4 HubSpot Onboarding Best Practices for Marketers

Onboarding is a critical phase of any new working relationship. One misstep in the process could be discouraging or create distracting headaches. But there are ways to set up a smooth onboarding process through HubSpot, especially when you have a partner by your side.

Not only does HubSpot offer a wealth of expert advice and useful tools for hands-on marketing and marketing automation, its ability to grow with your company via the additional Sales, Service, and HubSpot CMS hubs, as well as its free CRM, make it an ideal way to kick off an inbound marketing program. But how can you get started and learn the ropes as efficiently and hassle-free as possible?

As a certified HubSpot partner agency, Weidert Group has no shortage of experience in walking clients through the process of getting started with HubSpot — and we’re sharing what we’ve learned!

Whether you’re just starting an inbound program or transitioning from another marketing automation platform, we’re ready to go over these four HubSpot onboarding best practices that’ll make your transition a smooth one:

1. Choose your HubSpot onboarding experience
2. Invest in Inbound education
3. Put the platform in users’ hands
4. Use projects to stay on task

1. Choose Your HubSpot Onboarding Experience

When you purchase a HubSpot license, you’ll need to determine how you’ll complete your required onboarding. You can go directly through HubSpot’s own onboarding experience, or seek out guided and more customized onboarding services from a HubSpot partner agency like Weidert Group. Either path leads you to the same general endpoint, but the journeys differ. 

HubSpot’s onboarding teaches you the various facets of the platform and portal setup so you can do things like send emails, connect landing pages to your website, and start gathering analytics. 

A HubSpot partner agency goes a step further and is a true partner in every sense of the word — mentoring you through not just the marketing automation platform, but sharing wisdom gained through experiences that are relevant to your industry, which could ultimately save you time and money. And it’s all done with your business objectives in mind, and tailored to the HubSpot tools included in your license.

We’ll have more details about Weidert Group’s recently revamped onboarding process in just a moment!

2. Invest in Inbound Education

School’s in session all year ‘round at HubSpot Academy! HubSpot’s knowledge base is accessible through training and certifications that are instrumental during the early phases of HubSpot setup and executing your first campaigns. They’re also an excellent resource for ongoing supplemental learning.

You don’t need a HubSpot license to take the free inbound certification course that covers inbound marketing basics, meaning you can get started on your inbound journey before you even complete your HubSpot purchase. 

We also recommend everyone on your sales and marketing teams take the following courses — whether you want to jump right in or wait until after your team has gone through the onboarding process.

Top 5 Recommended HubSpot Academy Certifications

While all HubSpot tutorials and certifications are helpful, we consider these our must-haves:

1. HubSpot Marketing Software. This is such a helpful certification for anyone who will soon dive into HubSpot’s Marketing Hub. It’s also great for those who’ve used the Hub for some time already but want to gain efficiencies or learn the latest and greatest approaches to using the tools.
2. HubSpot Sales Software. This certification will help you understand the Sales Hub/CRM and how to get value from it in order to improve your sales process.
3. HubSpot Service Hub Software. Gain a deeper understanding of HubSpot’s Service Hub and all of its capabilities to keep your flywheel spinning by ensuring top-notch customer service and delight.
4. Content Marketing Certification. Understand best practices for content creation and promotion as well as how to create content that both humans and search engines love!
5. HubSpot Reporting. Learn how to incorporate data-driven decision making at your organization with the use of HubSpot’s various reporting tools. 

There’s no shortage of HubSpot certifications and training courses. It’s easy to find others that speak to your specific needs, so use the search feature on HubSpot’s Academy resources page to find whatever topic you’re looking for.

Related: 10 Reasons to Get Your HubSpot Inbound Certification

3. Put the Platform in Users’ Hands

Like any tool, the HubSpot platform is only successful if people embrace it. Complete organizational buy-in for inbound marketing is a must in order to realize long-term success. Hands-on experience is often the best teacher. 

Empower team members to set up and learn the tools at their own pace and in their own way. It may seem like “play time,” but by having users put in the work upfront, they’ll be more comfortable and competent in leveraging all of HubSpot’s capabilities.

4. Use Projects to Stay on Task

HubSpot has a helpful resource for portal setup and learning, plus keeping the tools organized and time-efficient. HubSpot Projects is a built-in project management tool that helps you plan out and assign tasks related to a specific item or campaign. 

You can use one of the available templates or build a custom Project with tasks you determine. This tool can help you create a checklist to ensure no details are missed when setting up your HubSpot portal. Get your team using the platform and launch your first campaigns by creating a structured list of tasks related to each initiative.

Our Onboarding Services

We’ve updated our onboarding process to provide you with the tools and guidance you need in a streamlined, personalized, easy-to-digest format while you’re getting started with HubSpot.

Our new HubSpot Onboarding page takes you through each step as you decide between a quick start or fully guided process — whichever one fits your needs and budget. 

• The quick start program is more hands-off on your end, with our experts setting things up for you 
• Guided onboarding is a more comprehensive learning experience, where our team goes further and provides technical and strategic guidance for using these new HubSpot tools to help your team achieve your goals

Once you’ve selected your preferred process and which tools you’ll want with your HubSpot license (HubSpot CRM, Sales Hub onboarding, and more), you’ll be given information about the unique features and pricing. It’s a simple and clear-cut process, and we can’t wait to help you get going!

Click below to learn more about our onboarding services and request a consultation.