HubSpot marketing hub

Set up email sending, campaign tracking, lead handoffs, and marketing dashboards so your hub turns activity into measurable pipeline.

Chapters21 Tools7 About

Chapters

Article1 min
Build email on a foundation of deliverability, not design
Set up sending domains and authentication before designing templates, because an email in the spam folder converts nobody.
Article2 min
Build reporting in from the start, because you cannot bolt attribution on later
Configure tracking for channel and revenue attribution before the first campaign, since those questions cannot be answered after the fact.
Article2 min
Common failures
The usual hub set-up mistakes, starting with building emails and pages before properties and lifecycle stages are defined.
Article1 min
Configure the marketing hub as one half of a pair, never as an island
Set up the marketing hub as a pair with the CRM, not by accepting every default, so forms route properly and the contact database stays trusted.
Article1 min
Decide your data model before you touch a single feature
Define contact properties, lifecycle stages and structure in the first hour, because every feature later reads from and writes to them.
Article1 min
Every form is a contract about data, so design it that way
Every form field is a promise about what enters your database. Design forms for clean data, since sloppy forms cause most of the mess.
Article2 min
FAQs
Answers on hub set-up, including when the marketing hub alone is enough and when it needs pairing with a CRM for a real sales motion.
Article2 min
Make automation legible, because a workflow you cannot read is a workflow you cannot trust
Name, document and simplify workflows so anyone can read what they do and pause them safely after the builder has left.
Article2 min
Wire lead scoring and the sales handoff so nothing rots in the gap
Agree lead scoring and a real handoff to sales, so interested leads do not sit in the marketing database, nurtured forever and never called.
Article3 min
Connect your email sending domain
Authenticate your domain for marketing emails. Without this, emails land in spam and you can't send at scale.
Article3 min
Set up marketing contacts
Define which contacts count as marketing contacts (and which don't). This controls your billing and who receives campaigns.
Article4 min
Build your first email campaign
Create a marketing email from scratch: pick a template, write copy, add personalisation tokens, preview across devices, and send to a list. The core workflow you'll repeat every week.
Article3 min
Set up campaign tracking
Use HubSpot's campaign tool to group emails, ads, social posts, and landing pages under one umbrella. Track how a full campaign performs, not just individual assets.
Article3 min
Build your marketing dashboard
Pick the right template, add reports that answer your weekly questions, and arrange everything so performance is visible in 30 seconds.
Article3 min
Build default reports
Use HubSpot's pre-built reports for email, landing pages, forms, social, and ads. Know what's working without building anything from scratch.
Article3 min
Create custom and attribution reports
Combine multiple data sources to answer the questions defaults can't. Funnel reports and attribution reports that show where revenue actually comes from.
Article2 min
Use traffic analytics
Break down your visitors by source (organic, paid, direct, referral, email, social). Spot which channels drive sessions and which drive conversions.
Article6 min
Lead routing
Set up notification workflows that alert your team when leads take important actions, configure lead assignment automation that distributes leads fairly, and create data quality workflows that keep your database clean.
Article10 min
Lead scoring
Configure scoring criteria that balance demographic fit with behavioural engagement, implement point values for actions that predict conversions, and create score-based workflow triggers that route hot leads immediately.
Article9 min
Lifecycle stages
Define the stages a contact moves through from subscriber to customer, map the exact handover points where marketing passes leads to sales, and configure automation that updates lifecycle stages without manual work.
Article8 min
Marketing reporting
Build dashboards that show traffic sources and attribution, track lead generation metrics, monitor funnel progression, and measure campaign performance and ROI.

Tools

Tool
Cookiebot
Scans your website for cookies and trackers, shows a consent banner, and blocks non-essential tracking until approved.
Tech stack
Free plan
Sign up on Cookiebot
ToolClient acquisition
HubSpot
Combines CRM, marketing, sales and customer service around a shared contact database with a free tier.
CRM
Free plan
Sign up on HubSpot
ToolClient acquisition
Microsoft Clarity
View session recordings and heatmaps free to understand how users navigate your website or app.
Tracking
Free plan
Sign up on Microsoft Clarity
ToolClient acquisition
Spectacle
Links marketing touchpoints and ad spend to customer revenue and pipeline for B2B SaaS teams.
Tracking
Sign up on Spectacle
ToolClient acquisition
Squarespace
Build a polished marketing site or online store without managing hosting or writing code.
Website
Sign up on Squarespace
ToolClient acquisition
Webflow
Builds responsive websites visually with a built-in CMS and ecommerce, producing HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Website
Free plan
Sign up on Webflow
Tool
WordPress
Hosts content-driven websites, blogs and online stores on the WordPress platform with thousands of themes.
Tech stack
Free plan
Sign up on WordPress

About this playbook

Marketing Hub generates leads. Configuration determines whether those leads reach sales or disappear into an unstructured database. This playbook walks you through the setup that connects your marketing activity to pipeline. You will authenticate your email domain so campaigns actually land in inboxes, define marketing contacts to control costs, build your first email campaign, and set up campaign tracking to measure full-funnel performance. The second half covers reporting: building dashboards, working with default and custom reports, setting up attribution, and using traffic analytics to see which channels drive results. Follow the chapters in order, and your Marketing Hub becomes a system that proves exactly where revenue comes from.