This was INBOUND 2022 - Are you connected?

Connection

The focus of this year’s INBOUND was on the theme "connection". The corona pandemic forced companies to digitise their processes quickly. Just think of the face-to-face meetings that became online calls, customer events that suddenly took place in virtual worlds or the spontaneous interactions in the corridors that translated into instant messaging. This proliferation of online platforms ensures that data is all the more spread over different tools. As a result, more time is spent on bringing data together.

HubSpot's all-in-one CRM platform offers solutions that all stakeholders can use. We have seen this over the years with the launch of the various 'Hubs' for sales, service, and operations, but also in the new functionalities that the platform announced at INBOUND. The various solutions devised by HubSpot don’t just strengthen the connection between customer and company, but also improve connections with internal team members, and that matters because disconnection can also be experienced within teams.

Authenticity in the customer journey

Connecting with customers is one thing but perfecting the customer experience is another. An organisation is expected to deal as authentically and personally as possible with its customers or online visitors.

It is precisely for this reason that HubSpot has introduced the public beta 'Customer Journey Analytics'. This dashboard gives marketers detailed visualisations of the key moments in the customer journey. This means you can map the entire process from the first mail to the conversion and adjust it where necessary. Have you got enough content available to grab the attention of your leads? Is there enough added value in your assets? When do leads drop out of the funnel? These are all important questions that you can answer in a substantiated way with the help of the report.

How successful are your campaigns?

In addition to the new reporting capabilities, HubSpot has updated their already beloved campaign tool. With the help of the templates, you can now create a campaign even faster. The interface centralises all omni-channel assets in one overview. From now on, you can also map every touchpoint and report on it. Plus, you'll get a free checklist from HubSpot, so you'll have a clear picture of the assets you need for your next successful campaign.

High-quality data

Have you lost sight of your data north star? Not sure how to navigate through all your data? Don't panic: HubSpot has the solution. With the power of the HubSpot AI, the system automatically removes errors from the database. A first name in capital letters? Forgot a dot in the e-mail address? No problem! You can adjust this data in bulk, so that you do not have to go through all the records manually. Fan of automations? Then go one step further and let the Operations Hub perform this data cleaning for you.

Have you set up integrations using the Operations Hub in the past? Then you can now also get insights into this in the 'Data Quality Command Center'. Are there any fields missing from the mapping? Duplicates in the databases? Sync bottlenecks? HubSpot maps these things out for you, because avoiding problems is still better than having to solve them.

And the icing on the cake, HubSpot has launched a beta functionality that makes it possible to visualise your CRM data model. In a standard setup you can see the relationships between the default objects 'contacts', 'companies', 'tickets' and 'deals'. Using custom objects? Then you can also include them in the visualisation. This method means you can always keep a clear overview.

Be personal

Following on with the theme of 'connection' is the new WhatsApp integration that is currently available as a public beta. With the click of a button, you can link your WhatsApp business account to HubSpot. Through the shared inbox you can communicate with prospects and customers from HubSpot without having to switch between the platforms. In combination with the HubSpot 'inbound calling' function, you can choose to only show your professional contact details. Now that’s what we call integrated.

Your business card on the world wide web

Online presence is incredibly important to reduce the distance between organisation and customer. HubSpot has been offering a free version of the CMS since earlier this year, so that every company can easily connect with customers online. The websites can also be hosted on a European server and HubSpot has a native cookie banner available. Both important points to make your website GDPR compliant.

Money, money, money

How can I use my website as a revenue stream? That's a question that's easy to answer through payments, of course. But where can my customers pay? HubSpot has added a lot of payment options to their platform. Currently, this module is only available to their U.S. customers, but we were told that there will be more news about this functionality in the rest of the world in the coming months. We'll keep you posted!

Conclusion

With this edition of INBOUND, HubSpot wanted to let both customers and employees using HubSpot experience more connection. They achieved this mission brilliantly.

By bringing together different functions and information in a central environment, teams are more connected than ever before. Finally, there are even more possibilities in the tool to approach your leads at the right time, with the right content, and then to report and analyse it with clearly presented data. We are already enthusiastic about the new additions to the platform. Are you too?