Australian Business Guide to Successful HubSpot Implementation

Australian businesses are increasingly turning to HubSpot to scale, nurture customer relationships, and grow. Its range of flexible tools simplifies marketing, sales, and customer service. However, like any major investment, implementation without a solid plan can lead to inefficiency, increased costs, and various challenges (kind of like driving without GPS).

This comprehensive guide will help you get HubSpot set up the right way. You’ll find all the key steps to think through before you start, from pre-implementation considerations to the final rollout and everything in between. Follow them and you’ll set yourself up for smooth sailing and real long-term results.

Defining Your Business Goals and Objectives

Figure out what you want HubSpot to do for you by clearly defining your main business objectives before you get started. Turn them into targets you can track. Begin with your core business goals and frame them as specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. 

For example:

• Get 25% more leads within the next 12 months.

• Improve customer retention rate by 15% before the end of the financial year.

• Streamline the sales process to reduce the average deal closing time by 10%.

Next, match HubSpot’s features to those targets.:

• If you need more leads, use Marketing Hub to build custom forms with progressive profiling, A/B test landing pages to optimise conversions, and send targeted email campaigns with workflow automation.

• If you’re after improved customer retention, you might want to implement Service Hub's ticketing pipelines. Add your SLAs and build a help centre that learns from customer feedback loops. 

With a targeted approach, every HubSpot tool you use pushes you closer to your strategic business objectives with greater impact and efficiency.  

Picking the  HubSpot tools that fit your needs  (Marketing, Sales, Service, CMS, and Operations Hubs)

HubSpot's 'Hubs' are built to simplify key business functions.

Here's a practical look at how they can be applied:

• Marketing Hub: Marketing Hub facilitates marketing activities such as creating targeted email campaigns for customer segments, automating social media posts, and optimising your website's SEO for relevant keywords.

• Lead Nurture Example: Create an automated email workflow for people who download your e-book.

• Sales Hub: Sales Hub enables you to manage your sales pipeline, automate follow-ups, and schedule meetings directly from HubSpot. This helps your sales team close deals more efficiently.

• Sales Targets Example: Use deal stages to track sales progress in accordance with financial year reporting.

• Service Hub: Service Hub helps you to provide timely customer support through ticketing and live chat, and build a knowledge base to answer common customer queries.

• Knowledge Base Example: Publish an article detailing how to use/set up your product (or that answers your top customer questions).

• CMS Hub: CMS Hub keeps all your customer info in one place. Bringing together your contacts, tasks, deals, and more so that your marketing, sales, and service teams are on the same page and know what to do next.

• Shared Inbox Example: Use a shared inbox and unified dashboards so no message or metric ever gets missed.

• Content Hub: Content Hub can be used to build and manage your website, ensuring it's optimised for search engines and provides a seamless user experience for visitors.

• Website Builder Example: Use adaptive testing to optimise your website's mobile experience.

• Operations Hub: Operations Hub allows you to connect your various business apps, such as your accounting software or inventory management platform, to HubSpot. Automate data syncing to maintain clean and accurate records.

• Accounting System Example: Set up automated workflows, syncing customer data between HubSpot and your accounting software, for more accurate billing and reporting.

Understanding the key features of each hub.

Check out what each hub can do. 

Explore the core functionalities of each Hub and pinpoint the features that directly address your current challenges. For example:

• Lead Nurturing Bottlenecks? Use Marketing Hub's personalised email sequences triggered by specific user actions.  Try A/B testing email subject lines to see what your audience responds best to.   

• Sales Pipeline Inefficiency? Set up custom deal stages in Sales Hub. Tailor them to your sales cycle, and run forecasting reports to see where your revenue is headed on market trends.    

• Support tickets piling up? Let Service Hub auto-route tickets by inquiry type and build a searchable knowledge base with answers (or step-by-step solutions) to the questions you get most.    

• Website underperforming? Use CMS Hub's SEO tools to help optimise content for relevant search terms, and leverage adaptive testing to improve the mobile experience for users. 

• Data stuck in silos? Use Operations Hub to sync your apps. Connect your CRM or accounting software (but don’t have to stop there) and use the data sync functionality to keep your data fresh across multiple systems.    

Matching hub functionality to specific business needs.

Don't feel pressured to adopt every Hub from day one. Start with the ones that fix your biggest headaches, addressing your most pressing business needs and align with your immediate goals. You can always expand your HubSpot usage as your business grows and your needs evolve.

Data Migration and Management

Get your data ready for HubSpot.

Evaluate the quality and cleanliness of existing data.

Your existing customer and prospect data is a valuable asset. But messy data, typos, duplicates, and old contacts can trip you up. If your data is riddled with errors, it can delay your HubSpot implementation and give you inaccurate reporting.

Why clean data matters (the importance of data integrity).

Clean data means you can slice and dice lists, send the right message, and trust your reports. 

Having accurate data is essential for effective segmentation, personalised communications, and generating reliable analytics within HubSpot. Messy or poor data quality costs real money,  as wasted marketing expenditure, inefficiencies for your sales teams, and frustrated customers. 

Preparing for Migration: How to clean your data

Before migrating your data to HubSpot, it's important to implement thorough data cleansing strategies. 

This process should involve:   

• Merging duplicates. Identify and merge duplicate records to eliminate redundancy (and so you don’t spam the same person twice).    

• Correcting errors. Fixing typos in data entries or incorrect contact information.

• Filling the gaps. Add in any missing information where possible to give you more complete customer profiles.

• Clearing out clutter. Remove outdated or irrelevant data to keep your database clean and efficient.

If you have a lot going on (or haven’t done a Spring clean in a while) try a combination of smart tools and manual checks. Both automated tools and manual review are valuable components of this cleansing process.

Data Migration: Planning Your Move

To move your data to HubSpot effectively, you need a solid migration plan. Your migration plan should include the following key steps.

• Find your data: List every source, all of the spreadsheets, old CRMs, email tools, etc.

• Matching fields: Link “Customer Name,” “Email,” “Phone” in your files to the right spots in HubSpot.

• Handling big sets: Break big imports into batches. Test a small batch first. You might need to think about a data migration service if it’s going to be a huge job.

• Keeping data safe: Lock down access, limit who can see or change data and decide how often to back it up.

• Backups and recovery: Decide how much data you can afford to lose and how fast you need it back. That will tell you how often to back up. HubSpot does its own backups, but having an extra copy never hurts.

Finding your data: Identifying data sources and formats.

Begin by determining where all your customer and prospect data is currently living, spreadsheets, other CRM systems, email marketing platforms, and how it’s stored/in what format.

Pro Tip: Use a spreadsheet to map it all out and list each data source (e.g. "Salesforce CRM," "Mailchimp," "Google Sheets - Customer List") and its format "CSV," "Excel," "API export". This will help you understand what you're working with.

Matching fields: Mapping data fields to HubSpot properties.

Next, you need to carefully match the fields in your existing data (e.g. "Customer Name," "Email Address," "Phone Number") with the corresponding properties in HubSpot. This ensures that your data ends up in the right place in HubSpot, maintaining its integrity and usefulness.

Handling big sets: Considerations for importing large datasets.

If you're dealing with large datasets, consider breaking the import into smaller batches to avoid overwhelming the system and reduce potential errors. Explore HubSpot's import tools and consider using third-party data migration services if necessary.

Keeping data safe: Data security and privacy

Data security and privacy are no joke. Make sure your HubSpot data migration process complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988. If you handle data of EU citizens,  you will need to keep up with GDPR compliance. Understand HubSpot's data processing agreements and implement appropriate security measures and restrict access.

Establishing your data management protocols and best practices.

Moving your data into HubSpot is just the beginning. You need a plan for keeping it clean and organised in the long run. Think of these as ground rules to keep things running smoothly.

Data governance and ownership: Who owns the data?

Define clear roles and responsibilities for data governance within your organisation. Who should be responsible for data quality, updates, and compliance? Who will keep the data accurate and up to date? Two important roles to assign are the Owners and Caretakers (Stewards). "Data Owners" are accountable for the overall data strategy and quality, and "Data Stewards" are responsible for specific data sets.  

• Pick a “Data Owner” to watch over the big picture, quality, updates, and make sure everyone follows the rules. 

• Then choose your “Data Stewards” for each data set. They’ll be responsible for sorting out mistakes and filling in missing details.

Data backup and recovery.

Finally, let's discuss protecting your data from loss or damage. 

Even the best-laid plans can go wrong, so you need a solid backup and recovery strategy. Determine how much data you can afford to lose (Recovery Point Objective) and how quickly you need to get your systems back up and running (Recovery Time Objective). This will help you decide on the frequency and type of backups you need. While HubSpot has its own backup systems, consider implementing additional backup solutions for extra peace of mind.

Technical Considerations

Assessing your current technology stack and integrations.

HubSpot is built for straightforward integration with your other essential business tools. Check what you already use (CRM, email, accounting) and make sure it works with HubSpot or if you need to build custom connections.

• Identify the key systems you're currently using (think your existing CRM, email platform, accounting software, etc.) and double-check their compatibility with HubSpot.

• For more complex connections or unique needs, explore HubSpot's API capabilities. This might involve developing a custom integration between HubSpot and your own proprietary systems, or to connect other systems that don’t have a native integration available.

Evaluating your website's readiness for HubSpot.

For most businesses, your website is the heart of your online presence and a central component of your inbound marketing strategy.

CMS Hub integration and website migration considerations.

If you're planning to use HubSpot's CMS Hub, carefully consider the website migration process. This involves planning how you'll transfer your website content, design, and functionality to the HubSpot platform.

Tracking code implementation and analytics setup.

Make sure the HubSpot tracking code is correctly installed on your website to capture valuable visitor data and track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Set up your analytics dashboards to keep a close eye on the metrics that matter.

Considering your team's technical skills and training needs.

While the system is known for its user-friendliness, implementing and managing HubSpot does require a certain level of technical know-how. Take advantage of HubSpot's extensive library of training resources, including HubSpot Academy, to get your team up to speed and encourage relevant team members to pursue HubSpot certifications to solidify their skills. Plan for initial onboarding support and establish processes for ongoing technical support as needed. 

Budget and Resources

Determining the cost of HubSpot subscriptions and add-ons.

HubSpot provides various pricing options for its Hubs and add-ons. To find the best fit for your business needs and budget, carefully review each Hub's pricing structure, keeping in mind the features and any limitations. HubSpot’s consultants are very helpful during this process.  

Calculating the Return on Investment (ROI)

Although HubSpot requires investment, consider the potential returns. By simplifying and automating processes, generating more leads, and keeping your customers happy, HubSpot can significantly impact your bottom line. Do the math and calculate the potential ROI based on your business goals.

Allocating internal resources for implementation and ongoing management.

Implementing and managing HubSpot requires dedicated time and effort from your internal team. Clearly outline who within your organisation will be responsible for different aspects of the HubSpot implementation and ongoing management. This includes project management, data migration, content creation, campaign management, and technical support. Create a realistic HubSpot implementation plan with clear timelines and milestones for each stage of the implementation.

Considering the Costs of Potential External Consultants or Agencies

For businesses that might lack the internal expertise or bandwidth, partnering with a HubSpot partner agency can be a smart move.

• When to Hire a HubSpot Partner. Consider bringing in a HubSpot agency if you need help with strategy development, complex integrations, custom development, or ongoing support to ensure you're getting the most out of the platform.

• Selecting the Right Partner for Your Needs. For a HubSpot partner, choose a reputable agency with a proven track record, industry experience, and familiarity with the Australian market—like us! 

Training and Onboarding

Creating a comprehensive training plan for your team.

Create a comprehensive training plan to ensure your team can confidently and effectively use HubSpot. Create training programs tailored to the specific roles and responsibilities of different team members, such as marketing teams focusing on campaign management and lead generation, and sales teams on CRM and sales automation features. Make use of HubSpot's Academy and other resources, and supplement this with internal training sessions and easy-to-follow documentation.  

Establishing Ongoing Support and Knowledge Sharing

• Create internal documentation and a knowledge base so your team can easily find information and answers to common questions. 

• Hold regular team meetings to share updates, discuss best practices, and tackle any challenges related to HubSpot usage as a team. 

• As your team expands, ensure you have an onboarding process in place to quickly get new users up to speed with HubSpot.

Legal and Compliance Considerations in Australia

Understanding Australian privacy laws and regulations.

Australian businesses must play by the rules outlined in the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988.

• Get to know the  APPs inside and out. These govern how you collect, use, disclose, and store personal information. Your HubSpot setup and processes will need to be fully compliant.

• If you're planning to use HubSpot for email marketing, you need to comply with the Spam Act 2003, which regulates the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages. Always get explicit consent before sending marketing emails and provide clear and easy ways for people to opt out.

• Implement data security measures within HubSpot to protect personal information. Understand where HubSpot stores its data and make sure it meets your specific regulatory requirements.

• Carefully read through HubSpot's terms of service and data processing agreements to understand their responsibilities regarding data privacy and security.

Developing a Phased Implementation Plan

Breaking down the implementation into manageable phases.

Don't try to boil the ocean! Break down your HubSpot implementation into smaller, more achievable phases.

Focus on implementing the core features and functionalities that will deliver the most immediate impact for your business and establish achievable timelines and milestones for each phase.

Thoroughly test each implemented feature and functionality before moving on to the next phase. Be prepared to adapt and make adjustments based on what you learn and the feedback you receive.  

Wrapping Up: Key Considerations for HubSpot Success

Successful HubSpot implementation comes down to meticulous planning, a deep understanding of your business goals, careful data management, technical readiness, the right resources, comprehensive training, staying on top of legal requirements, and a step-by-step approach. 

We can't stress enough the importance of laying a solid foundation before implementing HubSpot. Proper planning and preparation will save you time, money, and frustration in the long run.

Our Final Tips

• Start small and scale: You don't need to use every HubSpot feature from day one. Begin with the core functionalities that address your most pressing needs and gradually expand your usage as you become more comfortable.

• Focus on data quality: Invest the time and effort to clean and maintain your data. Accurate data is the bedrock of effective HubSpot usage.

• Invest in training: Make sure your team is properly trained to maximise their use of HubSpot. It's an investment that will pay dividends.

• Stay informed about regulations: Keep up with any changes to Australian privacy laws and ensure your HubSpot practices remain compliant.

• Consider partnering with experts: If you need guidance or support, don't hesitate to reach out to a HubSpot partner like Agora.

Need a smooth HubSpot launch?

Get in touch with our team to discuss your pre-implementation requirements. We’ll walk you through every step for an effective, stress-free setup.