When it comes to auditing a HubSpot instance, there are several significant challenges that I often come across. One of the most common issues is messy sources tracking. While HubSpot's out-of-the-box sources properties can provide valuable insight when people convert on your website, things can get complicated when you import contacts and companies or sync them from other platforms. In such cases, it is crucial to carefully structure your sources to ensure accurate tracking and reporting.
Another challenge that arises is lacking lifecycle stage management. HubSpot's lifecycle stage feature can be a powerful tool for analyzing your funnel and conversion rates over time. However, if you are inconsistent in using this feature, if your stages do not align with the work your team does, or if you have changed your lifecycle stages without mapping them correctly to existing records, it becomes difficult to generate useful reports.
Maintaining a database of old and unengaged contacts is another challenge that can significantly impact your marketing efforts. It is essential to regularly engage your audience and clean up contacts with low engagement or high bounce rates. Otherwise, your email deliverability rates will suffer, and you won't have a clear understanding of the value your marketing outreach provides. Moreover, poor engagement and spam rates can harm your overall email deliverability and result in wasted resources on a database that holds no value.
Poorly managed integrations can also pose a significant challenge during a HubSpot instance audit. Sync errors can prevent leads from being transferred smoothly from marketing to sales or customer service, or important one-to-many communications may not reach your customers. Additionally, missing or mismatched field mappings can lead to incorrect reporting and excessive manual work, which can be time-consuming and inefficient.
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Incorrect intake of inbound leads or misclassification of outbound contacts is another challenge that needs to be addressed. It is essential to ensure consistency in values such as ICP fit or score, demographic fit, ownership, and matching to existing accounts. Implementing global workflows that every record goes through upon entering your HubSpot portal can help maintain consistency. It is not uncommon to come across properties like 'ICP score [agency name],' 'Ideal Customer Profile,' and 'New account score,' which can make it challenging to determine the true value of a record. This issue becomes even more significant when the ownership of an instance is transferred to someone else, as valuable knowledge may be lost in the process.
Finally, mismanaged user access can hinder the effectiveness of your HubSpot instance. Having multiple super admins, users who have not logged in or accepted their invite, or external users who are no longer engaged with your company can create unnecessary complications. Moreover, allowing individuals who are no longer employed by the company to own contacts or companies can interfere with routing or engagement rules when new conversions occur.
These are some of the key challenges that I often encounter when auditing a HubSpot instance. By addressing these issues and implementing effective strategies, you can optimize your HubSpot experience and maximize your marketing efforts.
- Messy sources tracking
- Lacking lifecycle stage management
- Old and unengaged contacts
- Poorly managed integrations
- Incorrect intake of inbound leads or categorisation of outbound contacts
- Mismanaged user access
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