8 Hubspot Automation Workflows to Improve Your Processes (Examples)

HubSpot automation workflows: most users know about them, but few maximize their full potential. In this article, we’ll walk through how HubSpot automation workflows work, how to augment them with other RevOps software, and some real-life examples to deploy across your tech stack. 

‍

Hubspot automation workflows: what are they?

HubSpot Workflows are the platform’s native marketing and sales automation tools and are available for users on the Professional and Enterprise pricing tiers. 

‍

Workflows enable you to streamline and accelerate various marketing and sales activities, including lead qualification and scoring, routing and distribution, email campaigns, deal stage progression, internal notifications, and more. The tool uses a straightforward drag-and-drop interface to build, edit, and map out automations—which is a plus for non-technical users.

Which sales and marketing activities can be automated with Hubspot workflows?

One of HubSpot’s core appeals is its cross-functional, all-in-one structure. Marketing, sales, service, and ops data live together in one platform. 

‍

This integrated setup enables you to build automations that cover every stage of the customer journey. Plus, you can build cross-hub workflows (e.g. automations that cover marketing and sales AORs). 

‍

HubSpot Workflows automate a broad range of activities, including: 

‍

• Delay: Pause actions in the workflow
• Branches: Create an if/then path to route records to actions based on specific criteria
• Go to workflow: Enroll the record in another workflow
• Go to action: Consolidate if/then branches to route all records in the workflow back to a common action
• Communications: Send automated emails, social media posts, and other marketing communications to an external audience, and send notifications to internal users
• CRM: Create, update, and manage all properties of enrolled records
• Marketing: Add records to and remove them from lists, add and remove from ad sets, and set Marketing Contact status
• Data ops: Deploy custom code or webhooks, or format data associated with the record
• Connected apps: Trigger actions within apps integrated with HubSpot (e.g. send a Slack notification, add data to a Google Sheet, schedule a Zoom meeting)

‍

You can orchestrate these actions in a variety of ways to fulfill business critical marketing and sales functionality. Here are some notable examples. 

‍

NOTE: The actions mentioned in these examples are available to various HubSpot Hubs and pricing tiers. To see what’s available in your current pricing plan, reach out to HubSpot directly. 

1. Marketing communications

The most common use of HubSpot Workflows is email automation: nurturing top-of-funnel leads, driving mid-funnel leads toward a sales conversation, and engaging bottom-of-funnel leads right up to the close. 

‍

Additionally, HubSpot’s built-in ad tracker enables you to automate Meta, LinkedIn, and Google ads. This enables you to integrate email and ad communications for consistent messaging across the customer journey. 

‍

You can also deploy schedule-based workflows to time communications to promote specific events: conferences, webinars, product launches, special promotions/discounts, year-end campaigns, etc. 

2. Lead scoring & qualification

Additionally, marketers can use HubSpot workflows is to automate actions after a lead has achieved a certain HubSpot score or Likelihood to close: 

‍

• Change the contact’s lifecycle stage
• Assigning the lead to a particular sales rep (e.g. using round robin lead routing rules)
• Sending a Slack notification or internal email to the newly assigned sales rep
• Directing the lead to a HubSpot calendaring link
• Enrolling the lead in a sales sequence or nurture workflow

‍

(For more details on HubSpot lead scoring—including the difference between manual and predictive scoring—check out this article.) 

3. Lifecycle stage, deal stage, and lead status updates

By tracking data throughout the entire inbound sales and marketing process, HubSpot can automatically update record properties based on designated engagement criteria. This reduces the need for manual CRM work (which your sales reps will love). It also helps track prospects’ progress through the funnel and provides accurate data for monitoring RevOps metrics and KPIs. 

‍

You can build a HubSpot automation workflow to initiate changes to lifecycle stage, deal stage, or lead status based on any number of triggers, including:

‍

• Outbound sales communications (and responses) tracked in the CRM
• Engagement with marketing communications (e.g. email, social media)
• New contact creation within the same company

4. Lead assignment & routing

We alluded to HubSpot’s lead routing capabilities above, but it’s worth a more in-depth discussion. Fast lead assignment accelerates your team’s response times and, as we’ve written before, increases your chances of booking a meeting by 100X. 

‍

HubSpot Workflows support lead routing capabilities in a number of ways, including:  

‍

• Enriching leads using HubSpot’s Breeze Intelligence feature
• Matching inbound leads to existing accounts (note: this only works automatically if the contact’s email address URL is identical to the company domain name)
• Assigning leads to specific reps using if/then rules-based automation or round robin rules (but not a combination of the two)
• Sending automated notifications to reps of a new lead assignment
• Using HubSpot’s calendaring tool to book a meeting after a lead fills out a form

5. Internal notifications

With HubSpot, you can send internal notifications to sales reps, managers, and other interested stakeholders. By automating these communications, you can accelerate your team’s response to lead activity and, thus, increase the likelihood of a booked meeting and, ultimately, closed-won deal.

‍

HubSpot enables several types of internal notifications, including:

‍

• Emails 
• Third-party app integrations (e.g. Slack, Teams)
• In-app notifications (e.g. Task creation)

6. Data updates

In the world of modern B2B, where customer journeys are non-linear and engagement levels are always in flux, it’s important to always have accurate, up-to-date, and properly formatted  lead and customer data. But you don’t have the time to constantly update records every time there’s a change. 

‍

That’s where data transformation comes in. HubSpot enables you to use workflow automation to update both standard and custom fields using first- and third-party data. Examples include:

‍

• Enriching leads with new data to augment form submissions and improve qualification and routing practices
• Use HubSpot’s “Format Data” function to transform information into useable data and insights directly within the workflow
• Using engagement data in email, social media, and ads to determine a lead’s likelihood to close and time marketing and sales communications accordingly

Why you should use HubSpot to automate sales and marketing activities

Marketing and sales automation are table stakes—and have been for a while. But buying automation software doesn’t guarantee results. It’s like a gym membership: unless you show up every day, put in your reps, and use good form, you won’t see results. 

‍

So when it comes to HubSpot automation workflows, having the right software, good internal processes, and a clear plan for what to automate (and what not to automate) can lead to some positive results. 

Faster speed-to-lead

In 99% of cases, manual = slow. And this often has little to nothing to do with the quality or hustle of your individual sales reps—even the best reps and managers aren’t on deck 24/7. But a delay of just five minutes can seriously hurt your chances of booking a meeting. 

‍

Plus, there are multiple processes that have to happen between conversion and meeting. Leads have to be enriched, qualified, matched to accounts, assigned, routed, and booked. That’s a lot of activity to happen within a five-minute window. When you automate those steps, however, you can get it all done with time to spare. 

Higher conversion rates

If you contact a lead within five minutes, you’re 21X more likely to convert them into an opportunity. Plus, 78% of leads buy from the first company that reaches out to them. Improving speed-to-lead, then, has a direct impact on conversions and revenue. 

Save time and resources

By reducing manual CRM tasks, HubSpot Workflows free up marketing and sales resources for revenue-generating activities. For example, using lead distribution software eliminates the need for a sales manager to litigate which leads go where. Instead, they can focus on coaching reps, improving call quality, and driving more prospecting across the team. 

Improve scalability

Another benefit of inbound marketing automation software is scalability. If you’re only landing 10-20 inbound leads per month, you could get away with qualifying, assigning, routing, and nurturing those leads manually. Once you scale up hundreds of leads per month, the task becomes impossible. 

‍

Because HubSpot is built with scalability in mind—their client base boasts anywhere from SMBs to several Fortune 500 companies—you can adopt the platform early on and scale as you grow. The problem, of course, is that HubSpot jacks up the price significantly for their higher pricing tiers. More on that below. 

Enhance both customer and employee experiences

Ease of doing business is a major driver of B2B customer loyalty. HubSpot Workflows not only increase the speed of action but, because the platform manages marketing, sales, and success activities, can ensure a seamless experience from the beginning of the customer journey to the very end. 

HubSpot automation workflow examples

Now that we’ve talked about HubSpot automation workflows at a high level, let’s dive into some specific examples and how to set them up. 

1. Lead qualification & nurture

For leads that are ready to buy right away after conversion, it’s important to get them in touch with sales as quickly as possible. But only 27% of inbound leads fall into this category. For the other three-quarters, you’ll need to nurture and follow up with those leads until they’re sales-ready. 

‍

HubSpot Workflows enable you to build a simple automation to qualify leads, then create an if/then branch based on their qualification status: 

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow. 
2. Set the enrollment trigger as Form submission. Choose between all forms, or specify specific forms you want to include (e.g. a “schedule a demo” form). 
3. If you don’t already have an automated lead enrichment process, go ahead and insert that step at the beginning of the workflow. 
4. Add a Branch. 
5. Set the conditions for that branch as either HubSpot score or Likelihood to close, depending on whether you prefer manual (i.e. a lead qualification checklist) or predictive HubSpot lead scoring. 
6. Define the threshold for the branch based on your lead scoring model.
7. For leads that meet your qualification threshold, set up lead assignment rules (the Rotate record to owner function implements basic round robin rules), enroll in the appropriate sales Sequence, and even deploy marketing emails as “air cover” for your sales team. 
8. For leads that don’t meet those criteria, create a series of automated nurture emails designed to guide them along the path to purchase. 
9. Review and activate your workflow. 

2. Updating lifecycle stage

One of the most common ways HubSpot users segment marketing messages is by Lifecycle stage. But if that property isn’t kept up to date, you risk sending an irrelevant and untimely message. 

‍

So instead of hoping and praying that salespeople stay on top of their CRM tasks (which, let’s face it, rarely happens), build a series of automated workflows to handle this in real time. 

‍

Here’s how to build a Lead → MQL lifecycle stage workflow in HubSpot:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow. 
2. Set the enrollment trigger as either HubSpot score or Likelihood to close, depending on which lead scoring approach you use. Set your qualification threshold as the value. 
   
   1. Be sure to include a filter to exclude any contact whose Lifecycle stage is “Sales qualified lead,” “Opportunity,” or “Customer.” 
3. Insert a Set property value action > Lifecycle stage > Marketing qualified lead

‍

Here’s how to build an MQL → SQL lifecycle stage workflow in HubSpot:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow. 
2. Set three enrollment criteria (use the AND Boolean operator): 
   
   1. Lifecycle stage = Marketing qualified lead
   2. Number of sales emails replied to = >1
   3. Recent sales email reply date = Last 30 days (NOTE: You can use whatever window makes sense for your sales organization here)
3. Insert a Set property value action > Lifecycle stage > Sales qualified lead

‍

Here’s how to build an SQL → Opportunity lifecycle stage workflow in HubSpot:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow. 
2. Set three enrollment criteria (use the AND Boolean operator):
   
   1. Lifecycle stage = Sales qualified lead
   2. Number of associated deals = >1
   3. Associated deal status =/= “Closed - Won”
3. Insert a Set property value action > Lifecycle stage > Opportunity

‍

Finally, here’s Opportunity → Customer lifecycle stage workflow in HubSpot:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow. 
2. Set two enrollment criteria (use the AND Boolean operator):
   
   1. Number of associated deals = >1
   2. Associated deal status = “Closed - Won”
3. Insert a Set property value action > Lifecycle stage > Customer

3. Live event promotion & follow-up

Whether you’re planning to attend a big industry conference, host a local Lunch & Learn, or launch a webinar, you can use HubSpot Workflows to create a series of automated emails leading up to a specific date. Then, you can send a series of emails after the fact (e.g. to send a webinar recording or remind conference attendees to schedule a demo). 

‍

Here’s how to build a HubSpot Workflow around a live event:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select your enrollment criterion as Based on a schedule, using the date of your live event as your reference point. 
2. Schedule a series of emails to be deployed a set number of days relative to (before and after) the event. 
3. Create Delays and Branches to add additional promotion and follow-up to leads who don’t open or click your initial emails. 
4. Review and activate your workflow. 

4. Round robin & rules-based lead routing

We’ve mentioned already how you can use HubSpot Workflows to route leads to specific sales reps upon conversion. Now let’s walk through the process of how to actually build those automations. 

‍

First, here’s how to set up a simple round robin assignment workflow:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow.
2. Set two enrollment criteria (use the AND Boolean operator):
   
   1. Lifecycle stage = Marketing qualified lead
   2. Contact owner = No owner
3. Insert a Set property value action > Contact owner > Rotate record to owner
4. Review and activate your workflow.

‍

Additionally, you can set up a rules-based workflow. In this example, we’ll show how to build one that routes leads based on Industry:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow.
2. Set two enrollment criteria (use the AND Boolean operator):
   
   1. Lifecycle stage = Marketing qualified lead
   2. Contact owner = No owner
3. Create a Branch. Set the criterion as Industry, then select one of the options. 
4. For leads who are a YES in that branch, insert at Set property value action > Contact owner > [insert your industry lead’s email address here]
5. For leads who are a NO in that branch, insert Set property value action > Contact owner > Rotate record to owner. 
6. You can create multiple branches to account for all the Industries your reps are targeting. 
7. Review and activate your workflow. 

5. Internal notifications

There’s no point in assigning a lead to a sales rep if the rep doesn’t hear about it. So it’s important to set up internal notifications to keep both reps and their managers in the loop. 

‍

Let’s start with how to create an internal email notification. Before you build the workflow, you need to create a notification template:

‍

1. Go to Marketing > Marketing Email.
2. Select Create email > Automated.
3. Select the template you want to use, whether one of HubSpot’s built-in templates or one of your own. 
4. In the body of your email, make sure to insert the Internal Contact Record personalization token, as well as any text or other personalization tokens needed to contextualize the notification. 
5. Save your automated email. 

‍

Once you’ve saved this template, then you can create the workflow:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow.
2. Set your desired enrollment criteria. 
3. Insert a Send Internal Notification action. For the email, use the automated email you just created. For the recipient, select either specific internal user or the record’s HubSpot owner.
4. Add any other desired actions to the workflow.
5. Review and activate your workflow.

6. Enroll in a sequence or another workflow

Technically, you could create one HubSpot automation workflow for the entire post-conversion process (including all the functions mentioned above). But this can become unwieldy and complex pretty quickly, not to mention difficult to troubleshoot. 

‍

To ensure that all of these automations function seamlessly, you can use the Enroll in a workflow or Enroll in a sequence action to send from one to the other. For example, if you have a workflow for changing a lead’s lifecycle stage, you can then enroll them in a lead routing workflow immediately. 

‍

To do this, add an Enroll in workflow or Enroll in a sequence action at the end of your workflow to send the record from one to the next. This will allow a seamless transition from one to the other, and ensure that the actions of one aren’t simultaneously countering those of another. 

7. Create and assign sales tasks

Another common use case for HubSpot Workflows is the ability to create sales tasks once a lead is either created or qualified. Building this workflow is pretty simple:

‍

1. Create a Contact-based workflow. Select From scratch. Select Blank workflow.
2. Set your desired enrollment criteria. Either you can enroll a lead in the workflow after they fill out a specific form, reach a certain lead score, or have their lifecycle stage changed to SQL. 
3. Add an action: Create a task. Be sure to assign the task to the lead’s assigned sales rep.
4. Repeat that action as many times as possible to match your sales process. 
5. Review and activate your workflow. 

8. Automate deal stage progression

You can also use HubSpot to automate updates to your deal stages. This enables you to keep your sales pipeline accurate and up to date, regardless of how often reps go in and manually update their records.

‍

To create this workflow: 

‍

1. Navigate to the Workflows tool by following the steps outlined above.  
2. Select Create Workflow > From scratch. Select Deals as the Workflow object.  
3. Set your enrollment triggers. This can be booked meetings, document interactions, task completions, quote actions, and more. 
4. Add an action: Set property value. Update the Contact property “Deal stage” to the desired value. 
5. Add additional actions, including conditional branches, as desired.  
6. Review & activate your workflow. 

How to augment HubSpot automation workflows with Default

HubSpot automation workflows do have some drawbacks, however. The actions available for you to automate, while covering a good number of marketing and sales use cases, are still limited. 

‍

Consider, for example, the following use cases:

‍

• You can’t set up flexible or weighted round robin lead routing in HubSpot. Either you use rules-based routing or round robin, but no combination of the two.
• HubSpot is built for linear buying journeys, and struggles to handle double-backs or omnichannel engagements (e.g. PLG data) 
• If you want to trigger actions in other platforms across your RevOps tech stack (e.g. Slack or Google Calendar) in HubSpot, you’re limited to the actions those integrations offer—or an expensive API development cycle

‍

Instead, you should use a platform like Default, which not only orchestrates all your platforms but can build end-to-end marketing and sales workflows: capture, enrichment, qualification, distribution, calendaring, and more. 

‍

HubSpot automation workflow FAQs

What are the three types of workflows in HubSpot?

HubSpot offers three types of workflows: contact-based, company-based, and deal-based. You can enroll only one record type into each workflow. However, some workflow actions may allow you to leverage data from associated records (e.g. contact-based workflows using data from associated companies and deals). 

Does HubSpot have workflow automation?

Yes, HubSpot has a powerful workflow automation tool with an easy-to-use visual interface. HubSpot Workflows enable you to automate marketing communications, internal notifications, integrations with third-party tools, data transformation, lead routing and assignments, and more. 

Is HubSpot automation free?

No, HubSpot automation is not free. You’ll need the Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise pricing tiers to gain full access to Workflows. However, some limited automations are available with the Free and Starter tiers. 

Where can I see Workflows in HubSpot?

To see Workflows in HubSpot, navigate to the Automations icon on the left-hand bar. As you hover over that icon, you should see a list of options. Select Workflows to navigate to the Workflow builder. 

Final thoughts on HubSpot automation workflows

Although unquestionably a category leader, HubSpot’s workflow automation tool has its drawbacks. One of the biggest is its trouble handling integrations. Another is its difficulty creating flexible, weighted, or customized round robin meetings.

‍

At the same time, if your team is already familiar and comfortable with HubSpot, you don’t want to abandon the tool as your CRM. Especially because the only real competitor on the market is Salesforce—which has an even steeper learning curve and is even more inflexible. 

‍

The best solution is to use an automation tool that augments HubSpot’s capabilities without creating a tangled mess of integrations and custom APIs. Learn more about the difference between Default and HubSpot here. 

‍

→ Embed Product Page CTA 🚨

‍