HubSpot Workflows: Essential Features and Functionalities

We all have attended webinars at some point in our careers. Ever noticed an instant email that lands in your inbox the moment you register? How does that happen? Is someone tracking registrations and sending these? In most cases, no. 

These trigger-based emails are workflow automation created in tools like HubSpot. A workflow is a series of tasks you must finish to achieve some repeatable business goal. In the above example, it is registering for a webinar.

Automating such processes allows you to focus your time and energy on a strategy without worrying too much about tactical execution. 

In HubSpot, any automation is synonymous with HubSpot Workflows. Because of its multiple applications and infinite possibilities, HubSpot workflows are often called the "Swiss army knife" among all the HubSpot tools. 

Whether internal team notifications, updating property information, assigning deals or contacts, creating onboarding programs, or sending trigger-based emails, you have considerable actions to choose from and develop. 

Understanding HubSpot Workflows

HubSpot workflows aid in:

• minimizing errors when a large number of emails are sent manually,
• following up on leads easily, 
• managing marketing initiatives effectively,
• enrolling leads and nurturing both old and new prospects,
• setting your end goals, tasks/things you plan to achieve like a conference or a webinar. 

Sales can also use it to assign deals or contacts to a rep based on region, change contact stages based on scoring, etc. With up to 250 enrollment triggers, the opportunities are endless. 

All you have to do is identify your automation goals to know what you plan to achieve with each workflow. 

The next thing you need to determine is whether it is an   

Internal workflow: This workflow is helpful for any internal event where automation can lend a hand in performing these tasks. Think of an internal all-hands, where you have to send reminders to participants to register. 

Or 

External workflow: This involves any external communications with your contacts in HubSpot. From an automated email to kindle cold leads or a follow-up after someone fills out the form on your website, these workflows are specific and targeted and require sophisticated segmentation and clearly defined logic.  

Building a HubSpot Workflow: A Quick Overview

Building the perfect workflow (that works for your goals) begins by posing these three simple questions: 

1. Is it an internal or an external workflow?
2. Which specific workflow is needed for the task? 
3. Is there a template, or do you need to build one from scratch? 

There are a large number of template workflows available in HubSpot. However, it depends on the product and packages you purchase. 

Some of the essential workflows found in HubSpot are: 

Contact-Based Workflows

The original purpose of this workflow was to nurture and segment contacts with high-quality email marketing content.

It now also includes a host of additional actions that: 

• Create records associated with these contacts
• Exchange/transfer property information between associated objects
• Send internal or external communications.
• Integrate with third-party applications for a smooth user experience for things like event registration, Slack team notifications, etc.  

This workflow allows maximum flexibility to design various workflows that are not available elsewhere. 

For example, you can center your workflow on a date or a date property. The former is useful when you need to send pre-event or post-event communications. In the case of the latter, you can use it to send automated emails wishing your contact on their birthday or anniversary. 

Deal-Based and Ticket-Based Workflow

These two workflows automate different aspects of the customer journey – from the initial stage of a lead to different stages of deal progression and conversion. 

These workflows also make it possible to share information between associated records seamlessly. You can start a new action when the status of a deal changes to "closed/won." For ticket-based workflow, you can use it to send reminders to the customer care team if a ticket sits too long in the status stage.   

Company-Based Workflows

The company-based workflow is a recent addition to HubSpot workflows, introduced in 2018. It helps manage CRM data and external communication for different companies that are part of your sales and marketing team roster. 

Like contact-based workflows, you can choose an internal task (set company properties, for example) or send external communications such as a welcome email to all the contacts associated with a given company.

Quote-Based Workflows

Available to Sales Hub enterprise and professional customers, this functionality helps manage the process of completing quote-specific sales or those based on the revenue they bring to your company.

Quote-based workflows are radical as it brings a quick and easy focus on a sales deal to the stage of closed/won. Its automation keeps track of each quote without the sales rep having to follow up every time manually.  

Additionally, like quote-based workflow, other workflows like Ticket-Based, Custom Object-Based, and Feedback Submissions Workflows are available only in Sales/Service Hub Enterprise or Professional HubSpot versions.

These five workflows can be created from scratch or set up using a HubSpot workflow template though the number of templates is limited.

So when you set out to create your workflow, what functionalities will come in handy? 

Let us find out.

Working with HubSpot Workflows: Essential Functionalities 

Now that you have a fair idea of how a HubSpot workflow is designed, you can focus on the functionalities that will be useful for your workplace needs.

1. Workflow Creation

The first and foremost critical aspect of your CRM – creating a workflow. As stated above, you can choose a template based on the object and type or create one from scratch.

2. Enrollment Triggers

Enrollment triggers are rules that automatically enroll records if they meet specific criteria in your workflow. Various enrollment triggers are available, depending on the type of workflow being used. 

Keep in mind: 

• There are up to 250 filters to a workflow's enrollment triggers. 
• You can enroll a record in workflows the first time if it meets its enrollment triggers, or you can do it manually.
• Some enrollment triggers rely on user permissions.
• You can further finetune your enrollment trigger by including a "refine by" criteria though only one can be added.  

3. Workflow Actions

Once you have set your workflow and enrollment triggers, workflow actions follow. Actions are tasks that the workflow performs for enrolled records. Sending emails, creating new records, managing your subscribers – all are executed through actions. Choose given actions and add them to your workflow. 

For a detailed outline of workflow actions, click here.

4. Workflow Settings

Another critical aspect of establishing your workflow is ensuring that the correct settings are in place. You will be able to determine your workflow actions and the ones to be executed, set enrollment triggers, add associate campaigns, etc. 

5. Turning On or Off Your Workflow

These are two different functionalities in HubSpot workflows. Once you have established all the parameters and processes of your workflow, you will need to turn it on.

Similarly, you will have to turn off your workflow to end the automation process manually. It means records that meet the given enrollment triggered will no longer feature in the workflow. All the actions, schedules, and delays will be skipped during the delay or scheduled time, and so on. 

6. Deleting and Restoring Workflows

You have to remove the workflows individually or in bulk, though they can also be recovered within 90 days of being deleted. 

Important Steps to Build Your HubSpot Workflows

You have already decided whether you want to work with a template or build a workflow from scratch.

After that, follow these five steps: 

1. Enrollment Triggers and Other Workflow Steps 

Your automation begins with the correct enrollment triggers that initiate your workflow in motion. Often, it is a list membership or a form submission. Whatever workflow you plan to work with, ensure you think hard and through your enrollment triggers to make sure you are not adding unnecessary fields in your workflow. 

This level of detailing for automating your database is possible only because these enrollment triggers utilize multiple criteria and AND/OR logic. 

2. Right Actions For Your Automation Goal

After enrollment triggers, the other key workflow aspect is getting the right actions to execute your workflow. One such action that is incredibly helpful is workflow delays. For instance, for a deal that is closed/won on a Monday evening, sending the welcome email immediately after closing the deal would reduce the efficacy of your message.

The other essential workflow action is if/then logic. It allows you to incorporate all possible scenarios for a given workflow action. 

3. Fine-Tune Workflow Settings

After you have laid out your workflow triggers and defined your workflow steps, you need to adjust your workflow settings. 

You have two main settings to change in your workflow:

1. The first setting determines when your workflow actions are executed. You have to specify the time frame for these actions. 
2. The second setting is related to unenrollment and suppression criteria. Unenrollment is when your contact achieves the goal you have set out so that they are automatically unenrolled.

These settings are specific to company-based, deal-based, ticket-based, and quote-based workflows.

Additionally, contact-based workflows have other settings to consider. This particular workflow has more options for suppression and unenrollment. There is also the option to set a workflow goal that allows you to nurture leads. This way, you can focus your efforts on it and gauge the success of your engagement.

4. Launch Your Workflow 

This is the moment when you are ready to launch your workflow. After reviewing your enrollment triggers and workflow actions and modifying your settings, you must turn it on. 

5. Monitor Your Workflow Performance 

After all is set and done, it is time to gauge how successfully the wheels of automation churn. 

There are a few ways you can check whether your workflow is succeeding: 

• Performance Tab: It provides a high-level summary of your contact-based workflow and its KPIs, such as top metrics, goal conversion rate, contact trends, and email trends. 

By monitoring this tab regularly, you can see if your contacts complete all the workflow steps. 

• Workflow/Automation Tab: This tab allows you to view and compare workflow performance based on filters and workflow types. 
• History Tab: The history tab helps understand the reasons for an underperforming workflow. Diagnose the problem and modify your approach accordingly using the setting filters. You get a complete log of all workflow actions and a play-by-play of different HubSpot users who have changed and updated their workflow settings.  

Automation and Workflow Efficiency

In today's fast-paced business environment, time is essential. HubSpot Workflows provide a solution by enabling automation, saving valuable time and effort. With a range of key features and functionalities, businesses can streamline their workflows and enhance efficiency.

How HubSpot Workflows enable automation to save time and effort

HubSpot Workflows automate repetitive tasks, allowing businesses to focus on more strategic activities. By eliminating manual processes, teams can save time and effort, resulting in increased productivity and improved efficiency.

Key features and functionalities that facilitate automated workflows

• Creating sequences of automated actions: - HubSpot Workflows enable businesses to design and build sequences of actions that can be triggered automatically. This reduces the need for manual intervention and ensures consistency in processes.
• Setting specific conditions for triggering actions: - With HubSpot Workflows, businesses can set specific conditions that must be met before an action is triggered. This level of customization allows for personalized and targeted automation.
• Utilizing contact data for personalization: - HubSpot Workflows make it easy to leverage contact data to personalize communication. From dynamically inserting contact names to tailoring content based on specific attributes, businesses can create meaningful interactions at scale.

By leveraging these key features and functionalities, businesses can optimize their workflows and achieve greater automation efficiency.

Email Marketing Automation

In today's digital age, email marketing continues to be a vital tool for businesses looking to nurture leads and engage customers. With HubSpot Workflows, you can take your email marketing efforts to the next level through automation and personalization.

Overview of HubSpot workflows' email marketing features

HubSpot Workflows offers a wide range of features specifically designed to streamline your email marketing campaigns. From email creation to targeted sending, you have all the tools you need to create effective and engaging campaigns.

Automation of email sequences to nurture leads and engage customers

Gone are the days of manually sending individual emails to your leads. With HubSpot Workflows, you can automate your email sequences, allowing you to nurture leads and engage customers effortlessly. By mapping out the journey your contacts take, you can send the right message at the right time, increasing your chances of conversion.

Benefits of automated email marketing campaigns

Automated email marketing campaigns offer several benefits for your business. Firstly, they save you time and resources by eliminating manual tasks. Secondly, they ensure consistency in your communication, delivering a seamless experience for your contacts. Lastly, they allow you to scale your marketing efforts, reaching a larger audience without sacrificing personalization.

Personalization options using contact data

With HubSpot Workflows, you can leverage contact data to personalize your email marketing. By tailoring your messages based on demographics, interests, or past interactions, you can create a customized experience for each contact. Personalization not only increases engagement but also builds trust and loyalty.

Targeted email sending based on specific conditions

A key feature of HubSpot Workflows is the ability to send targeted emails based on specific conditions. Whether it's a lead reaching a certain stage in the buyer's journey or a customer showing interest in a particular product, you can automatically trigger emails that speak directly to their needs and interests.

Segmentation of contacts for more precise targeting

HubSpot Workflows allows you to segment your contacts into specific lists based on criteria such as location, industry, or behavior. By grouping contacts with similar characteristics, you can create highly targeted campaigns that resonate with each segment, increasing the likelihood of conversions.

Enhancing customer experience through personalized communication

Personalized communication is a powerful tool in enhancing the customer experience. With HubSpot Workflows, you can deliver personalized emails that make your contacts feel valued and understood. By providing relevant content, recommendations, or exclusive offers, you can foster long-lasting relationships with your customers.

Contact Segmentation and Personalization

In today's competitive business landscape, it's crucial for companies to deliver personalized experiences to their customers. HubSpot workflows provide a powerful solution for contact segmentation, allowing you to target your marketing campaigns with precision.

By utilizing HubSpot workflows, you can segment your contacts based on various factors such as behavior, properties, and engagement. This enables you to create highly specific and relevant contact segments, ensuring that your messaging resonates with each individual.

Contact segmentation offers numerous benefits when it comes to personalizing customer experiences. By tailoring your content and offers to different contact segments, you can effectively address their unique needs and pain points. This level of personalization not only enhances customer satisfaction but also increases the likelihood of conversions.

With HubSpot workflows, delivering highly relevant content and offers to different contact segments has never been easier. Whether you want to send a targeted email campaign or display personalized content on your website, HubSpot workflows empower you to automate these activities seamlessly.

• Create dynamic lists of contacts based on specific behaviors or actions they have taken on your website or with your brand.
• Automatically add or remove contacts from certain lists based on their properties or engagement with your marketing assets.
• Personalize your communication with contacts based on their specific segment, ensuring your messaging is both timely and tailored to their needs.
• Segment your contacts based on their lifecycle stage, enabling you to deliver the right content and offers to move them further down the sales funnel.
• Use lead scoring and behavior tracking to identify high-value contacts and prioritize them for personalized outreach.

In conclusion, contact segmentation and personalization are vital components of any successful marketing strategy. By leveraging HubSpot workflows, you can efficiently segment your contacts and deliver highly targeted content and offers, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and higher conversion rates.

CRM Integration for Seamless Data Flow

Integrating HubSpot workflows with the HubSpot CRM for enhanced automation

How CRM integration facilitates seamless data flow between stages of the customer lifecycle

Automating actions and processes based on contact or deal properties

Ensuring accurate and up-to-date data through automated data updates

Sales Enablement with HubSpot Workflows

HubSpot workflows offer a range of features designed to assist in sales enablement efforts through automated workflows. These features provide valuable assistance to sales teams, helping them streamline their processes and improve efficiency.

Automation of Lead Scoring and Task Creation

One key feature of HubSpot workflows is the ability to automate lead scoring. With this functionality, leads can be automatically evaluated and assigned a score based on their interaction with your website and content. This scoring system helps prioritize leads and ensures that the sales team focuses their efforts on the most promising prospects.

In addition, workflows can also automatically create tasks for sales representatives. These tasks can include follow-ups, meetings, or other actions that need to be taken during the sales process. By automating these task creation processes, workflows save time and ensure that no sales opportunity falls through the cracks.

Trigger Alerts for Timely Follow-ups

HubSpot workflows can also send trigger alerts to sales representatives. These alerts notify sales teams when a specific action or event occurs, such as a lead reaching a certain lead score or requesting a demo. This timely notification ensures that sales representatives can follow up promptly, increasing the chances of closing deals and providing a better customer experience.

Improving Sales Efficiency and Effectiveness

Sales enablement workflows play a crucial role in improving sales efficiency and effectiveness. By automating repetitive tasks and providing sales teams with timely notifications, workflows free up valuable time and allow sales representatives to focus on high-value activities, such as building relationships and closing deals.

Additionally, these automated workflows ensure consistency in sales processes. With predefined workflows, sales representatives follow a standardized approach, ensuring that no steps are missed and that every lead receives the same level of attention. This consistency aids in building trust with prospects and customers, increasing the chances of successful conversions.

Data Management and Enrichment

Optimizing your data management and ensuring its accuracy is essential for maximizing the effectiveness of your HubSpot workflows. With HubSpot's robust capabilities for data management and enrichment, you can streamline your processes and enhance the quality of your contact data.

• Automating Data Updates: HubSpot workflows allow you to automate data updates, ensuring that your contact information is always up to date. Whether it's syncing data from external sources or automatically updating fields based on specific triggers, you can rely on HubSpot workflows to maintain the accuracy of your data.
• Maintaining Data Quality: In addition to automating data updates, HubSpot workflows enable you to implement data quality checks and validations. This ensures that invalid or incomplete data doesn't enter your system, maintaining the integrity of your contact database.
• Enriching Contact Profiles: With workflow actions, you can enrich contact profiles with relevant information. By utilizing data from sources such as form submissions, website activities, or custom properties, you can create dynamic workflows that enhance contact profiles and enable personalized interactions.

With HubSpot's data management and enrichment features, you can trust that your contact data is accurate, up to date, and enriched with valuable insights. This empowers you to make informed decisions and deliver personalized experiences to your contacts.

Reporting and Analytics for Workflow Evaluation

HubSpot workflows provide valuable insights and analytics for evaluating automation processes. With the reporting capabilities, you can track and measure key metrics such as conversion rates and engagement rates to gauge the effectiveness of your workflows.

By analyzing the data-driven insights, you can optimize your workflow strategies to improve performance. The analytics provided by HubSpot workflows enable you to make informed decisions and refine your automation processes for better results.

Integrations with Other Tools for Enhanced Functionality

HubSpot workflows offer a wide range of features and functionalities that can greatly enhance your marketing and sales efforts. But did you know that you can take it even further by integrating HubSpot workflows with other tools?

How HubSpot workflows can integrate with other marketing and sales tools

With its robust integrations, HubSpot workflows can seamlessly connect with your existing marketing and sales tools, allowing for a more streamlined and efficient workflow. Whether you're using email marketing software, CRM systems, or social media management platforms, HubSpot workflows can integrate and automate various tasks, saving you time and effort.

By integrating HubSpot workflows with your email marketing software, you can automate your email campaigns and personalize your messaging based on specific triggers and behaviors. This can lead to higher engagement and conversions, as your contacts receive targeted and relevant content.

Expanding the functionality of workflows through integrations

Integrating HubSpot workflows with other tools can expand its functionality and allow you to create more complex and powerful automated workflows. For example, you can integrate with project management tools to automatically assign tasks to team members based on certain criteria, ensuring efficient collaboration and timely execution of projects.

Creating more complex and powerful automated workflows by leveraging external tools

By leveraging external tools through integrations, you can create even more sophisticated automated workflows. For instance, you can integrate with artificial intelligence platforms to analyze customer data and trigger specific actions based on insights gathered. This can help you deliver more personalized experiences and optimize your marketing and sales efforts.

Overall, integrating HubSpot workflows with other tools can significantly enhance their functionality and provide you with a comprehensive solution for your marketing and sales automation needs. It allows for seamless data flow, improved collaboration, and the ability to leverage external tools for advanced analysis and personalization.

Certification and Training for Workflow Mastery

Are you ready to take your HubSpot workflows to the next level? Unlock the full potential of this powerful automation tool with HubSpot's certification and training programs. Whether you're a beginner looking to learn the basics or an experienced marketer aiming to become a workflow expert, HubSpot has the resources to help you succeed.

Overview of Certification and Training Programs

HubSpot offers a range of certification and training programs designed to meet the needs of marketers at every level. From the comprehensive HubSpot Workflow Certification to targeted courses on specific workflow features, there's a program for everyone.

By completing these programs, you'll gain not only a certification to showcase your expertise but also the knowledge and skills to create effective workflows that drive results. HubSpot's certification and training programs are recognized industry-wide and reflect the latest best practices and strategies for workflow mastery.

Importance of Gaining Knowledge and Expertise

Mastering HubSpot workflow features is essential for any modern marketer. Automation is no longer a luxury but a necessity for achieving marketing success. By gaining in-depth knowledge of HubSpot workflows, you'll be able to streamline your processes, enhance your efficiency, and deliver personalized experiences to your contacts.

With the right skills and expertise, you'll be equipped to leverage the full potential of HubSpot workflows, maximizing your marketing efforts and driving significant results. Stay ahead of the competition and position yourself as a workflow master with HubSpot's certification and training programs.

Resources and Best Practices

HubSpot provides a wealth of resources and best practices to help you effectively utilize their workflow features. Access comprehensive documentation, tutorial videos, and step-by-step guides that walk you through the process of creating successful workflows.

Additionally, join the thriving HubSpot community to connect with fellow marketers, share experiences, and learn from each other. Gain insights from industry experts, participate in webinars, and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and strategies in workflow automation.

By harnessing these resources and best practices, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to create impactful workflows that drive your marketing success.

Conclusion

HubSpot workflows remove all the scope of manual errors and give you ample time to focus on customer priorities and needs, leading to an enhanced overall customer experience for your product. The different workflows and customized features assist in making your company strategy data-driven and technically sound.

Growth Natives is there to help you along your HubSpot workflow journey. Write to us at info@growthnatives.com to shoot your queries or know more.