Welcome to our lesson on Google Sheets integration! Google Sheets is one of the most popular destinations for Clay data because it's collaborative, familiar, and perfect for analysis and reporting.

Unlike CSV export, which creates a one-time file transfer, Google Sheets integration creates a live connection between Clay and your spreadsheets, allowing for real-time data synchronization.

In this lesson, we'll show you how to connect Clay to Google Sheets and use the different actions available to add, update, and manage your data.

Note: You'll need Clay's Starter plan ($149/month minimum) to use the Google Sheets integration. It's not accessible on the free plan.

🛠️ Three Main Actions for Google Sheets

Clay offers three main actions for Google Sheets:

• Add Row lets you insert new data into your Google Sheets. This is perfect for building lists or adding new records as they're processed in Clay.
• Lookup Row allows you to check if specific data already exists in your Google Sheets. This is useful for preventing duplicates or conditional processing.
• Lookup, Add, or Update Row provides comprehensive data management—it can check for existing data and either update it or add new records as needed.

INSERT ARCADE

🔗 Connecting Your Accounts

Let's start by connecting your accounts. Here's the step-by-step process:

• Click "Add Enrichment" in your Clay table, then search for "Google Sheets" in the available integrations.
• Click on any Google Sheets action to start the connection process. You'll see an option to "Add Account"—click this and sign into your Google account when prompted.
• After authentication, type a name for your account connection and click "Save." This name will help you identify this connection if you have multiple Google accounts.

You're now connected! The integration will remember your authentication, so you won't need to repeat this process for future Google Sheets actions.

📝 Adding Data to Google Sheets

Next let's walk through adding data to Google Sheets with a practical example:

• First, set up your Google Sheet with the appropriate columns. Create headers that match the data you want to send from Clay—for example, Company Domain, City, and LinkedIn URL.
• In Clay, click "Add Enrichment" and search for "Google Sheets." Select the "Add Row" action.
• Paste your Google Sheets URL into the integration, then select the specific sheet name if your document has multiple sheets.
• Now map your Clay columns to your Google Sheets columns. Type "/" and select the relevant Clay columns that correspond to each Google Sheets column.
• Click "Save" and run the integration. You'll see the data appear in your Google Sheets in real-time.

This creates a live connection—any new rows you process in Clay can automatically be added to your Google Sheets.

🔍 Advanced Data Management

For more advanced data management, you can use the Lookup Row action to check for existing data:

• Set up a Lookup Row action by specifying which column to search and what value to look for. This will return whether a matching row exists in your Google Sheets.
• The Lookup, Add, or Update Row action combines both capabilities. It searches for existing data and either updates the found row or adds a new one if no match exists.
• This is particularly powerful for maintaining synchronized data between Clay and Google Sheets—you can continuously update your spreadsheets without creating duplicates.

Configure the lookup criteria carefully to ensure accurate matching. Usually, you'll want to lookup based on unique identifiers like email addresses or company domains.

🎯 Perfect Use Cases for Google Sheets Integration

Google Sheets integration is perfect for several scenarios:

• Collaborative data analysis and reporting—your team can access and analyze Clay data in a familiar spreadsheet environment.
• Creating dashboards for stakeholders who prefer Google Sheets over Clay's interface.
• Ongoing data synchronization between Clay and other Google Workspace tools.
• Building backup and archival systems that automatically capture your Clay workflows.

The real power comes from the real-time nature of the integration—as your Clay data updates, your Google Sheets stay current automatically.

✅ Conclusion

You now know how to create live connections between Clay and Google Sheets, enabling real-time collaboration and analysis.

Choose Google Sheets integration when you need ongoing synchronization and team collaboration.

Use CSV export when you need simple, one-time data transfers.

In our next lesson, we'll explore CRM integration—the most critical export destination for most sales and marketing teams.

Let's keep your data flowing!

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