What is HubSpot and how will it benefit my business?

Are you wondering, what is HubSpot and why on earth won't this agency stop banging on about it? It's true that we just can’t say enough good things about our favourite inbound marketing and sales platform. But let’s step back a minute. In this blog, we’d like to explain exactly what this software can do for your business.

JAN 2017 UPDATE: We've made it! Six & Flow is delighted to now be a platinum tier HubSpot agency, the second agency in Manchester to earn this prestigious title. We also became the first officially Certified HubSpot Trainer agency in the whole of the UK, and one of only a handful in the world. Read more here.

What is HubSpot?

In simple terms, HubSpot is a software platform that supports inbound marketing and sales activities.

It includes tools for social media marketing, email marketing, content creation, web design, audience segmentation, search engine optimisation, marketing automation, web analytics and more. Basically, everything you could possibly need to run an inbound marketing campaign!

In addition to all this, HubSpot has an inbound sales dashboard which includes lead activity notes, performance tracking, deal forecasts, meeting links, email templates and more. HubSpot’s sales dashboard essentially makes the handover of leads from marketing to sales totally effortless.

Last but not least, HubSpot's Content Management System (HubSpot CMS for short) lets users build, host and optimise websites directly through their HubSpot platform. Learn more about the HubSpot CMS here.

HubSpot – one platform to rule them all

Inbound works best when everything’s connected. Sales and marketing departments work best when their activities are aligned. This is all common sense, right?

While inbound marketing and sales can be performed using a Frankenstein mix of WordPress, Hootsuite, Moz, Google Analytics, Outlook, personal diaries and a lot of post-it notes, this is often inefficient and exhausting. Winging your way through an inbound marketing campaign can also put you at risk of missing what’s working and what isn’t.

Crucially, HubSpot provides teams with a single platform which brings together everything they do. No more forgetting passwords for dozens of different accounts, juggling admin settings or emailing across endless documents.

By managing all elements of your inbound marketing through HubSpot, it’s also easy to see every part of the lead generation, nurturing and conversion process in action.

Say a lead sees one of your tweets, follows the link to a blog, browses your website, clicks a call to action, fills in a download form and then opens the email you send in response. HubSpot can give you visibility over each and every step of this process.

HubSpot even offers integrations with third party systems such as Salesforce, Eventbrite and SurveyMonkey, so you can connect everything together (we’re a dab hand at implementing integrations, too).

Why choose HubSpot over other platforms on the market?

Founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in 2006, HubSpot’s offering has grown over the decade or so it’s been around. Brian and Dharmesh are big believers in continual improvement, so HubSpot benefits from regular updates and additions to its offering, ensuring that it keeps up with fast-changing marketing trends.

So far in 2017, we've welcomed HubSpot's CRM conversations, new blog composition options, a Shutterstock collaboration, and new tools to organise content clusters and manage Facebook lead ads. Phew!

With all of these changes, it's easy to get overwhelmed - but don't worry. HubSpot focuses on educating clients to utilise the platform to its full potential. The training academy is full of helpful videos, guides and certifications which can improve your practical knowledge.

HubSpot's voracious appetite for sharing knowledge culminates in an annual conference called Inbound held in Boston, the company's birthplace. It’s a bit of a journey for a UK HubSpot partner like us, but it's worth the trip every year. Better yet, their European headquarters in Dublin is just a short journey from Manchester, and hosts a range of training sessions and partner days.

On top of all this, HubSpot provides great customer support on an ongoing basis.

A bit about being a HubSpot partner

Six & Flow is proud to be a UK HubSpot partner, currently gold tier and fast heading towards platinum. In fact, we’ve been a HubSpot agency pretty much since conception – our MD Rich attended his first Inbound Conference in 2015.

As a result of this time spent as a HubSpot partner, we’ve formed some great relationships with their lovely team, and we like to think we have a pretty good level of knowledge too. Just look at how many HubSpot certifications we have under our belt! With years of experience in using the platform, we truly believe it’s the best option out there.

If you're still confused about HubSpot, or just want to talk to an enthusiast, get in touch. We love talking all things inbound and would love to hear from you.