Groundhogg is a powerful marketing automation and CRM plugin for WordPress, designed to help businesses streamline their email marketing, lead management, and customer engagement. By integrating directly into WordPress, Groundhogg eliminates the need for third-party SaaS platforms, giving users full control over their data while automating tasks like email sequences, sales funnels, and customer follow-ups. With a user-friendly interface and deep integration capabilities, it enables small businesses, agencies, and membership sites to create personalized marketing campaigns that drive conversions and nurture customer relationships, all without leaving their WordPress dashboard.
In this article, we’ll look at how to create Groundhogg contacts and develop funnels that are triggered by form submissions when using WS Form.
Installation
You’re going to need to install and activate the following plugins:
This allows Groundhogg to use forms built with WS Form to create contacts and funnels in Groundhogg.
Now that the required add-ons are installed and activated, it’s time to create a form.
Add a WS Form
First, you’ll need to create a form to use with Groundhogg. This includes settings for the action. Once you’ve completed your settings, save and publish your form.
Go to WS Form > Add Form in the WordPress dashboard menu. You’ll see a new tab called Groundhogg. You’ll see two demo templates and a blank template. The first demo template is Add Contact. This is a simple contact form. The second is Add Contact Advanced. This expands on the basic form with personal and company information. Choose a template. I’m using the basic form.
Next, select Actions, the lightning bolt in the upper right. You’ll see a new Action called Add to Groundhogg. Click the gear to edit the Groundhogg Action. This opens the options to set up your form for use with Groundhogg.
The Action will show that it will be added to Groundhogg. You can choose when the action runs. The default is on form submission. Open the Opt-in Field dropdown box and select Terms. This provides a checkbox on the form. If this field isn’t checked, the contact won’t be pushed to Groundhogg. Under Opt-in Status, choose Confirmed. Field Mapping is automatically done with the template. You can customize this if you need to.
Custom Mapping includes lots of fields. You can add custom values or variables. You can choose the Owner (the user that owns the record). This allows you to assign the form to a salesperson, or similar. Add Tags and Notes with WS Form variables, Attachment Mapping, and Custom Meta.
The tags and notes can help identify the form they used, the page, etc. Notes and Meta can include custom variables. I’ve used #blog_name for Notes and custom_key and custom_value for Custom Meta variables. We’ll see these values later.
WS Form Tracking
Go to Form Settings in the upper left of the form. Select the Tracking tab, and check the tracking elements you want to include, such as name, city, etc. This is the data that’s sent to Groundhogg to build the contact.
Groundhogg Contacts
Once you’ve published the form and placed it on a page, the data it receives will appear within Groundhogg. Go to Groundhogg in the dashboard menu and select Contacts. This lists all the contacts that have been submitted through the form.
Select the contact to open the editor. This shows all of the data that’s added by WS Form’s tracking. All of the fields that you’ve enabled for tracking will appear here, including their name and contact information. The tags you’ve added to the form are placed under the contact information. The notes you’ve added to the form are placed within the Notes tab. Any files that have been uploaded will appear in the Files tab.
At the bottom left under the More tab is Meta. Here, you’ll find the custom variables you’ve entered for the form.
Groundhogg Funnel System
The funnel system creates a series of steps to perform. It works like an IF/THEN automation. You can do things such as wait for one day before sending an email, if they click on something then apply a tag or add a note, etc. This is a powerful system that lets you create custom funnels.
Create a Groundhogg Funnel
To create a funnel, go to Groundhogg > Funnels in the WordPress dashboard. Select Add New in the upper right corner.
This opens a screen where you can choose a template, import a funnel, or add a new funnel. We’ll create a new funnel from scratch. Click Start from Scratch.
This opens a screen where you can build the funnel by dragging and dropping the elements in the order you want to use them.
First, select the Benchmarks tab. A benchmark is something that occurs when starting the funnel. Next, drag WS Form Pro to the first step in the upper left under “Start the funnel when…” This tells the funnel to start the benchmark with WS Form, but you’ll need to tell the funnel what to do.
Secondly, click on WS Form in the first step to see the options. You’ll create an IF/THEN statement for the form. Choose the Contact Form you want to use and then choose the Mode you want to use.
Thirdly, click Add Step > Actions and choose what you want to happen when the mode is selected for the form you chose. Drag the action to the second step under the WS Form. I’m using Send Email.
Fourthly, select the second step to open its options. Select to search for an email. Under email settings, choose no threading. Add as many steps as you’d like using the benchmarks and actions to create your funnel.
Finally, when you’ve finished, provide a name for your funnel in the upper left corner. Select the red Inactive button in the upper right corner to make it Active. It will turn green. Click Update to save your funnel. It’s now ready to use.
The list shows contacts in your funnels. You can view, edit, or deactivate them.
Ending Thoughts on Using Groundhogg with WS Form
Groundhogg is an excellent way to capture contacts and build funnels with WS Form. Both are powerful marketing tools and work seamlessly with WS Form. If you’re interested in building contacts and funnels with WS Form Pro, the Groundhogg addon is an easy addon to recommend.
We want to hear from you. Have you tried the Groundhogg addon for WS Form? Let us know in the comments.
