Automate Zalo and Facebook Reporting into Google Sheets

The Pain of Manual Data Collection

It’s 8:00 AM on a Monday, and your Marketing staff is staring at three different browser tabs. They spend over an hour and a half just downloading files, copying, and pasting cost figures from Facebook Ads and Zalo ZCA into a master report. That time should have been spent brainstorming ways to optimize new campaigns.

Manual reporting is not just a waste of time; it’s also prone to data discrepancies. When running multi-channel campaigns, Facebook and Zalo each have their own measurement methods. Downloading CSV files from each platform and merging them by hand is a tedious, repetitive process. Business owners need real-time data to make immediate decisions, not wait until the weekend for a report to be updated.

Just as businesses are now setting up systems for AI to read and classify 500 invoices and contracts per month instead of manual entry, the Marketing report aggregation process needs to be fully automated in the same way.

How the Automation Workflow Works

Instead of humans interacting with web interfaces, we use the official Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of the platforms. Facebook provides the Graph API, while Zalo offers the Zalo for Business API.

The system runs in the background according to a schedule you set. Every day at midnight, the automation tool sends a request to Facebook and Zalo servers. The returned data includes all key metrics such as impressions, clicks, and spend.

Data Processing and Standardization

Raw data from these two advertising platforms is never identical. Facebook might call costs “spend,” while Zalo uses a different term. The automation workflow acts as an intermediary filter here. It merges corresponding data columns and converts currency formats into a single, unified standard.

This cleaning process requires high precision. If the returned data is corrupted or missing fields due to API changes, the system needs an alert mechanism for the administrator. You can learn more about handling data mismatches in the analysis Confidence Low Mistakes: When should you not trust AI? to ensure a stable workflow.

Pushing Data to Google Sheets

Once cleaned, the data is automatically appended to the next empty rows in your Google Sheets file. At this point, the spreadsheet simply acts as a storage database. The charts and dashboards you’ve set up in Google Sheets or Looker Studio will instantly update with the latest figures.

Practical Setup Steps for Businesses

Businesses don’t necessarily need to hire an expensive development team to do this. You can build it yourself using popular no-code automation platforms like Make or Zapier.

1. Create developer accounts on Facebook for Developers and Zalo Developers to obtain Access Tokens.
2. Create a new scenario on the Make platform. Select a timer trigger to run daily at 1:00 AM.
3. Connect the Facebook Insights and Zalo API modules to the scenario. Configure them to fetch yesterday’s metrics.
4. Add a Google Sheets module. Select the “Add a Row” action and map the retrieved data to the correct columns (Date, Campaign Name, Cost, Clicks).
5. Run a test of the workflow and verify if the spreadsheet figures match the original ad managers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Zalo and Facebook APIs free to use?

Accessing APIs for basic performance reporting is free from the platform side. However, intermediary tools like Make or Zapier will charge a monthly subscription fee based on the number of automated tasks you execute.

Is there a delay in the updated data?

There is always a certain latency in data recording. Typically, ad platforms take a few hours to finalize accurate data after a click occurs. Therefore, the ideal automation schedule is to set the workflow to run in the early morning to capture the previous day’s finalized data.

What if I change my ad account password?

Connection tokens may be invalidated when you change your password or update administrator permissions. In such cases, the automation workflow will report an error, and you simply need to go into Make or Zapier to re-authenticate the account.

Conclusion

Data only truly creates value when you use it to make business decisions. Forcing staff to sit glued to a screen re-typing numbers is both a waste of salary and a killer of creativity. When your dashboard updates smoothly every morning, you’ll find the Marketing team has more time to analyze customer behavior and launch campaigns that drive actual revenue. Machines were built for routine tasks—free your people to focus on strategic thinking.