We do a ton of HubSpot onboarding here at Open Flow, training clients on HubSpot setup, best practices, everything they need in order to get started with this amazing platform and integrate it into their tech stack.
[Note: When you first sign up with HubSpot, onboarding is required. You can onboard with HubSpot—or onboard with a HubSpot Partner Agency, like us. All of the below refers to our Platinum Agency Onboarding process.]
But even the best HubSpot setup doesn’t mean the software will magically solve your marketing problems. Once the HubSpot onboarding process is complete, we often hear from clients: “Now what?” “Where do I start?” HubSpot onboarding is an intensive process, but honestly, once you complete onboarding is when the real work begins.
HubSpot Onboarding is Just the Beginning
HubSpot’s myriad powerful tools and customization options can leave newer users feeling overwhelmed. On a practical level, many HubSpot pros will tell you to simply “familiarize yourself with the platform” or “play around with all the different features and tools available,” but the poke-around-and-find-out approach isn’t right for everyone.
On a practical level, if you’re looking for specific post-HubSpot onboarding actions, and don’t know where to begin, we always suggest creating one campaign. Just one, to get the lay of land. You’ll learn a ton from doing it.
The HubSpot Knowledge Base is a great source of action steps—you can begin by simply following their Create Campaigns post. Bookmark their Campaigns: Frequently Asked Questions post, as well as the HubSpot Glossary to help you with campaign terminology.
Once you’ve completed your campaign, look at your process. Assess: how did it go? How long did it take? HubSpot is like a language that you need to speak regularly in order to get fluent. Similar to learning a new language, don’t beat yourself up if you’re still learning.
Another approach: Choose the top three most urgent issues that you think HubSpot can help you solve.
Not getting enough leads? Use HubSpot to optimize your website.
Are your teams out of sync? Use HubSpot to create consistent processes and communications, while automating tasks like syncing data or creating tasks when a deal moves to a different stage (this HubSpot blog post on 37 Tasks Every Marketer Should Automate is a great list for automation.)
If you’re overwhelmed, start small. It gets better!
Onboarding by HubSpot Won’t Create a Strategy For You
While HubSpot offers amazing post-onboarding resources, including blogs, HubSpot Academy courses, videos and a whole content library of certification courses, the truth is that HubSpot requires a strategy to fulfill its potential. That strategy has to come from you and your team. You have to create the sequences, blogs, emails, content, automations, and workflows that will serve your business goals. It’s a lot of decisions, and it can be overwhelming.
The folks at Impact Plus put it well: “A digital marketing strategy is a multi-faceted, complex plan that involves content creation, traffic analysis, lead nurturing, email campaigns, website design, and more. HubSpot can help you with all of these, but the impetus and strategy has to come from you.”
HubSpot is an amazing tool—but tools need to be wielded with a purpose to see their true value. The best tools in the world can’t build a house without a builder and a plan.
What to do if You’re Still Lost After HubSpot Onboarding
If you’ve read this far and are still not sure where to begin, you’re not alone.
If you need help mapping out a new marketing strategy, integrating HubSpot with different teams, interpreting data or setting up time-saving automations, hire an agency that does this work professionally. If you need a consult just to map out your plan of action and sequence your steps? We can help with that too.
You and your team may not have the time or energy to spend on becoming HubSpot pros—and that’s okay. Open Flow’s HubSpot pros can coach you through formulating a strategy and guide you through a customized HubSpot setup that lets you reap the full benefits of the platform.
There is no silver bullet or shortcut to developing an inbound marketing strategy—but there’s also plenty of trained help that can help you solve your problems and boost your marketing efforts with HubSpot. So if you’re stuck, don’t be a hero! Certified HubSpot pros and diehard CRM nerds are just a call away.
Need help with structuring your post-onboarding strategy? We’ve got HubSpot pros, marketing consultants, engineers, and creatives who can help—book a free consultation to see how we can help you get the most out of your HubSpot investment.
Book a call today by clicking this LINK