We’re proud HubSpot Platinum Agency Partners, and not a day goes by where we don’t have a discussion internally or with an existing or prospective client about the platform and how, used properly, it can deliver real results.
In this short blog, I discuss what HubSpot is, why we love it and how it can drive business decisions.
First things first – what is HubSpot?
There are a few myths with HubSpot – some see it as just a CRM, and others see it as just a set of marketing tools. It is both – and more.
HubSpot provides a great growth stack for any business that wants to get under the skin of its customer base or prospects, without feeling uncomfortable or intruding. Not only is it a powerful sales and marketing engine, but it enables even the smallest of businesses to offer a more personalised end-user experience.
HubSpot offers both salespeople and marketers an easy-to-use platform to carry out their everyday tasks, such as, but not limited to the following:
Sales
- Tracking prospects in a robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool
- Outlook and Google Mail add-ons to track opens for prospect emails
- Managing sales, pipeline and forecasting
- Managing sales quotes
- Calendar & Zoom integrations
Marketing
- Email marketing
- Social schedule & advertising
- Building landing pages
- Building websites – through its CRM Hub
- Automated marketing workflows
It’s important to note at this point, not all of the above are included within each of HubSpot’s pricing tiers, and of course, there are dozens more opportunities and products within both the sales and marketing sides of HubSpot than listed. If you’re interested in what you can unlock within each tier, click the relevant HubSpot link here:
HubSpot Sales Hub (includes CRM)
One of the best things about HubSpot? The very basic element – the CRM – is and always will be – free up to 1,000,000 contacts.
What makes HubSpot so good?
On top of the free CRM access up to one million contacts, HubSpot has a range of incredibly useful and effective tools, including:
- Closed-loop reporting – being able to see every interaction that you have with a customer or prospect – from email opens through to website page visits
- Prospects – a free and accessible alternative to the likes of Lead Forensics, allowing CRM owners to see which organisations have visited your site
- Target accounts – enabling you to quickly and easily see the prospects you’re most focused on, as well as a really useful way of listing organisational blockers, influencers and decision makers
- Customisable records – the easiest CRM customisations I’ve come across. With ease and speed, you can create a range of bespoke fields
- Easy to create and maintain automation – intuitive, and easy enough to set up – even for those with little to no experience
- Chatbots – included within their Marketing Starter subscription, offering an effective way to manage basic traffic queries, directing prospects to various sections of your website, or encouraging specific actions, for example, completing a contact form
The closed-loop reporting, available with the Starter packages of HubSpot can really drive the decision-making process. Knowing what customers and prospects engage with at each stage of their buyer journeys, and being able to make decisions based on volumes of data makes the decision-making easier and more accurate. It can feed into a range of activities, including:
- New business targets – based on the “Prospects” tool, where you can identify the businesses that come to your website. Some quick research will give you an idea if they’re a quality business target or not
- Content strategies – based on the pages that visitors are visiting, and the ways people are engaging with chat bots
- A/B testing – HubSpot allows you to pit two landing pages against each other, with analytical data at the end as to which was best at driving converting traffic
- Sales sequencing – enabling you to automate your follow-ups and drive calls to action, without having to manually send an email or pick up the phone
The start-up program
HubSpot offers an incredible discount to businesses eligible for its start-up programme. The programme exists to support growing businesses who have received investment from an approved incubator, accelerator of Venture Capital partner. Eligible businesses who have raised under $2 million are eligible for a 90% discount in year one, with ongoing discounts year on year.
Why we recommend HubSpot
HubSpot, simply, allows the smallest of businesses to take a step up and professionalise and streamline their sales and marketing activities. An effective and completely free CRM, and a range of affordable tools that can be unlocked for a small monthly fee. It is an entirely scalable marketing and sales engine, which enables business leaders, and marketing and sales professionals with an intuitive way to manage their day-to-day activities.
In my opinion, the only downside to HubSpot is its Marketing Professional pricing, which can price out Smaller SMBs early on in their business journeys. There are, however, affordable applications that integrate directly with HubSpot (without having to use a third-party connector, such as Zapier), that offer the same or similar capabilities.
As a growth marketing agency, we continuously focus on how we can develop our inhouse expertise around HubSpot, and in turn grow our base of clients using it. It’s important that we fully understand what HubSpot is capable of so that we can advise clients in the best possible way and support them on an ongoing basis with campaigns and training.
Interested in seeing how HubSpot can drive your business? Book a free consultation with us.
