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by Lauren Ryan on September 2024
The old way of doing business involved sales and marketing teams operating separately, with little to no visibility of what was happening over the fence.
Now, customers are savvier and more involved in the buying process, creating the need for marketing and sales teams to collaborate more proactively than ever before. The HubSpot Salesforce integration bridges this gap, creating a robust marketing and sales automation tool that enables collaboration and data transfer between teams to enhance customer experience and increase revenue.
Still, many Salesforce admins are on the fence about the integration and would prefer to keep things “simpler” in Salesforce. This article provides an overview of the HubSpot Salesforce integration to help you make an informed decision for your team.
Why Use the HubSpot Salesforce Integration?
Using the integration streamlines your operations, removing the need for tools like email service providers and standalone content management platforms.
Plus, the integration provides a comprehensive view of your customer journey from first touch to ongoing support, providing accurate reporting and attribution models to drive business decisions and supercharge your operations.
Using HubSpot and Salesforce, marketing teams can deliver timely communications and provide valuable insights to your salespeople. On the flip side, your sales team will have much more context about a prospect’s journey to connect more effectively and drive more business.
Choosing Between the Native Integration and a Custom Development
One of the first decisions for teams looking to implement the integration is whether to install the native integration or develop a custom one.
The native HubSpot Salesforce integration is an out-of-the-box solution that guides you through the installation process from start to finish. You can find it in the HubSpot Marketplace. Some pros include:
- A user-friendly interface with setup instructions.
- No-code installation process.
- A comprehensive framework that’s tried and true.
- Plenty of how-to guides and resources to troubleshoot your integration.
On the flip side, a custom integration involves working with a developer to create your company’s specifications. A custom HubSpot Salesforce integration will give you more freedom to create workflows tailored to your business functions and needs. But it also increases the integration’s complexity, which can make you dependent on an agency for ongoing maintenance or updates.
How Does Data Flow between HubSpot and Salesforce?
As with any CRM, the quality of your data guides the efficiency of your HubSpot Salesforce integration.
The data models supporting HubSpot and Salesforce are different. HubSpot is built on the Contact, which represents an individual and stores their data, such as name, email, and job title. You’ll also find Companies, which are an organization’s profile, and other objects like Deals, which store data for open opportunities, and Tickets, which store customers’ support requests.
Salesforce’s model centers around the Account, which stands for a business or organization. Individuals are represented by the Contact object, which is associated with the Account. The Lead object also represents an individual, but many teams use it to track new inquiries from new and existing customers. There’s a lot of discussion on when to use the Lead object and if it’s even necessary. There are also Opportunities for storing potential sales and Cases tracking service inquiries.
Syncing Salesforce Leads and Contacts with HubSpot Contacts
Some core differences between Salesforce and HubSpot show up when you map out your data setup.
To start, Salesforce Leads and Contacts sync with HubSpot Contacts, and HubSpot can create Leads or Contacts in Salesforce, but not both. This poses a challenge for Salesforce admins who use the Lead object to create new inquiries because HubSpot only allows one Contact per email address; when that Lead converts to a Contact in Salesforce, this new Contact now syncs with its equivalent in HubSpot. We recommend skipping the Lead object altogether and moving to opportunity-based inquiry management. Your company’s needs will guide how you set up HubSpot and Salesforce.
Next, properties are not a direct comparison across platforms. For example, a Picklist in Salesforce is the equivalent of a Dropdown in HubSpot. These properties sync, but there’s a caveat: Salesforce allows you to make a picklist value inactive, but HubSpot doesn’t allow this, so you will need to delete or replace any values you no longer need to keep the integration running smoothly.
How Do HubSpot and Salesforce Sync?
HubSpot and Salesforce sync both ways. Each tool collects and sends a specific type of data depending on the mapped fields and objects, and the records and fields you permit during the implementation.
The integration has parameters that allow data to flow between systems. You can select to allow all data to flow between platforms or set restrictions through an Inclusion List in HubSpot or Selective Sync in Salesforce.
An Inclusion List limits the data flow from HubSpot to Salesforce through a set of criteria you define when creating the list. Most teams do this because they only want sales-ready prospects’ data in Salesforce.
On the flip side, data flowing from Salesforce to HubSpot is managed through Selective Sync, a configuration of a Salesforce user profile, permission sets, and role in Salesforce that dictates the level of visibility and access the HubSpot integration user has.
HubSpot Salesforce Integration Sync Errors
Any time you have data flowing between two systems, errors are bound to happen. Luckily, HubSpot takes a proactive approach to managing sync errors, and they’re not something to fear in the integration.
A sync error is essentially an issue with a property, automation, or rule that prevents specific records’ data from moving correctly between both platforms. Sync errors are managed from the HubSpot side and can typically be prevented by taking a few simple steps when setting up your integration.
The HubSpot Salesforce integration course covers each of the eight sync error types in depth and guides you through solutions for each.
Data Hygiene
There’s a lot of talk around the term, but data hygiene means creating a set of parameters to ensure the integrity of your data, aka keeping it “clean.”
Dirty data is incomplete, outdated, incorrect, or somehow defective. It can increase your CRM costs, cause inaccurate reporting, and affect your ability to make impactful business decisions.
Common data issues in HubSpot and Salesforce include:
- Missing or mismatched fields. This can result from a defective setup when first implementing the integration.
- Duplicate data. Aka, multiple records representing the same person or company account.
- Outdated data. For example, a contact’s professional email changes when they move to a new job, but your CRM still has the old address.
A data hygiene policy is necessary for any team managing the HubSpot Salesforce integration.
Creating Campaigns In HubSpot and Salesforce
HubSpot and Salesforce manage campaigns differently. In HubSpot, a campaign is a collection of assets relating to one marketing initiative. Unsurprisingly, Salesforce approaches campaigns from a sales perspective, meaning they are a revenue-driven set of activities.
The way you create and manage campaigns on both platforms is also different. Salesforce allows you to nest campaigns under a hierarchy, while HubSpot doesn’t have this feature.
While it isn’t the most straightforward process, there are workarounds to use Campaigns in the integration.
The HubSpot Salesforce Integration Certification Course teaches you how to plan, create, and maintain the integration for top performance.
Conclusion
The HubSpot Salesforce integration is ideal for teams who want to keep Salesforce as their CRM and use a powerful marketing automation tool. The integration exchanges data between platforms to ensure consistency, unify efforts, and make collaboration seamless.
The HubSpot Salesforce Integration Certification Course is an in-depth program that teaches you everything you need to know to master the integration and confidently manage your marketing and sales data.