In simple terms, technical consulting is a service that helps businesses and individuals solve technical problems within a specific niche, industry, or even software. The main focus of technical consulting revolves around the improvement of technical infrastructure and operations.

It is without a doubt a challenge for businesses to keep up with the latest technological trends and best practices, given the steadily rising complexity of technological systems. Technical consulting provides solutions that help businesses stay up-to-date, and improve their overall performance.

The expertise of technical consultants isn’t limited to just technical solutions. Many companies erroneously assume that technology and automation can fix the majority of their problems, but this is not the case. While technology can fix some parts of bad processes, it is much wiser to improve the processes themselves, before worrying about the technical aspect of the problem. That is why creating streamlined processes is an important part of technical consulting and should be the primary focus of the job. Technology doesn't fix bad processes; it makes good processes much more performant.

In short, technical consulting focuses on improving not only the technical infrastructure but also the processes to improve overall performance and efficiency.

Why use technical consulting for HubSpot? 

There is a multitude of reasons why a company should use technical consulting for HubSpot. I'm only going to outline a few of them.

To start, if I were to guess, I would say that most of HubSpot's customers aren't using the platform to its full potential. I've seen a good number of subpar HubSpot setups; some of them were quite terrifying. Duplicate properties, inconsistent data, and sync errors are just some examples. HubSpot isn't cheap; if you're going to pay for the tool, you might as well use it properly. Sometimes, bad setups can be fixed quickly, but an inexperienced admin/user won't be able to spot these mistakes. The solution is to get someone who knows what they're doing—a technical consultant.

It takes time to manage the technical aspects of the business, especially if you lack expertise in a particular area. For example, let's say you assign your leads manually because you don't know how to assign them to your reps based on their timezone. In this case, not only are you spending a lot of time doing the process of the assignment itself, but you're also being inefficient by not assigning those leads quickly enough. Streamlining your operations can save you time and increase efficiency.

In my opinion, to manage HubSpot properly and use it to its full potential, the admin has to be technically literate. Someone who has a good understanding of how things work behind the scenes will always have an advantage over those who don't. Many good practices have been developed over the years that sometimes only technical consultants understand and have the knowledge of (which is strange since most of us have access to the same type of information).

While the range of HubSpot technical projects is large, here are a few common examples.

One of the most common technical projects is 

. This can include automating marketing or sales operations (and more). For example, you may want to segment audiences based on certain attributes, and then email the members when they take a certain action. Or you want to distribute leads based on their region. In both cases, you should automate the processes because they are repeatable and predictable.

Generating leads from multiple channels and campaigns is no good when you have no visibility of performance by lead source. Lead tracking and attribution (or lack thereof) are common problems at companies that simply lack the technical expertise to use HubSpot. While HubSpot has some sort of built-in lead tracking, it's not enough. Oftentimes, good tracking requires custom setups using JavaScript, as well as numerous custom properties automated via complex workflow processes.

 to help you reach out to leads that  matter is a part of technical consulting. Let’s just say that HubSpot itself is rarely enough to create an effective lead score—you also need enrichment software that needs to be integrated, and its data needs to be formatted/normalized before it becomes usable.

A common problem that companies face is data inconsistency

. When you have multiple instances of the same property, or worse, multiple values representing the same thing, it's almost impossible to draw accurate conclusions and make good business decisions. A technical consultant can point out these inconsistencies and provide solutions to make the data useful.

At the end of the day, HubSpot is only as good as its users' abilities to use it. Training your employees to use the platform to its full potential is important. Good training goes beyond standard usage, but it also touches on best practices, so that the user can be as efficient as possible. Proper training can also help with data integrity, and can affect the ability to report on certain CRM activities. 

In reality, every company could use a technical consultant, especially if they don't have an internal expert. Knslta focuses on helping out smaller companies that often don't have the budget to work with expensive agencies, or simply don't like to deal with bureaucracies that so often plague agencies. 

Why you should consider technical consulting for HubSpot

Google will be phasing out its Universal Analytics (UA) in July 2023, leaving most of us with no choice but to use its successor Google Analytics 4 (GA4). While the two platforms differ a lot in their functionality, some things, such as form tracking, will remain similar — if not the same.

This guide will show you how to track HubSpot from submissions with Google Tag Manager (GTM) and GA4. Since we will be using GTM throughout the whole process, 

ensure that you have already created your GA4 and GTM accounts

The first thing you will need to do is create a custom HTML tag in Google Tag Manager. 

New -> Tag configuration -> select Custom HTML. 

Once you have done this, copy and paste the code below into the HTML section.

Next, in the Triggering section, choose where you want this script to fire. In my case, I selected all pages, but you can also pick specific pages where your Hubspot forms are located. It’s entirely up to you how you go about it. For simplicity reasons, I will have it trigger on 

You can name this trigger whatever you want, but I suggest you have some sort of naming convention to help you keep track of your tags and their purpose. For this reason, I named my tag “Hubspot - Form Submit Listener”, as it will essentially "listen" for any Hubspot form submissions on my website.

The second thing you will need to create is a trigger. 

New -> Trigger configuration -> select Custom Event.

. Name the trigger (e.g. HS Form Submission) and save it.

Again, you can use your custom names; however, make sure that they match the event name(s) outlined in the code in the previous step, otherwise the script won’t work properly.

Go to Variables section, scroll down to user-defined variables, click 

New -> Variable Configuration -> select Data Layer Variable.

This variable is responsible for storing Hubspot form IDs, which will then be sent to GA4. This way, you'll be able to determine which HubSpot form was submitted. 

Almost done. In the last step you will need to create yet another tag.

New -> Tag Configuration -> select Google Analytics: GA4 Event.

In the Configuration tag input, select the GA4 account where you want to be sending the conversions. 

Now, every time a visitor submits a HubSpot form, GTM will send an event to GA4 under the name of hs_form_submission.

Now go to Event Parameters, and in the Parameter name input, type 

In the value input, select the HS Form ID variable you’ve created in step 3. You can search the different variables by clicking the icon right next to the input box.

You can also add Page Path in the Event Parameters, but this is optional. It will simply tell you on which page the submission has occurred.

In the Triggering section, add the trigger that was created in step 2. Save your work, and you're done.

While your GTM tag, trigger and variable internal names don’t truly matter, I suggest you name them in a way that will help you recognize what each of them does. 

Before deploying to live environment, I strongly recommend that you test your work!

Keep in mind that it may take up to 24 hours for the conversion to show up in GA4.

Track HubSpot form submissions in GA4 (using Google Tag Manager)

It’s finally happening. Google Analytics 4 will completely replace its predecessor (Universal Analytics) in July 2023. While there are still a lot of unanswered questions, I think it’s better to start migrating early and learning the ins and outs of the new version of Google Analytics. In this short guide, I will teach you how to set up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with Google Tag Manger (GTM).

Create a new property in your Google Analytics account

If you’ve already created your GA4 property and set up your data stream(s), you can skip this section. If not, keep reading.

Admin > Create property > complete all the necessary steps

Next, you will need to create a data stream for the same property. 

Click Admin > Data Streams > Add stream > select Web

. Complete the necessary information as prompted, and then click Create stream.

This process will automatically create your GA4 measurement ID that you will need to use in GTM.

In your GTM account, click Tags > New > Tag configuration > select 

Once that’s done, you will need to enter your GA4 measurement ID. You can find this ID in your Google Analytics 4 account under Admin > Data Streams > select your stream name.

Next, in the Triggering section, select where you want the tag to fire. In my case, the tag will fire on all pages, as I want to track every page on my website.

Save your tag, and publish your container. That’s it!

How to set up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in Tag manager (GTM)

Let's talk about lead scoring for a few minutes. It's something that should be deceptively simple to implement, and yet many companies fail at creating a scoring system that actually works. Why does that happen? Keep reading to find out.

Lead scoring is a method of assigning a numeric value to each lead, based on their likelihood of converting into a customer. This value is typically calculated using a combination of factors, such as the lead's behavior, demographic information, and engagement with the company's marketing efforts. By assigning a score to each lead, businesses can prioritize their sales efforts and focus on the leads that are most likely to convert.

Lead scoring can be a valuable tool for businesses because it helps them identify which leads are most promising, and therefore most worth their time and effort. By focusing on high-quality leads, businesses can improve their sales efficiency and increase their conversion rates. Additionally, by identifying high-quality leads early on, businesses can provide a better customer experience by addressing the needs and concerns of these customers more quickly.

The answer to this question is very simple. Instead of creating a data-backed lead scoring model, some businesses score their leads based on some arbitrary actions taken by the leads. Don't get me wrong, these actions can and should be used (properly), but they should never be used on their own. Why? Not every lead that takes high-value actions is a good lead.

There are many different ways to implement lead scoring, and the specific approach will depend on the business's goals and the data available to them. However, in general, the process involves collecting data on past leads, and identifying the key characteristics of high-quality leads. Here are some things to consider.

Don’t skip this step, and really have a good look at your historical data. By digging into your data on your past leads (both the great and the bad ones), you will be able to identify the common characteristics of leads that have the highest likelihood to convert. If you skip this step, your lead scoring model will almost certainly fail. You might be under the impression that your highest quality leads fit certain criteria, but the opposite might be true. Let the data tell if your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is actually your ICP because you might be in for a surprise!

Inconsistent data is one of the factors that can ruin your lead scoring model. For example, if you have different names for a country (e.g. United States, US, USA etc.), consider consolidating them into one (ISO codes work well). The same can be said for duplicate properties, or properties that store the same data but in different formats. The cleaner your data, the easier it will be to create and maintain a working lead scoring model.

Unless you ask for every single piece of information on your forms, chances are some leads will be missing key data that you will need to create a good scoring model. To overcome this problem, consider buying data enrichment software.

Identify the key characteristics and actions

Once you’ve figured out your data, you can now identify the key characteristics or behaviors that you want to use as the basis for your scoring system. These might include things like website visits, page views, time spent on the site, content downloads, form submissions, and other indicators of engagement. Once you have identified these factors, you can assign points to each one based on their relative importance and the level of engagement they represent. For example, you might assign 10 points for a website visit, 20 points for a page view, and 50 points for a form submission. My suggestion is to limit the score to a maximum of 100 points.

Split the score into different categories

You can create multiple different scores and then add them together. You can split ICP and activity data. This is not a necessary thing to do, but it helps keep things clean and more maintainable.

Once the model is created, it is important to evaluate its performance to ensure it is accurate and effective. This will typically involve testing the model on new data and making adjustments as needed to improve its performance.

Overall, creating a great lead scoring model involves using data and machine learning algorithms to identify the key characteristics of high-quality leads and create a model that can predict the likelihood of a lead being high-quality.

A simple guide to lead scoring (just some advice really)

Marketing for small business can be a difficult task. If you have ever wondered how to generate more leads for your SaaS business, trust me that you are not the only one. Generating quality leads for any business is a challenge and can quickly become frustrating. While offering free trials and demos is generally a good idea, website visitors rarely convert on their first visit. As a result, one has to find better ways to generate leads without being too pushy or sales-y. 

This article will explore some ways in which you can start generating more leads today. But, I will not lie to you—it will require some work on your side!

Creating a website is the first—and probably the most important step—to marketing a small business. It is the primary source of information about your products and services. That’s why your website needs to contain all the necessary information that visitors tend to look for (this, of course, depends on the type of business). 

But the information itself is not enough. Your website should also be structured in a way that makes it easy for visitors to find and understand information. In other words, good UI and UX are both necessary. Information becomes useless when its structure is bad. 

Another important thing to consider is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). To have an effective website, it must be searchable and show up when people look for relevant keywords. For example, if someone searches for “clothing stores in Orlando” and your website appears on the first page of the results, chances are you have good SEO. The better the SEO, the more traffic and potential customers will come to your website.

There is no doubt that writing quality, SEO-optimized blogs can help increase your traffic, and eventually bring more leads. But, blog articles themselves have one major problem: site visitors will often read them and after they are done, they will simply leave your site without signing up for anything, and that’s how you lose potential great leads. So while blogs are great for increasing traffic, you must still find a way to turn this traffic into conversions.

One way of achieving this is through providing downloadable gated content (where the visitor has to fill in a form to download content). You might be asking what type of downloadable content you should be providing. That is completely up to you, but educational eBooks and webinars are both a great start. Neither requires as much commitment from the visitor as a demo or a free trial.

When creating lead-gen forms, ensure that the form includes fields that are necessary to make contact. Don’t add any unnecessary fields, as the number of fields tends to decrease conversions. Remember that you can always append data later when you have a phone call with your new lead.

But, let’s take this a step further. How do you tell your audience about all the great downloadable content that you are providing? The answer is simple: include the links in your newsletters (if you don’t send one—you should!).

Believe it or not, your database already contains potential customers that just need to be nudged a bit. The best practice is to place the links of your best content on top of the newsletter. Arrange your content according to its importance and value. The more important the content, the higher its position in the newsletter. Always optimize for performance.

Building consistent traffic takes consistency and time. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t generate traffic to your website. You can speed up this process by investing in online advertising. There are different advertising platforms that you can use, with Google and Facebook Ads being the most popular. You will want to use a platform that best suits your needs. For example, Facebook ads might not be the best choice for B2B ads, but they will be more effective for B2C ads.

PPC ads can increase your brand awareness by nearly 80%

, it only makes sense that they can also increase your ROI relatively quickly. Bottom line, PPC advertising can be an effective way of marketing for small businesses.

There are two suggested ways of doing advertising. You can either create remarketing campaigns or target new audiences. Remarketing campaigns are an effective way of driving traffic back to your website and increase the likelihood of converting. In fact, it has been shown that only about 2% of first time visitors convert to a lead, and repeated visitors have much higher chances of converting.

But, if you decide to target new audiences, there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind. First, never redirect your visitors to a generic page (like the home page). Instead, always make sure that you have a dedicated landing page that specifically outlines your offer. For example, your landing page can be about your eBook or upcoming webinar (convenient if you’ve read everything in this article so far).

Yes, landing pages take time to create (if developed from scratch). If you have no developer on your team or if you don’t know how to do it yourself, it’s okay! Nowadays, there are many drag-and-drop website builders that will allow you to create landing pages without coding. Some examples are UNBOUNCE and INSTAPAGES, but there are many more similar products to choose from. Creating landing pages is easy and it can really pay dividends.

With about 3 billion active users worldwide, social media platforms are an excellent channel to reach new audiences. But, this doesn’t mean that social media presence is necessary for every business; in fact, some business types will see little to no benefit from using social media. Before dedicating time to building a social media presence, you have to decide whether or not it makes sense for your business structure.

If you do believe that your business will benefit from social media, there are some things you will need to do to succeed. First, your strategy will have to focus on building a follower base. While there are many ways of achieving this, only one of them will stand the test of time: creating solid, eye-catching and relevant content. 

Establishing a solid social media presence takes time and consistency. Don’t be tempted to speed up the process by buying fake followers. The problem with fake followers is that they are not relevant and won’t generate sales for your business. Most of the time, they are merely bots that could care less about your products or services.

But, there is one effective way of increasing your follower count faster, and that is to recruit social media influencers. Social media influencers have a large follower base that tends to actively engage with the content. When they promote a product or service on their accounts, their followers have a high likelihood to go check it out. So you can use social media influencers to promote your products. Social media influencers are an effective advertising network. 

It is not surprising that people tend to trust businesses more if they have an online presence, and this is especially true for SaaS. Referral sites are an excellent way of boosting your company’s visibility, but that’s not the only reason. Referral sites also bring higher quality leads on average, as their visitors often know exactly what they are looking for. There are many referral sites out there, but some of my favorites are Capterra and G2Crowd.

Referral sites usually also offer PPC opportunities, meaning that you can rank high in your category even if you don’t have reviews. Regardless, reviews are important to your business, so you should never try to replace them with PPC.

What’s great about sites like Capterra is that they will collect reviews for you if needed. All you have to do is send them a list of your customers, and they will handle the rest. In fact, they will even send $20 Visa gift cards to your reviewers—at no additional cost.

Email Marketing may not seem important in the early stages of running a business, but it becomes important as your audience grows in size. 

almost 60% of B2B marketers claim that email marketing is the most effective channel for revenue generation

. This is hardly a surprise, as most of your revenue potential probably resides with your existing contact database, rather than outside of it. 

First, email marketing grants you full control over your audience segments. What does this mean? It’s pretty simple. For example, consider that you have a big audience on your social media platforms, but one day these platforms disappear, and, along with them, your audiences. Pretty tragic from a marketing point of view, and it’s not rare to have your social media accounts hacked or terminated for no good reason.

With email marketing, your contacts’ details can be stored, exported, imported, moved and so on. So even if one day your favorite email client disappears, you will still be able to stay in touch with the audiences that you have built over the years. The same can’t be said for social media audiences; once they are gone, it is extremely difficult to recover them. 

Email Marketing also allows you to directly inform your customers about new products, services, upgrades, promotions and so on. One of the advantages of email marketing is that you can personalize the message and make it more relevant, increasing the chances of reaching your customers more effectively.

Marketing tips for small and midsize businesses

You may have many reasons to use hidden fields on HubSpot’s embedded forms. In most cases, users want to pre-populate these fields with specific values before sending the form data to HubSpot. And while this should be a straightforward process, according to the documentation, sometimes the pre-populated hidden fields have their data cleared upon form submission. No one in the HubSpot community seems to know why this exactly happens, but there is a workaround.

While this may sound counterintuitive, you will first need to unhide the hidden fields in the HubSpot form. The reason for this is simple, but not fully clear. For whatever reason, when you hide the fields in the HubSpot interface, sometimes the pre-populated values get cleared on form submission, but this is not always the case — which makes this whole thing even more puzzling. 

It appears that when you hide the field in the interface, HubSpot adds a 

 on the input tag, instead of simply setting 

. While I'm not sure this causes the problem, I have a suspicion that it might.

You will need to hide the fields on the front end instead. You can do it via a CSS file, but what I prefer to do is embed a jQuery code on the HubSpot embed script itself — that way you won’t have to worry about the iFrame not loading on time.

Locate the CSS class of the field you want to hide

First, you will need to find the CSS class of the field you want to hide. Once you’ve located it, you will need to use it in the code below.

Add jQuery or vanilla JS onto the HS embed script

Once you’ve modified the HubSpot embed form script as shown below, you won’t need to worry about random clearing of values upon form submission.

Prevent HubSpot from clearing pre-populated field values on form submission

No matter how good your email content is, some contacts will eventually unsubscribe for several different reasons — whatever they might be. You should pay attention to why people unsubscribe, as the feedback can help you create even better content. Unfortunately, Hubspot doesn’t provide unsubscribe reason functionality out of the box. But, the good news is that you can implement it yourself with some custom (but simple) code. This is a step-by-step guide for those who don’t have coding knowledge but want to know their contacts’ reasons for unsubscribing in HubSpot.

The first thing you need to do is create a custom 

Settings (cogwheel on the right-hand side) -> Data Management -> Properties.

Next, you will create a new property by clicking the “create property” button. Once you’ve done that, you will need to configure the new property by giving it a name (label), selecting a group to which you want it to belong, and a description (optional). In our case, the property is called “unsubscribe reason” and belongs to the contact information group. The field type is going to be radio select (if you want to contacts to be able to select multiple reasons, you can set the field type to multiple checkboxes instead). The next step is to add your reasons. You can add as many as you need, depending on your use case. Ensure that “show in forms” is checked, as we will be using the property in a form.

You will need to create a new form and add the property created above to the form.

You can have contacts enter their email in addition to their feedback. This will allow you to know the unsubscribe reason for each contact record.

If you decide to not add email, you will still be able to collect unsubscribe reasons, but you won’t know which contact chose what reason. You will only be able to view general statistics in the performance section of the form. You will see how many people chose what reason, but you won’t know the contact’s name or email, or anything else for that matter.

This is probably the most complicated step, but keep reading.

First, navigate to “design tools”. You will find it under Marketing > Files and templates > Design Tools.

Next, you’re going to create a new subscription module 

. You can find it by navigating to @hubspot/email_subscriptions_confirmation. Once you’ve cloned it, you will modify the new file as described in the following steps.

There are a couple of things that need to be changed here.

First, you will need to add your form. Navigate to the “Fields” tab on the right-hand side. Next, click “Add field” and select “Form” from the dropdown menu. Then, select the default form which is simply the new form you just created. 

Once that’s complete, copy the snippet of the new field and paste it into the module.html section, right below the default code provided by HubSpot.

Wrap both sections in a <div></div> like in the code below. 

You must add classes in your <div> tags for everything to work.

You can leave this blank, but if you want to apply custom styling, go ahead.

Because HubSpot uses a single confirmation page for both updating preferences and unsubscribing, we will need to use Javascript to conditionally display our module, so that our module only appears after the user clicks unsubscribe and not after they update subscription preferences.

This code simply looks for the “unsubscribe” keyword on the confirmation page. It allows to flip the visibility of the element based on the confirmation message. If the keyword exists, our module will be displayed, but if our keyword is absent, then the module is invisible to the end user.

Now go ahead, copy the code and paste it into the module.js section in your module.

Now, all you have to do is add your finished module to your confirmation page template, and you’re done.

If you have questions about this step, don't hesitate to send us a message. 

How to add unsubscribe reason on HubSpot confirmation page

If you’re still using excel sheets to store contact data, you might want to consider using a CRM to simplify your everyday operations. Conversely, if you’re already using a CRM but don’t spend any time maintaining it, you might as well revert to excel sheets. Those who don’t audit their CRM regularly have no advantage over those who still use well-maintained excel sheets.

The point I’m trying to make here is that a CRM is just a tool; you need to know how to use a tool to get the most out of it. In this article, I will outline some best practices that you can use to make your CRM work for you as efficiently as possible.

In a perfect world, your CRM would solve most of your problems without any effort on your side. But, it’s simply not enough to set up your account and forget about it. Just like your business is susceptible to change, so is your CRM — the latter should be dynamic and reflect the needs of your business. This means that you should be performing CRM audits regularly. This could be every quarter, every year, or even more frequently, depending on your situation. The state of your CRM can make a difference between smooth operation and frustration. Remember that your CRM is one of the most powerful tools, as it contains information about your leads, current, and future customers.

People leave and join new companies every day, and unfortunately, some of these people could be your key contacts. Chances are that you already have many useless records that are either invalid or have unsubscribed from all communication. You should delete them because there’s not much else you can do with these records — and you can’t reach them. Bad data of any sort can’t help you make good business decisions. As the saying goes, no data is better than bad data because the lack of data can’t mislead you into thinking you’re doing great.

For example, let’s say you have been emailing users about a platform migration that requires them to take some action on their end. Eventually, you proceed with the migration, and some users suddenly start angrily asking you why their systems are not working and why they had never been notified of such critical change. But as it turns out, you had emailed key contacts that had already left the company, and their emails were no longer valid at the time. A Nightmare to deal with, but I’ve seen it happen more than once.

Most CRMs (with email marketing capabilities) will show you whether or not a record is valid after you’ve tried sending a marketing email at least once. If your CRM doesn’t have that feature, you can always use third-party software like Neverbounce, Clearout, and other alternatives.

In the same way, it’s unnecessary to keep multiple records for the same contact. If you have duplicates, merge your contact records, or delete one of the duplicate records. Only store the data that is necessary to your operations. Storing more data than you need increases the likelihood of producing inconsistencies across your CRM.

Smaller databases are also much easier to maintain, both in terms of time and effort. For example, if you only communicate with your customers via email, don’t store their phone numbers. Every data field that you add to the database will require time to maintain in the future, and that’s why less is sometimes more.

Contact records aren’t the only thing that you should keep clean. CRM properties should also be audited regularly. This is especially important if you have an integration with another system. You don’t want to be syncing bad properties, and, in turn, populating your other databases with bad data.

It’s also a good idea to standardize your properties where possible. In other words, you might want to use predefined values instead of open text in some cases. This makes it less prone to error but will also save you time when you’re searching for a specific value, as you will be able to pick from the dropdown without having to remember what to type exactly to fetch your data.

Only CRM admins should be able to create properties. Giving everyone access to creating custom properties is a recipe for disaster. Users often create properties that already exist but are unaware of, either due to a lack of due diligence or pure laziness. I’ve stumbled upon 20 properties that were used by a single user and were populated on 0.5% of all CRM records. To make it worse, similar properties already existed and were all automated!

Determine how you want your data to appear in the database. For example, establish whether you want your customer names to be stored in UPPER CASE, Capitalized Case, or lowercase. Make sure that all your records are stored in the same fashion. Don’t store one customer’s name in capitals, and the others’ in lowercase. While this may not necessarily be detrimental, it’s simply not a good idea.

To achieve data standardization, you will need to put some data validation in place. This can be as simple as not allowing information in a format that doesn’t comply with your standards. If, for example, you decide to store the names of your customers in UPPER CASE, but one of your employees tries to enter them in lowercase, you can throw an error and force the data to be entered in the predetermined format, ensuring consistency. You can also create an automated workflow that handles all data formatting.

Storing unnecessary contacts can become expensive very quickly. Many marketing CRMs charge based on the number of contacts stored in the database. That means you’ll pay for every contact, even if the contact is no longer usable.

But the price of bad data extends beyond your database, depending on your business model. It can lead to undelivered packages, bounced payments, missed critical information regarding your product, and so on.

Your marketing automation could also suffer because of data inconsistencies. Marketing automation for the most part heavily relies on specific triggers and conditions, whose operation, in turn, relies on the quality of data. If the data is inconsistent, it may prevent your automated processes from being triggered correctly, or produce a critical error.

Keeping your data clean is important to your business and will simplify your day-to-day work. It’s a good practice to perform a database audit every couple of months. The longer you wait, the more painful the cleanup process might become. Keep your data clean and you will thank yourself in the long term.

How to maintain the quality of your CRM data

Running a small business is challenging, requires a lot of work, and often doesn’t come with enough workforce and resources. Following up and tracking all your leads can quickly become a daunting, nearly impossible task to manage. But, if you don’t contact your leads in a timely fashion, they will drop out of the funnel and you will lose potential sales. On top of that, how do you maintain the relationship with your existing clients when you have no time on your hands?

Truth is, you can’t buy time, but you can certainly invest in marketing automation that will save you a lot of time. But, it’s not a magic bullet, and it does require constant attention and optimization efforts. Let’s talk about why you should consider marketing automation, its uses, benefits, and some things you should watch out for.

Simply put, marketing automation is a process of automating everyday marketing processes using dedicated software. This includes sending follow-up emails and ranking the quality of leads, for example. There are plenty of platforms that offer this service, including 

All of these platforms offer marketing automation to a different degree; some are more robust than others.

The choice should always be tailored to specific needs.

Email is probably one of the most popular uses of marketing automation. Basically, it involves sending automated messages every time someone performs a specific action, such as download an eBook, sign up for a newsletter, buy an item and so on.

Of course, you can set up custom triggers/conditions and determine what emails to send at what time. Note, these are just a few examples, but there are certainly more uses of marketing automation in emails.

Going back to the question in the first paragraph: how do you maintain existing relationships with your clients? It’s not that difficult; all you have to do is keep in touch with them. And yes, when done manually, keeping in touch is overwhelming, but with marketing automation, the task becomes less time-consuming and relatively easy.

So how do you keep in touch? Let me give you an example. Do you know those emails that you receive periodically from your favourite companies? Most—if not all—are automated. This is exactly how big companies get customers to return and buy more products later. The best thing is that you can create your content and schedule emails weeks or months in advance.

Doing lead nurture will maintain your relations with your clients and will also encourage them to contact you if they are serious.

How do you determine if a lead is even worth pursuing? You should naturally be chasing leads that are more likely to generate profit, but the problem is that there's often no telling which lead is more serious than the other. Let's face it, many of the leads that download your resources have no intent of making a purchase; they are just there to learn.

If you were to chase every lead with the same amount of effort, not knowing whether it will or not generate sales, you would waste a lot of time and revenue. Marketing automation can help you avoid falling into that trap.

So how does it work? With marketing automation, you can set up a scoring system that ranks the leads based on specific actions. For example, you can assign a higher score to a lead that completes a specific action on your site, compared to someone who just visits your site. The possibilities of automated lead scoring are endless and should be tailored to your goals and needs.

Automation software allows you to see what actions people have taken within the emails you send. You can see whether they opened, read, skimmed, or clicked on a particular link. This visibility is especially useful when you want to put your audiences in specific segments. You can group audiences based on the actions people have taken on your website.

The advantage of automated segmentation is clear: it allows you to send highly-targeted messages to specific groups of people, rather than generic messages that people either don’t read, or even worse, mark them as spam.

Personalization is key to good marketing.

Marketing automation is useful to businesses of all sizes. No matter which platform you decide to choose for your needs, it will help you save time and give you the opportunity to deal with other things, no matter what they could be.

Featured Article

Why you should consider technical consulting for HubSpot

All Articles

Why you should consider technical consulting for HubSpot

Track HubSpot form submissions in GA4 (using Google Tag Manager)

How to set up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in Tag manager (GTM)

A simple guide to lead scoring (just some advice really)

Marketing tips for small and midsize businesses

Prevent HubSpot from clearing pre-populated field values on form submission

How to add unsubscribe reason on HubSpot confirmation page

How to maintain the quality of your CRM data

Why you should use marketing automation