How to Make a New (or New to You) HubSpot Instance Work for You
I get this frantic DM all of the time – “Hey Sara, I just started a VP of Marketing job at a new startup. I can’t measure our performance, but I’m not sure where to start. It’s all a mess. What should I do? How do I even know where to start?”
If this sounds like you, I have great news for you… I’m going to walk you through it, right here in this blog post.
1- Make sure HubSpot's setup checklists are complete
Setup Panel: First, you want to check out the out-of-the-box functionality that HubSpot provides for you – this typically follows the best practices for a new implementation, which is great. This also will quickly get you up to speed on a sense of how mature your HubSpot instance is. If you don’t have email authentication set up, for example, your company is (hopefully) probably not sending many marketing emails out of HubSpot.
How to do this in HubSpot:
Log in to HubSpot, navigate to the home page, and find the setup guide under the ‘Get Started’ section in the upper-right corner or under ‘Settings (the ⚙️icon) > Account Setup’
Follow the checklist provided for setting up key items like tracking code installation, email domains, and CRM integrations
2- Clear the way for leads to go to Sales
Sync Errors: Syncing data between systems is huge, especially when you consider how important it is to get your MQLs (marketing qualified leads) to sales in a timely manner. This will also give you a sense as to the health of your overall MAP (marketing automation platform)... if you have tons of sync errors over a few months, that means no one else has been checking and clearing those errors out.
How to do this in HubSpot:
Go to ‘Settings > Integrations > Connected Apps’
Look for the CRM integration (e.g., Salesforce) and check the ‘Sync Health’ tab for errors or failures
For Salesforce: Use the ‘HubSpot Salesforce Integration’ section to view error logs
Click on individual errors for details and troubleshoot using HubSpot’s documentation or support if needed
3- Experience and test the true customer journey
Lead Journey/Lead Pass: Once you’ve fixed any basic implementation issues and sync issues, then you want to start testing the full lead journey, from entry point (form, landing page, file import) to sales assignment…extra points if you then follow it through the sales process. 😄 This is a great exercise to do as a marketing leader because not only are you confirming or denying what you’ve learned thus far about what the prospect and customer journeys should be, you’re also plugging any holes you find along the way.
How to do this in HubSpot:
Create a test contact in HubSpot
Assign the contact to workflows and test their progression through the lead journey (e.g., lifecycle stage updates)
Check the activity feed and workflows' ‘History’ tab to see where data updates or assignments might go wrong
Confirm correct sales rep assignment by verifying assignment rules under ‘Settings > Objects > Contacts/Deals > Assignment Rules’
4- Remove technical debt so systems work smoothly
Field Usage: Look at how your data is being used…or not being used. Export all of your fields and look to see where they are being used. Note: the Usage column will only tell you where the field is being used in the HubSpot system, not through word of mouth or user activity – so ask around with colleagues, too! The goal here is to remove any duplicative data, to enhance system performance and avoid confusion.
How to do this in HubSpot:
Go to ‘Settings > Properties’
Export a list of all properties for contacts, companies, and deals
Review the ‘Usage’ column to identify fields that are actively used
Use workflows or data exports to consolidate data into relevant fields and clean up unused or redundant properties
Extra credit: If you (or someone on your team) has the data chops, export all of your HubSpot data and calculate field utilization, looking to potentially remove any fields not specifically needed and filled in less than 50% of the time.
5- Understand how to use all of your data
Data Dictionary: As you do all of this data work, use your findings to create a draft of a data dictionary. You can either do this in a Google Sheet or within HubSpot itself, using notes under properties! You want to understand what each field is used for, if there are expected set picklist values, and any other information that could help a new colleague get up to speed quickly.
How to do this in HubSpot:
Use your exported property list from ‘Settings > Properties’
Add notes for each property under the property settings to explain its use and integrations
If applicable, document field mappings in integration settings under ‘Settings > Integrations’
Create a shared Google Sheet or a HubSpot dashboard to house all this information centrally
6- Optimize your automation
Automation audit: Look at all of the workflows and automation in your HubSpot instance to ensure you understand what it’s doing and if it still needs to continue to do it. The more automation you have set up, the more of a day-to-day system processing load there is on your HubSpot instance, which could make your instance load slowly. Not to mention, if you have automation that is doing something you don’t want it to – what a great time to pause and remove it!
How to do this in HubSpot:
Go to ‘Automation > Workflows’
Review active workflows, checking entry/exit criteria and any field updates
Use the ‘View - Performance’ tab to analyze past actions and identify faulty triggers or criteria
Document each workflow in terms of its purpose, criteria, and outputs
7- Understand and improve your email deliverability
Email Deliverability: Email is often thought of as the best marketing channel because of its low cost-of-entry and high ROI, but it is also often forgotten about when it comes to ongoing measurement. Check out your Email Health tab to review your key performance metrics and to consider any recommendations HubSpot has for you. Sometimes there is something simple, like setting up a master suppression list, that can help improve your email sending reputation and deliverability right away.
How to do this in HubSpot:
Navigate to ‘Marketing > Email > Analyze’
Check email deliverability reports for metrics like delivery rate, bounce rate, and spam complaints
Use the ‘Health’ tab for overall performance insights
Adjust email settings, test email content, and clean up contact lists to improve reputation
8- Secure your data and protect your tech
User Permissions: This is a bit of a dry topic, but it’s important – make sure not everyone is Super Admin! Take your department list, create common personas for access (email marketer vs. sales, etc.) and then adjust permissions so people can only access what they need to do their job. This helps protect you from chaos (“whoops, accidentally deleted those leads!”) and your customers from having their information shared all around.
How to do this in HubSpot:
Navigate to ‘Settings > Users & Teams’
Audit existing users and their permissions
Use HubSpot's role management to create and assign roles based on PoLP (e.g., Admin, Marketing Manager, Sales Rep)
Ensure sensitive data access is restricted to only those who need it
The Bottom Line on Making HubSpot Work for You
If you have some tech-savvy marketers on your team, they can help you with these items – and when you’re done, you’ll be able to let out a huge sigh of relief because you’ll know:
What’s in place currently
What to expect
That the key pieces are working as expected
And that you can create and depend upon your reporting, the north star for all marketing leaders!
If you feel overwhelmed by this guide and need help, reach out to us! We’re experts and can get you set up while you’re focused on more strategic activities. 😀
