05/15/2015

Does HubSpot Really Work? It Doesn’t…

By James Kwon

As a digital marketing agency, we see a lot of marketing technology come across our desks. There’s tech that helps everything from account-based sales to fixing your zero search results. It’s a lot to keep track of, but nearly everyone’s heard of Hubspot in some fashion. Like a lot of marketing automation tools, it can be a hefty investment so it’s ever-important to be sure the ROI is there. We’ll try to answer that question for you!

In the interest of full-disclosure upfront, we’re a Hubspot certified partner. On that same token, we see a lot of great successes and not some not so much. Why does HubSpot really work? I think we can break the question down into two parts: strategy and execution. The HubSpot “inbound” strategy is a proven methodology. The magic of Hubspot isn’t actually the software but your execution of the strategy using the software.

Marketing Strategy: The Inbound Methodology

You can check out HubSpot’s page on “inbound” but we can basically sum it up as using your website to better nurture leads through the funnel. For many ‘traditional’ websites, customers can learn why your product is the ‘best X on the market’ and either:

  1. Buy that product/service (eCommerce).
  2. Fill out a contact form and be contacted by sales (and buy).

The inbound methodology takes these visitors on your website and serves helpful content that can create awareness of a problem or need, evaluate the available options, and ultimately show the unique value of your product when they’re ready to buy. Unlike traditional marketing tactics, inbound marketing moves at the pace of where the customer is in the ‘buyer’s journey’. So basically, attract users, serve helpful content, and convert them when they’re ready, right? Unfortunately, systematically carrying out the inbound methodology without software is difficult to scale. After all, how much time would it take to send customized emails with your now insanely popular eBook to 100 contacts?

Hubspot uses a collection of tools to collect contacts and then nurture those leads automatically with content.

One of the big advantages of Hubspot is you have many digital marketing tools that all exist on one platform. Nothing is stopping you from using the inbound methodology without Hubspot, it is just going to take way longer.

Marketing Execution: It’s Not HubSpot, It’s You

Buying Hubspot isn’t going to increase your marketing ROI instantly. We established that it’s all about the inbound methodology. The strategy is great but now you need to implement it. This is where Hubspot starts making your life much easier. You could cobble together a collection of tools to replace Hubspot (Moz, HootSuite, Mailchimp, a bunch of WordPress plugins) but you lose the seamless integration. A lot of the “magic” of Hubspot beyond the ease of use is that all the tools can talk to each other. This makes it much easier to track and nurture an individual contact.

Hubspot Tools at Funnel Stages

Without actual content (those blogs, eBooks, and checklists we talked about), HubSpot is going to be dead on arrival. We need to make sure that when visitors come to our site, they have a reason to be attracted, converted, closed, and delighted! So, if your question is “why does HubSpot really work” the answer is two-fold. First, you are going to have to understand and plan a strategy using the inbound methodology. The second more important part is execution. Hubspot does a great job providing tools for you to learn how to create great content. The success of Hubspot is going to be 100% based on your execution. Hubspot is going to make your digital marketing easier and more effective. What’s more, Hubspot can give us razor-sharp messaging by sending the right message to the right person at the right time (without handcrafting every message).

Bottom Line: Should I Buy Hubspot?

Yes! We are big fans of Hubspot at Figmints. Their intuitive user interface, powerful features, and great contact segmentation make it an essential tool for our own internal marketing and for our clients. Oh and If you are looking for an agency to help craft your strategy or execute that strategy give us a ring. Wondering what a digital marketing agency does? Learn more about what we offer here and what an agency can do for you. If you want to learn how we use HubSpot click on the CTA (call to action) below, fill out the form, and enjoy our free ebook!