Segmenting Contacts in HubSpot for Effective Automation.

HubSpot Tagging System

One way forward is to use a tagging option. You can create a New Contact Property called Tags and specify a number of options depending how you want to segment your database using Checkbox. Another way is to use static and active lists: Go to contacts and then choose list option and then create a list and choose your own criteria. 

New HubSpot Subscription Model

A recent HubSpot update made significant changes to the way they charge for subscriptions. You can choose marketing (leads, newsletter sign-ups) and non-marketing contacts (vendors, admin, coworkers). 

Under the new HubSpot contact model, you can set any of your contacts as “marketing contacts.” These contacts count toward your paid contact tier and can be targeted with marketing emails and ads. You can also set contacts as “non-marketing contacts.”

You can store up to 1 million non-marketing contacts in your CRM for free. However, you cannot target non-marketing contacts with marketing emails or ads.

HubSpot Tags

If your sales & marketing strategy is more complex you might like to create 2 types of Tags: Marketing Tags and Non-Marketing Tags. Let’s look at the example below:

Marketing Contacts Segments Example:

• How is the contact related to your business: #Client #WarmLead #Introducer
• Geographic location of your contacts if you target different areas: #London #Edinburgh #UK #NorthEngland
• Contact’s Industry: #IT #Construction #Marketing #Entertainment
• How the contact ended up in your database: #NetworkingEvent #Referral #WebEnquiry

Non-marketing Contacts Segments Example:

• Relationship to your business: #vendors #VIP_contacts #introducers #accountant #admin
• Other: #chat_transcript #ticket_kickback_emails #customer_feedback #unsubscribed #bounced

Depending on your business, there may be several more categories of tags to use. For example, a performing arts venue will segment by age band, address, demographics and interest in genre, etc, 

Every segmentation you make means you can refine your communications to be more targeted, personal and effective.

Automate repetitive tasks

Once you tag all the contacts in your database you need to have a system in place to automate the process. So, for example, every contact made via a web form can automatically be tagged as #WebEnquiry.

Some contacts you need to tag manually, but this simple system will help you to be more efficient with your sales and marketing.

Then you can be very specific in your targeting – e.g. create an emailing campaign for non-clients in London from the IT industry about your new blog post that is only relevant to them (GDPR consent is required). 

Personalise your message

People buy from people – nurture your prospect and personalise your message, not just by addressing the contact by name, but by making it relevant. One-to-many marketing was last century. We are aiming for one-to-one, or as close as possible.

Remember, segment contacts before you upload them to CRM.