new one from scratch.
What It Looks Like in Practice
You receive a new response in SurveyMonkey.
A new row appears in the connected sheet.
Within a few minutes, Certifier issues the credential and marks the row as “Processed.”
Your recipient receives their credential.
Critical Rules After Activation
Once your automation is active, these rules are essential to prevent errors, duplicates, and broken setups. Read each one carefully.
Rule 1: Existing Rows Will Be Processed Immediately
If your linked sheet already has rows when you activate the automation, Certifier will process them immediately and count against your usage.
💡 Tip: The header row will trigger one “Failed” run in Automation Runs because there’s no valid email. This is expected and harmless.
Rule 2: Don’t Rename the File or Tabs
Renaming the file or any tab will break the automation – Certifier looks for the exact names you selected during setup.
Rule 3: Don’t Reorder Sheet Tabs
Moving sheets into a different order will cause Certifier to lose its connection to the correct tab.
Rule 4: Don’t Rearrange Questions or Columns
Each column in your Sheet matches a question from your SurveyMonkey survey. Certifier tracks these columns by letter (A, B, C…). Rearranging questions in the Survey will change the order of columns in the connected sheet and cause automation errors.
The same will happen if you manually move columns around in the sheet. Changing the order will break the mapping and stop the automation from working.
Rule 5: Be Careful with Processed Rows
Certifier always starts from the next unprocessed row. This leads to several pitfalls:
Inserting above processed rows → duplicates: If you’ve already processed rows 1–5 and then insert a new row anywhere above row 6, your original row 5 shifts into row 6. Certifier sees row 6 as “next” and issues a duplicate for that person, while your new entry stays unprocessed.
Deleting and re-adding in the same positions → skipped: If you delete rows 1–5 (all processed) and paste new entries into positions 1–5, nothing happens. Certifier is still waiting for row 6, so your new rows won’t trigger.
Rule 6: Always Include Name & Email
Each row needs a valid Recipient Name and Recipient Email. Rows missing either – or with improperly formatted emails – will be skipped.
Rule 7: Allow Processing Time
Allow 3–5 minutes for each row to process. Re-adding or moving rows while processing is underway can cause conflicts or duplicates.
Rule 8: Don’t Edit Processed Rows
Any edits to already-processed rows will be ignored. To correct data, update credentials in the Certifier dashboard.
Keep that in mind and enjoy the automated workflow! 👑
Need more help?
If you still have some questions, do not hesitate to contact us via the chat icon or email us directly: [email protected].