Getting real results with HubSpot
Updated June 16, 2015

Getting real results with HubSpot

Kristin Swasta Paxton | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Enterprise

Overall Satisfaction with HubSpot

Our company uses HubSpot in a number of ways, including lead generation, lead nurturing, website hosting, and email marketing. It is used primarily by our Marketing and Sales teams - Marketing uses it to generate and nurture leads, while Sales uses it to gain lead intelligence. The system has allowed us to streamline our efforts and to customize our website content/offers, providing only relevant information to our website visitors. It's helped us to increase our efficiency by having all the tools within one system. It also provides us with valuable analytics to help us measure our results, and also to clearly see what's working vs what areas we need to adjust or change.

Pros

  • Using HubSpot's website hosting feature has helped us to better manage all of our online efforts. The system is very user-friendly and intuitive. We've used a number of hosting platforms in the past, and found them to be either 1) too advanced, requiring coding knowledge, or 2) too basic, with limited functionality. HubSpot is the perfect balance of these - it doesn't require coding experience, but still provides the capability to build a site that looks and performs really well. It also offers flexibility to enhance it further by using custom coding, if desired.
  • We are beginning to take advantage of HubSpot's smart content functionality. It enables us to provide a more relevant experience for each of our website visitors, based on their personas, their stage in the buyers journey, and previous actions they've taken on our site. The options are limitless, so we're taking baby steps right now. Even with that, we're already seeing results from our initial efforts - higher conversion rates and more qualified leads coming from the site.
  • The marketing analytics that HubSpot provides have been very valuable. In the past, we weren't able to identify areas that were performing well or those that were performing poorly. Now, we're able to see what pieces of content are most popular, which are producing the highest quality leads, what pages are contributing to getting us the best leads, what referral sites are bringing us traffic, how each piece of our marketing puzzle is performing with respect to lead generation. We were able to get some of this data from Google Analytics and other programs, but now it's all under one roof, so the data is consistent and we're able to measure these things in a much more consistent way.

Cons

  • An area that I've personally struggled with is new product/functionality rollouts. The system is so robust and can do a lot of different things, so when a new feature is added to the mix, it can be challenging to get up to speed and learn how this new feature should be used and how it impacts other areas of the platform. And HubSpot seems to rollout new features quite frequently. So while that's a positive, it can be tough to keep up. At times, I've gotten behind the learning curve on many new products/features and felt somewhat overwhelmed. There are a number of resources available to learn (webinars, a learning community, tutorials, customer support), but at times, it can be daunting to try to keep up with all the new advancements.
  • The increase to our sales opportunities has been significant. Comparing data (website leads only) from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014: we've seen a 288% increase to the number of sales opportunities created; and a 408% increase to the value of those sales opportunities. In addition, when comparing actual closed business (again, website leads only) from the same timeframe: we've seen a 232% in the number of closed leads; and a 326% increase in actual revenue. This is directly attributable to a more user-friendly website, relevant CTAs, salespeople equipped with valuable lead intelligence, and effective lead nurturing,
I scored HubSpot as a 9, only for the rare instances where it may not be the right fit. Basically, I'd say HubSpot may not be the best choice if a team is NOT able to allocate an internal resource(s) to manage it. As I've mentioned, the system is robust and has a lot of functionality. But it's not all automatic - many of the triggers and actions need to be set up, there is a strategy that needs to be employed, and it requires attention (for it to be fully utilized). So if an organization is looking for a plug and play type of solution, this may not be the best option. Having said that though, if that same organization is just looking to outsource the building of a website, I'd still recommend considering HubSpot - their team of project managers and designers do all the heavy lifting for that.

Outside of that, I'd score HubSpot as a 10. When an organization has a team (or even just one individual) who recognizes the system's potential and is committed to implementing it, the benefits are clear and results will be realized in a short amount of time.

Using HubSpot

4 - All within our marketing department. One person focuses on website and email content, and the others use HubSpot for our social media, blogging, and analytics. Our sales team does use the lead intelligence that HubSpot gathers, but they primarily get that within Salesforce (integrated with HubSpot).
Our involvement with HubSpot has been nothing but positive. We've seen clear ROI on our efforts; we've invested the time to learn how to use the platform to achieve maximum results; and it's a tool that does all that we need, and more. In addition, HubSpot stays ahead of the curve, so I have no concern that it will become obsolete or behind the times. I know that HubSpot is the right choice for my organization's marketing and sales teams.

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