Make.com Tutorial: Build Your First Scenario

What you will build

The same automation as our Zapier tutorial, built in Make: every new Google Forms response is added to a Google Sheet, and a Slack message is sent. Building the same thing in both tools is the fastest way to feel the difference.

You will need a free Make account, a Google Form, a Google Sheet with a header row (Name, Email, Message, Submitted at) and optionally Slack.

Step 1: Create a scenario

1. In Make, click Create a new scenario.
2. You will see an empty canvas with a large + button. That button is your trigger.

Step 2: Add the trigger module

1. Click + and search for Google Forms.
2. Choose Watch Responses.
3. Create a connection to your Google account.
4. Select the form.
5. When asked where to start, choose From now on for a clean test, or All to process existing responses.

Step 3: Add Google Sheets

1. Hover over the right side of the trigger module and click the small + to add the next module.
2. Choose Google Sheets → Add a Row.
3. Select the spreadsheet and sheet, and confirm the table has headers.
4. Map each column by clicking into the field and choosing values from the trigger's output panel (they appear as coloured tokens like 1. Name).

Step 4: Add Slack

1. Add another module after Google Sheets: Slack → Create a Message.
2. Choose the channel and write: New lead: {{1.Name}} ({{1.Email}}).

Step 5: Add a filter (optional)

Click the line between Google Sheets and Slack and choose Set up a filter. Example: condition 1.Email Does not contain test. Bundles that fail the filter stop there and do not use credits for Slack.

Step 6: Test with Run once

1. Click Run once at the bottom left.
2. Submit a test response to your form.
3. Watch the bubbles above each module: they show how many bundles passed and let you inspect the data.

Step 7: Schedule and activate

1. Click the clock icon on the trigger to set how often Make checks for new responses (every 15 minutes on Free, down to 1 minute on paid plans).
2. Switch the scenario ON and click Save.

How many credits will this use?

Every scheduled check that finds data counts the trigger plus each module that runs. One response = about 3 credits (trigger, Sheets, Slack). 100 responses a month = roughly 300 credits, well inside the Free plan's 1,000.

Common problems

Problem	Fix
Trigger returns nothing	Submit a new response after clicking Run once
Fields not showing	Re-run the trigger once so Make learns the data structure
Scenario switched off	Make disables scenarios after repeated errors; check the history and fix the failing module
Too many credits	Increase the schedule interval or add filters earlier

Next steps

• Compare with the Zapier tutorial.
• Learn the vocabulary: automation glossary.
• See what Make.com is for routers, iterators and error handling.