5 Key HubSpot Workflows for B2B Marketing to Boost Conversions

Did you know that more than 50% of the leads you generate are not ready to buy? Read on to learn how  you can use HubSpot workflows to nurture B2B leads  and boost conversions.

You implemented a lead generation campaign and managed to attract leads but what next?

If you think, you can sit still and wait for them to take the next step, you’re mistaken because the truth is, 50% of the leads you generate are qualified but not ready to buy. 

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Well, this is what makes lead nurturing so crucial, enabling you to nurture leads, encourage them to move down the sales funnel and build long-term relationships. 

As per Forrester Research, companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at 33% lower cost.

However, as you continue to get more leads and grow your business, it gets almost impossible to individually nurture each and every lead. 

Enter – HubSpot’s Workflows. This tool lets you set up powerful, automated workflows and generate more leads in less time by triggering personalized emails to leads basis the customer journey stage they are in. 

Every workflow you build needs to start with a clearly defined goal after which you can determine specific criteria (fills a lead form, views a blog post, clicks on a lead magnet, etc.) and set up email campaigns that need to be sent to the respective leads who meet the criteria.

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In short, the purpose of this tool is to deliver the right emails to the right leads at the right time.

Here are the five essential HubSpot workflows you must set up to nurture your B2B leads effectively and increase chances of conversion

Workflow 1: Welcome New Leads

Trigger – Prospect fills a lead capture form (eg. Contact us form)

Goal – To prepare them for a personalized experience 

Let’s say a new prospect arrives on your website and shows interest by filling the newsletter sign-up form. Now, here’s someone you know nothing about except that they are interested in your company or content. So, use the lead capture form to obtain the following details –

  • First and last name
  • Email address

You can also assign lead scores based on behavioral data. For instance, if they open a marketing email, you can add one point to their lead score. Similarly, if they leave their phone number and qualify as an SQL, you can add another point. 

Start with sending out a ‘Welcome’ email to make them feel valued and pave the way for developing a solid relationship. 

After that, send out a second email to get to know them better, understand which persona they identify with and the kind of content they would be interested in. How do you do that? 

Include links to different kinds of content (basis the buyer personas you’re targeting) and keep track of which links are clicked. Once you have an understanding of where their interest lies, you can send assign them a persona and send them personalized emails/content going forward. 

Let’s say, you’re a security software company catering to two key personas – CEO of an SME and CTO of a large corporation. In order to segment them appropriately, you can send an email with links to two separate topics.

  • Link 1: directs to content catering to CEO
  • Link 2: directs to content catering to CTO

So, if someone clicks on link 1, you know they belong to the CEO persona. Similarly, those who click on link 2, belong to the CTO persona.

For some businesses, it would also make sense to send a third email, encouraging them to complete their profile for an (time bound) incentive in return. This ensures the prospect completes the onboarding process, shares more details about themselves and gets closer to using the product. 

Welcome new leads

Workflow 2: Nurture Marketing Qualified Leads to Sales Qualified Leads

Trigger – Lead shows interest in a specific product or service on your website

Goal – Nurture the lead and take them down the sales funnel from MQL to SQL

This workflow is activated when a lead fills a form or their website behavior indicates a clear interest in your product or service. Such leads want more than just ‘content’.

Let’s say, they’ve filled a bottom of the funnel-related form (ie. lead form for a free demo, trial offer or have downloaded a white paper surrounding your product/service offering). We have the following information – 

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Mobile number
  • Industry data

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You need to now send them a series of automated emails to take them further down the funnel. Apart from that, you can also adopt a multi-channel approach and add them to advertising campaigns on other channels. 

  • Email 1: Send a White paper to demonstrate your expertise in the industry
  • Add them to a list and run Facebook custom audience ads or LinkedIn ads to target them
  • Email 2: Ask them if they’d be ready to speak to a sales professional (send them a link to the appointment setting page on HubSpot)
  • If no response, then do the following…
    • Set up a task for salespeople to call the qualified lead
    • Email 3: Send them a case study or customer testimonial to build trust
    • As you have the mobile number, send a targeted WhatsApp message to connect with them (you can do that via the HubSpot Salesmsg integration)
    • Email 4: Ask for feedback on the downloaded content

The idea is to deliver valuable resources followed by a lead offer (case study, webinar, etc.) or ask whether they want to consult the sales team and continue this pattern of meaningful resource followed by ask/offer.

That’s not all, you can also ensure timely and relevant follow up emails are sent by creating a task for the sales team in the workflow. 

Nurture MQL to SQL

Workflow 3: Delight Contacts with Personalized Offers

Trigger – Anniversaries, birthdays or other such similar milestones

Goal – Strengthen relationships with contacts and drive loyalty

It can be a customer’s anniversary with your company, a first purchase celebration or another milestone event. It’s a good idea to surprise them by sending a personalized email, wishing them and offering a discount/offer.

This is a great way to strengthen your relationship with your contacts and surprise them with unexpected rewards that are sure to be welcomed and appreciated.

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Basis the data you have on the contact, you can send an email with a discount coupon to one of your products/services that would be of interest to them. In addition to a promotional email, you can also serve them birthday promotion ads on Facebook and send them a WhatsApp message too. 

In this case, there will be two workflows. One, that sends out an email to customers asking them to fill out a form (one of the fields should be birth date). 

The second one will be created, specifically centered on their birthday. 

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Delight contacts

Workflow 4: Re-engage with Cold Leads

Trigger – Contact has been inactive for a specified duration of time

Goal – Remind them of your brand and get them back on track

There will be a large number of leads on your list who would have become inactive or gone cold. This is a very common phenomenon but most marketers go wrong when they don’t take the effort to “warm” these leads up.

Set up a re-engagement workflow that triggers when contacts haven’t engaged with you for a specific period of time after their last activity. Start by defining the period of inactivity and creating a list of contacts who match that. 

Let’s say, we define that as 90 days – so any contact who hasn’t engaged with you for 90 days will be automatically added to this list.

The goal of a re-engagement email campaign is to win those subscribers back and keep them engaged. You can send them a series of emails and run campaigns to target them on other channels. 

  • Email 1: Attention-grabbing email that gives them access to a new addition on your website such as a blog post, eBook, etc.
  • Target them with Facebook custom audience ads or LinkedIn ads
  • Email 2: Demonstrate new additions or changes you’ve made in your product/service/policy 
  • Run an SMS/WhatsApp campaign targeting them
  • Email 3: Ask them if they wish to remain subscribed or if you can take them off the list

Re-engage leads

Workflow 5: Leading up to an Event, Webinar or Tradeshow

Trigger – Upcoming event, webinar or tradeshow

Goal – Encourage registrations and attendance to the event 

If you’re hosting a webinar, tradeshow or any other kind of event, and want to get people to sign up for it, you can create a workflow to communicate with prospects before, during and after the event.

Before we go on to the emails, make sure you build an enticing landing page on your website that is well-designed and has all the necessary event details.


This is the series of emails that can be included in this workflow:

  • Email 1: Should introduce the event and include a link to the landing page
  • Email 2: Those who clicked on the link will be sent this email which encourages people to sign up

Apart from that, you can also run Facebook, LinkedIn and/or text messaging campaigns to create awareness about the event and encourage registrations. 

Sending out Email 1 is necessary because it lets you understand who are truly interested to attend the event. 

Those who sign up for the event can be sent “must-see” emails leading to the event. This creates hype and keeps them engaged enough to be present on the day of the event.

After the event, don’t forget to keep the relationship alive by sending a follow-up email, give them a recap of the event and keep them on your list for relevant future communication. 

Event

Final Thoughts

Whether it’s nurturing leads or delighting customers – HubSpot’s Workflows tool makes the whole process for you and your digital marketing agency incredibly easy. 

What’s important is setting the appropriate workflow goals, sending customized content and keeping an eye on the performance metrics such as email open rates, conversions, click-through rates and unsubscribe rates. 

Basis the performance, you can continually make tweaks to meet the desired objective and boost conversions. 

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