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Hubspot Review

Page history last edited by Bailey Browder 9 years, 2 months ago

Hubspot Review

by Bailey Browder

 

 

 

Hubspot is an all-in-one marketing platform that combines a variety of features that integrate together to create a complete online dashboard. Hubspot’s list of marketing resources include: Analytics, blogging, Calls-to-Action (CTA), Content Management System (CMS), email marketing, landing pages, lead management, marketing automation, search engine optimization (SEO), social media integration, and customer relationship management system (CRM).

 

The benefits of Hubspot come from the ability to track activity on one platform. Hubspot acts as a hub (get it?) for all of your online pages, whether this be email marketing, social media monitoring, website analytics, or SEO analytics. A user is able to use the features of Hubspot to track and improve all of their online efforts.

 

It is a tool that is beneficial to anyone who incorporates digital marketing, or needs analytic information, into their communication strategy. It is also a platform that incorporates monitoring and online publishing into its dashboard. This allows a user to determine best practices when developing new communication pieces, or for a user to optimize their current online strategies. Each feature can be customized to provide the information that meets the specific needs of the user. Everything created within the Hubspot dashboard can be embedded and tracked across all digital platforms. CTAs, emails, and blogs can be grouped into specific campaigns that allow the user to analyze the effectiveness of each campaign, and determine possible changes that need to be made, or identify best practices for future campaigns.

 

The only real drawback with Hubspot is that it is easy to get caught up in the features. Because everything can be customized, it is very easy for a user to get too involved in the most basic of details. But, if the goal is to gather a substantial amount of data, and create highly targeted communication pieces, Hubspot offers a very large range of opportunities.

 

It is also a tool that can be used regardless of digital experience. Most of the features, including design and analytics, do not require an abundance of programming knowledge. If the user does have experience with programming and coding, the opportunities for customization are even greater. It allows for design templates to be purchased by those who do not know how to code, and it also allows for a user to create entire websites and campaigns using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

 

Another benefit with a Hubspot subscription is access to a substantial marketing library that features lessons in digital and inbound marketing. The support offered by the company is also very in depth. The interface itself is very intuitive, and with the educational resources, it is easy for a user to quickly pick it up.

 

Access

 

Hubspot is a subscription service that begins at $200/month and ranges up to the Enterprise package of $2,400/month (They offer a free trial here). Each package offers different options, including the size of the contact database that is allowed. It may not be an option for someone who is interested in simply tracking the performance of their small website, but for any business that relies on online metrics, it is a great investment.

 

The Enterprise package allows for A/B testing on all of the features, which means that users can track the performance of CTAs and email subject lines. The Enterprise package also allows for substantially more reporting, including event-based reports, contact reports, and companies reports.

 

Another benefit of Hubspot is that it integrates with mobile apps, and everything is optimized for mobile and desktop use. Each piece of content that is created can be viewed in desktop or mobile to preview what the content will look like for each type of user. The email tool can be viewed in each type of email window to customize the user experience.

 

Sample Usage

 

This tool is great for in-depth monitoring of websites and social media channels. I currently use it to create custom CTAs for specific pages within my website, and use these to direct the visitor to specific landing pages and forms that are relevant to their interaction history on my site. If someone is viewing the career center page on my website, I include a CTA that directs them to a form to receive updates on new jobs. The visitor is then enrolled in smart list based on their job interest, and then placed in a workflow that sends them updates about open positions in their fields of interest.

 

I also use the analytic code provided by Hubspot to track the traffic of my contacts through my page. The analytic code is embedded into the back end of each page, and provides the interaction history of each contact, which can help when determining the layout of the site. If a trend is seen with visitors going from one specific section to another, it can be reasoned that the organization of the site should reflect this. The analytic opportunities with Hubspot are substantially greater than standard Omniture reports or Google Analytics.

 

 

Tips, tricks, and tutorials

 

A first time user should identify their goals with the software before they begin. There are simply too many tools to jump right in without an immediate direction. Essentially all of the tools within the Dashboard build off of each other, so once a user begins using one piece of the software, they will have a general understanding of how it works.

 

If the goal is email marketing, or an increase in user engagement, then that should be the starting point. There are online tutorials for the software, but I’ve found that the best way is to start with what you want to learn, and then develop the other tools as you progress. It is also useful to understand what your goals are before you begin the training modules, for the sake of identifying the most beneficial tools as you go.

 

What the Tool Does Well

 

One of the most important functions is the integration of analytics and monitoring across all digital platforms. Instead of simply having analytics for each individual piece of a campaign that must be later compared by the user, Hubspot combines the information and can be used to create custom reports.

 

In the “Page Performance” tab, the user can see the keywords on the page, the CTAs and their performance, links to and from the page, and the views of each specific page. When the page is opened in the Dashboard, the user is then able to run an analysis of the page and Hubspot provides recommendations for optimizing the page performance. This will identify any problems with the page’s title, Meta description, CTAs, h1 tags, image descriptions, internal links, and load time. This is all information that can make a difference in the optimization of a sites performance in a competitive market. After changes are made, a data refresh can be preformed to reflect any made changes. The performance can also be monitored within specific date ranges to identify any impact specific campaigns have had on traffic.

 

What it Does Poorly

 

The list of features can be overwhelming. The video training starts with developing customer personas, but this may not be the best way for someone to spend their time depending on their goals. It can be cumbersome to follow the tutorials, unless the user has a substantial amount of free time. If the user has the time, then it is certainly worthwhile to go through the training, but it is probably not entirely reasonable to expect the user to follow the training guide.

 

For most users, the analytics may seem overwhelming, or even intimidating. It would make sense for the Dashboard to include an explanation of the reporting features, and possibly even suggest some report templates for users to use based on their needs or goals.

 

What happens when you...

 

The tracking abilities are a little unnerving. For example, when a person fills out a form on the website, Hubspot records every piece of information available. Including IP address. Also, it will run the email address given through the form and compare it to known social media platforms. For example, if someone fills out a form on the site using an email address that is linked to a Facebook page that is set to public, Hubspot will pull that information into the contact’s page. Including the profile picture and additional information that was not given by the visitor through the form. It is useful information, but it does seem to be a little intrusive.

 

This is a tool that could far exceed the simple features that I have outlined here, and in the hands of someone who has a vast understanding of web strategy, the opportunities are pretty endless.

 

Additional Resources

 

Hubspot also offers a certification course to its clients, and an inbound marketing course that is open to everyone. I’ve seen a few resumes with “Hubspot Certified” listed. The courses are pretty impressive, so I think it is interesting that they are offered for free. This is something that should be considered for anyone who is interested in remaining in the digital marketing industry. Hubspot is a very well known tool in the online marketing world.

 

http://www.hubspot.com

 

http://blog.hubspot.com

 

http://www.hubspot.com/customers

 

http://www.hubspot.com/internet-marketing-company

 

http://www.hubspot.com/free-marketing-resources

 

 

 

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