Among the best issues about HubSpot is its capability to ship insights about your group’s efficiency throughout advertising, gross sales, and buyer success. However unlocking these insights does require you to know a factor or two about learn how to greatest use HubSpot’s reporting capabilities.
Achieved nicely, HubSpot reporting provides your online business complete but digestible insights that assist you make knowledgeable choices shortly. Meaning whether or not you’re assessing your newest advertising marketing campaign, determining in case your gross sales group is closing extra offers with AI, or satisfying reporting necessities from buyers or a board, HubSpot can ship the solutions you search.
The idea for good reporting in HubSpot
We advocate a “report first” strategy when serving to purchasers arrange HubSpot. Since getting clear, invaluable insights is usually a major aim, we imagine it solely is sensible to begin there from the start.
This strategy retains everybody centered on the solutions we wish to study from our use of HubSpot, and it helps to make clear what information we’ll must have entry to within the platform.
As an illustration, when a credit score union shopper of ours needed to know what proportion of web site guests opened new accounts and what advertising actions have been most profitable in producing new-account signups, it turned clear that we might must arrange an integration with their programs to verify HubSpot knew when a brand new account had been created.
This expertise underscores the worth of beginning with stories in thoughts: the strategy helps you determine what you do not know, enabling you to make the required changes to your HubSpot setup. It is not simply concerning the finish numbers, however understanding what information and configurations are wanted to get there within the first place.
Laying the inspiration for efficient reporting in HubSpot
To make sure profitable reporting in HubSpot, remember to take a deliberate, systematic strategy. We suggest our purchasers begin like this:
- Determine the questions: Begin by pinpointing the precise questions you want your reporting to reply. These may vary from understanding buyer conduct to monitoring gross sales efficiency. You should definitely contain all obligatory stakeholders on this course of and think about your companies major targets and challenges.
- Decide the mandatory information: As soon as you have recognized the questions, assess the information required to construct insightful stories. This may occasionally contain creating customized properties, using customized objects, and/or integrating with different programs to assemble all the mandatory data. It additionally dictates the data you’ll want to gather on types, from salespeople, and from lead enrichment instruments.
- Construct the stories: With a transparent understanding of your questions and the information at hand, proceed to assemble the stories wanted. Adopting a “report first” strategy ensures that your setup in HubSpot is tailor-made to reply your questions successfully.
As you start constructing out the stories, maintain a watch out for these frequent pitfalls:
3 frequent pitfalls to observe for in HubSpot reporting
1. Neglecting strategic planning in your reporting
This basically boils all the way down to ignoring Steps #1 and #2 above. Typically, reporting is both handled as an afterthought, or new customers get carried away making a bunch of stories, lots of which find yourself being pointless. To make sure data-driven decision-making, it is essential to start by rigorously contemplating the questions you goal to reply and guaranteeing you might have all the information you’ll want.
2. Incorrect use of filters
HubSpot’s default filters typically concentrate on the “created” dates of objects within the report, like offers or contacts, which may result in the looks of lacking or inaccurate information. For instance, should you’re making an attempt to report on income in “closed-won” offers final quarter, a report filtered by offers created final quarter would show inaccurate information (as an alternative you’ll need the filter to be based mostly on the offers’ shut dates). You should definitely usually verify and regulate filters to make sure your stories consider the metrics which are essential to you.
3. Untimely use of the Customized Report Builder
Whereas HubSpot affords a extremely succesful customized report builder for its Skilled and Enterprise variations, diving into it earlier than absolutely understanding the platform will be overwhelming.
In the event you’re simply getting began with HubSpot reporting (or should you simply wish to save a while), we suggest beginning with the pre-built stories within the report library. It’s possible you’ll discover the precise report you want or one thing near it. You’ll be able to then make changes to filters or customise it additional if obligatory so that you don’t have to begin from scratch. Take a look at HubSpot’s Information Base article to study extra, or the HubSpot Academy course on it.
Wish to make HubSpot reporting extra useful? Comply with these greatest practices:
1. Be deliberate and strategic when creating stories
As a substitute of making stories only for something and all the things (as tempting as this may be generally), be intentional about what you are making an attempt to measure. Ask your self why it issues to your online business and what a part of your operations it is driving. This strategy helps you employ the system extra successfully and constructions your reporting in a manner that is genuinely helpful.
2. Simplify your strategy
It is simple to get carried away with HubSpot’s in depth reporting options. Nevertheless, the bottom line is to maintain it easy. Do not overcomplicate your stories with too many metrics or visualizations. Give attention to what you are making an attempt to perform and what you may truly do with the report.
3. Prioritize information high quality (and arrange integrations when wanted)
Your reporting is simply pretty much as good as the information you might have. Typically, you may want customized properties, and a few might have to be calculated or up to date mechanically by workflows. You might also must combine information from exterior sources like ERPs, proprietary programs, different advertising instruments, and/or accounting software program to get an entire image.
4. Use the suitable instruments for the job
HubSpot affords numerous forms of report visualizations. Be sure you’re utilizing the one which greatest represents the information you are making an attempt to showcase. Additionally, earlier than creating a brand new report, verify HubSpot’s report library to see if there is a pre-existing report that meets your wants.
5. Automate dashboard reporting
To maintain stakeholders within the loop, set your dashboards to mechanically ship up to date information at common intervals. Studies will be filtered otherwise relying on the stakeholder (salesperson, gross sales supervisor, VP of gross sales, and so on). This apply ensures that everybody is on the identical web page with out having to manually pull information every time.
The best way to Set Up and Customise Your HubSpot Dashboards
6. Leverage saved views
Filtered lists of information typically have to be constructed out as stories in different CRM programs, however HubSpot’s saved views are sometimes the easiest way to do that and don’t require you to create a report in any respect. Saved views are extra intuitive, environment friendly, and versatile, and may extra simply be put to make use of by completely different group members.
Setting Up and Utilizing HubSpot Saved Views
7. Use buyer journey analytics (Enterprise solely)
In the event you’re an Enterprise consumer, do not overlook the buyer journey analytics function. It could actually present invaluable insights into how prospects work together with your online business at numerous touchpoints.
8. Collaborate with groups
HubSpot permits a number of customers to collaborate on a single report. Use this function to get enter from completely different departments for a extra complete evaluation.
9. Monitor lifecycle phases
Use the lifecycle phases function in HubSpot to achieve invaluable insights into your advertising and gross sales funnels. Some companies overlook this property (or create customized properties that serve the same function), however using lifecycle phases affords a number of benefits.
As an illustration, by categorizing leads with the default lifecycle phases property, you possibly can entry a spread of pre-built stories that present key information. This contains insights into the tempo at which leads progress via the funnel, conversion charges between phases, and extra.
Correctly implementing lifecycle phases permits you to determine each bottlenecks and alternatives for enchancment, thereby enhancing your total gross sales technique.
The Knowledgeable Information to HubSpot Lifecycle Levels
10. Mix associated stories on dashboards to inform the complete story
HubSpot permits you to mix associated stories in your dashboard, weaving them collectively to inform an entire story of what’s taking place. By strategically organizing your stories, your dashboard can present a holistic view of your gross sales journey.
This strategy lets you analyze key efficiency indicators (KPIs), reminiscent of conferences booked or leads generated, in a contextual method. By viewing these interconnected stories, you possibly can determine root causes of points and spot alternatives for impactful modifications. This technique ensures that your dashboard not solely presents information but additionally tells a compelling story that guides strategic decision-making.
To do that nicely, first think about the KPIs most vital to you and add stories for these. Then, think about what main metrics have an effect on these KPIs, and add stories for these too. Proceed till your dashboard tells you the complete story of your KPIs and all the things that results in them.
Use HubSpot to degree up extra than simply reporting capabilities
Whether or not you are new to HubSpot or trying to optimize your present setup, we’re right here that can assist you get essentially the most out of the platform. In the event you’re able to make knowledgeable choices based mostly on correct, insightful reporting, guide a name with us in the present day.
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