HubSpot workflows are automated processes that trigger emails, internal tasks, and data updates based on predefined enrollment criteria. By combining context with content, workflows allow businesses to scale lead nurturing, standardise sales pipelines, and align marketing operations within a single customer relationship management (CRM) platform.
Why Automate Your Marketing and Sales Processes?
Lead nurturing is highly effective, but manually tracking prospect actions and sending individual responses is time-consuming and prone to human error. HubSpot workflows solve this problem by executing actions automatically when a prospect downloads an eBook, subscribes to a blog, or opens an email.
By implementing structured workflow automation, organisations can standardise their customer journeys. Teams that adopt this level of CRM automation through structured frameworks typically reach measurable time to value in an average of 32 days.*
[Results and timelines are based on historical programme data and defined scope. Your outcomes depend on data readiness, resourcing and agreed assumptions. See terms.]
6 Steps to Building a HubSpot Workflow
Creating an effective workflow requires logical planning. Follow these six steps to build, test, and deploy automation in your HubSpot portal.
Step 1: Choose Your Workflow Type and Object
Begin by selecting the foundation of your workflow. You can choose to use a pre-built template aligned with common business goals, or you can start from scratch.
If starting from scratch, you must select your workflow object. This dictates the type of record enrolled in the automation, such as Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets, or Custom Objects. Next, choose your workflow type:
- Blank workflow: Start from scratch with standard enrollment triggers.
- Scheduled workflow: Set a schedule for the automation to recur at regular intervals (available for Operations Hub Professional and Enterprise users).
- Specific date workflow: Execute actions based on a specific date property on the enrolled record.
Step 2: Set Enrollment Triggers
Enrollment triggers are the specific criteria that automatically pull a record into the workflow. If you prefer to enroll records manually, you can leave this section blank. Common enrollment triggers include a contact submitting a specific form, a deal moving to a new pipeline stage, or a support ticket being closed.
Step 3: Add Actions, Branches, and Delays
Once your triggers are set, begin adding actions. Actions are the individual functions that execute within the workflow.
- Actions: Send an email, create an internal task, or update a contact property.
- Branches: Use branching logic to send contacts down different paths based on their behaviour. For example, if a contact clicks a link in an email, they follow Path A; if they ignore it, they follow Path B.
- Delays: Add time delays between actions to prevent the system from sending multiple emails simultaneously, ensuring content is delivered at a meaningful pace.
Step 4: Configure Workflow Settings
Workflow settings control the overarching behaviour of your automation. Before activating the workflow, review these administrative controls. You must determine if contacts are allowed to go through the workflow more than once, whether actions should execute only on business days, and if enrolling in this workflow should remove the contact from other active campaigns.
Step 5: Test Your Automation Logic
Before turning the workflow on, use HubSpot’s testing tools. The test feature simulates the workflow sequence for a specific contact record, providing visibility into how the logic functions. This highlights any missing steps or conflicting criteria, ensuring the automation performs exactly as intended.
Step 6: Evaluate Performance Against Goals
Once your workflow is active, you must measure its effectiveness. Setting a 'Goal List' allows HubSpot to track performance; when a contact meets the goal criteria, they are automatically unenrolled from the workflow, and the conversion is recorded. Use the performance tab to analyse conversion rates, email engagement, and overall trend data to optimise your sequences over time.
People Also Ask
What is a HubSpot workflow?
A HubSpot workflow is an automated set of rules and actions within the CRM. It is used to automate repetitive marketing, sales, and service processes, such as sending lead nurturing emails, updating lifecycle stages, or assigning tasks to team members.
Can I automate actions for custom objects in HubSpot?
Yes. If your portal includes custom objects, you can build workflows specifically based on those records. This allows you to trigger actions and update properties for highly specific data types that fall outside standard contacts or companies.
What is a scheduled workflow in HubSpot?
A scheduled workflow executes actions on a recurring, pre-determined basis, such as daily, weekly, or monthly. This feature requires a HubSpot Operations Hub Professional or Enterprise subscription and is ideal for automating regular data cleansing or recurring task assignments.
Are manual processes slowing down your sales and marketing teams? Book an outcomes consultation to see how Struto designs, builds, and optimises complex workflow automation in HubSpot.
