In another post, we wrote about the benefits of HubSpot and having a centralized platform for your marketing processes.
But let’s face the facts – We live in a digitally operated world where many business processes are controlled via multiple task-specific tools. And while HubSpot offers a powerful suite of solutions under one roof, it’s not designed to do everything.
So, how do you solve your need for more than the out of the box functionality as your business grows and evolves?
The short answer: use integrations.
In this post, we’ll look at why integrations are such an important part of the HubSpot experience and how they allow you to extend the centralized platform to reach other teams and parts of your business.
Free Download: The Complete Guide to Integrations and Why to Use Them
Increased Productivity
Without integrations, your team members spend probably a lot of time switching between HubSpot and the other tools they use for sales, marketing and customer service. But they shouldn’t have to.
With the right integrations, they have immediate access to the information they need to better serve your customers, eliminating time-wasting processes and increasing productivity.
For example, say you are an eCommerce business that uses Shopify for your online store. By connecting Shopify to HubSpot, you can easily incorporate all of your eCommerce data and customer data within one tool. The integration automatically syncs customer, product and deal information under the associated customer’s profile, so your entire team can view all of these details in one location, helping your team spend less time on mindless tasks and more time on generating leads and nurturing prospects.
Break Down Data Silos
What is a data silo you might ask? In simple terms, data silos are the result of different databases isolated from one another. While you might think overcoming this isolation is as simple as importing and exporting those databases, the problem is that data is not static. Phone numbers change, emails change, people leave companies and prospects become customers, so no matter how often you import/export CSV files, the information will never be fully up to date.
Connector integrations provide you with access to dozens of applications which sync to HubSpot to save you time, add functionality and give you a complete picture of your customer in one place. Connector integrations automatically update your data between platforms, so your team can take advantage of deeper insights to help build stronger relationships and a better customer experience.
Among the best connector integration solutions, you’ll find:
- Apiway – Using a simple constructor, you can easily configure the integration you need, without coding.
- Zapier– for one-way data pushes, link your apps with a few clicks (no code required), and begin sharing data in an easy-to-read workflow format from your HubSpot portal.
- Automate.io – get access to over 80 applications. By syncing with these apps, you’ll be able to transfer data to them to create customized integrations so you can manage all of your data in a way that works for your business all within HubSpot.
By having high-quality databases enriched by all the applications you use across your organization, you can successfully break down data silos. And when you have your different databases talking to each other, you’ll see the benefits immediately.
Reduce Human Error
I think we can all agree, manual data entry is the worst. Few people have the time (or patience) for this type of tedious work.
Not only is manual data entry annoying for the person tasked with the mundane job, but it also means team members must scrub for accuracy … in two places.
Data validation and integrity is just not a natural skill set for us, which means human entry has its flaws. According to a University of Nevada Las Vegas study on data entry, on average, there are 10.23 human errors made during manual entry and validation.
What does that error rate look like for your business? It looks like angry salespeople and unhappy customers which leads to a decrease in retention and your bottom line.
With integrations, you’re able to connect HubSpot to the applications you use and successfully bring them together, so all your information and data live in a central location, with minimal manual entry.
Grow Your Business
An integrated platform helps you more effectively implement and run your marketing and sales strategy so that you can grow your business profitably. Whether you use HubSpot (or an alternative software) to run your company, you can find integrations that can help simplify your processes, optimize your efforts and empower your fellow employees.
Interested in creating a better customer experience with integrations? Download our free copy of The Complete Guide to Integrations and Why to Use Them.
