HubSpot Marketing Software cheat sheet

Inbound methodology stages in order: Attract, Engage, Delight - each mapped to lifecycle stages from Subscriber through Evangelist.

Buyer's journey has three stages: Awareness (problem identification), Consideration (solution evaluation), Decision (vendor selection); content must match the stage.

Buyer persona fields to define: role, goals, challenges, objections, preferred content formats, and decision criteria.

Lifecycle stage is a contact property that advances automatically via form submissions, page views, and workflow actions; it is distinct from Lead Status.

Fit vs. intent: fit = persona/ICP attributes (industry, size, role); intent = behavioral signals (pricing page visits, demo requests).

Lead scoring combines positive attributes (job title, company size) and negative attributes (student email domain, unsubscribed) plus engagement points.

SMART goal format for campaigns: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound; tie each goal to one primary metric.

Content offers follow a conversion path: CTA → landing page → form → thank-you page → follow-up email; each step is a measurable conversion event.

Contact record holds email, name, lifecycle stage, lead status, owner, and custom properties; companies and deals associate to contacts via object associations.

Deduplication: HubSpot auto-detects duplicates by email; manual dedupe uses the Manage Duplicates tool and merges keep the most recent value per property.

Property types include single-line text, dropdown, date picker, number, and calculation properties; dropdown options must match imported values exactly.

Import rules: CSV column headers map to internal property names; imports can create and update, and a unique identifier (usually email) prevents duplicate creation.

GDPR/consent: subscription types track opt-in per communication channel; lawful basis and consent status are stored per contact.

List types: active lists recalculate membership on criteria changes; static lists are snapshots and do not update automatically.

Contact owner assignment can be manual or via workflow; owner is a HubSpot user property separate from lifecycle stage.

Data hygiene: required properties, property validation rules, and regular audits of unused properties reduce dirty data.

Blog post SEO essentials: target one primary keyword, include it in title, URL slug, meta description, H1, and at least one internal link.

Landing page structure: headline, subhead, benefit bullets, form, social proof, and a single conversion goal; hide navigation to reduce exits.

Forms: each field reduces completion rate; progressive profiling swaps known fields for new questions to enrich records over time.

CTA hierarchy: primary CTA on every page, contextual CTA in blog posts, and anchor CTA in emails; A/B test copy and color.

Campaign object groups assets (emails, landing pages, blog posts, ads) so ROI can be attributed to a single initiative.

Email deliverability: authenticated domain (SPF/DKIM), clean list, and consistent sending volume protect sender reputation.

Content calendar: plan by persona, journey stage, and campaign; reuse pillar content into derivative formats (video, infographic, email).

A/B testing rule: test one variable at a time, use a statistically significant sample, and pick a primary metric before launch.

Workflow enrollment triggers: contact-based (list membership, form submission, property change) or company/deal-based; enrollment is evaluated on save and on trigger events.

Workflow action types: send email, set property, create task, delay, branch (if/then), enroll in another workflow, and webhook.

Re-enrollment must be enabled explicitly; without it a contact who completes the workflow once will not re-enter.

Goal-based workflows stop contacts when a goal is met (e.g., deal created), preventing redundant nurture emails.

Suppression: unsubscribed contacts and those who bounced are excluded from marketing emails by default; transactional emails bypass unsubscribe.

Delay vs. branch: delays pause execution for a set time; branches split the path based on property or list criteria at that point.

Workflow conflicts: multiple workflows setting the same property can conflict; use a single source of truth or last-write-wins awareness.

Testing: use the workflow history and test contacts to verify enrollment, branch logic, and email rendering before turning the workflow on.

Core funnel metrics: visits → contacts → MQLs → SQLs → customers; conversion rate per step = next-step count ÷ prior-step count.

Traffic analytics: sources (organic, paid, direct, referral, social, email) and sessions vs. users vs. page views are distinct metrics.

Email metrics: open rate = opens ÷ delivered; click rate = clicks ÷ delivered; click-to-open rate = clicks ÷ opens.

Attribution: first-touch, last-touch, and multi-touch models differ; HubSpot reports default to a chosen attribution model per report.

Campaign ROI = (revenue − cost) ÷ cost, expressed as a percentage; revenue is tied to deals associated with the campaign.

Dashboards aggregate reports; each report has filters (date range, property, campaign) that must match for fair comparisons.

Cohort and funnel reports show drop-off by stage; segment by persona, source, or lifecycle stage to isolate causes.

Data lag: email and ad metrics can lag hours; compare like-for-like periods and avoid drawing conclusions from partial-day data.