A Guide to HubSpot for Startups

Inbound marketing is particularly effective for startups that need to grow their customer base. HubSpot provides discounts and training for new companies ready to invest in their marketing and sales teams. Learn how HubSpot for Startups can help grow your business. 
 

Growing a business can be challenging. Well-established businesses have brand name recognition and an army of loyal customers, but startups need to grow brand awareness and build trust from the ground up. 
 
For startups looking to improve their visibility and attract customers, it’s time to invest in marketing and sales

HubSpot’s CRM and automation tools can help startups grow their business by strengthening their inbound marketing strategies and streamlining the sales process. 

As a result, startups will be able to attract more potential customers and convert them into buyers. 

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What is HubSpot & Is HubSpot Good for Startups?

HubSpot is a cloud-based CRM that provides a wide variety of inbound marketing tools. The platform is designed to support sales and marketing efforts, helping businesses attract qualified leads and nurture them through the sales process. 

HubSpot’s tools are particularly helpful for small and mid-sized businesses who have the resources to invest in inbound marketing; however, without the resources to support content generation, optimization, promotion, and sales, HubSpot won’t be as effective or as useful. 

Read, ‘Benefits of HubSpot for Digital Marketing.

Inbound Marketing for Startups 

Inbound Methodology
Source: HubSpot

Inbound marketing is particularly important for startups who are trying to generate business because it is a cost-effective strategy to increase brand awareness and attract leads. In fact, it’s estimated that inbound marketing is 10x more effective than outbound marketing strategies such as advertising and cold calling.  

Interestingly enough, Raydiant’s State of Consumer Behavior 2021 report found that “48% of consumers have replaced a product they typically purchase in-store with an online alternative during the pandemic. About a quarter of consumers report they’re switching bands more often than ever before.” 

This is great news for startups looking to wrestle away market share from name brand companies. Now is the time to double-down on inbound marketing efforts.

At the same time, inbound marketing costs about half of outbound marketing strategies. Additionally, over time, the cost of inbound marketing decreases, meaning that companies are likely to get a high return on their investment. 

How Startups Can Use HubSpot to Grow Their Business 

  • Build better customer relationships with HubSpot’s CRM 
  • Grow online presence
  • Use resources more effectively 

Build Better Customer Relationships with HubSpot’s CRM 

HubSpot’s CRM helps users manage communications with prospective clients. Without one, it takes a lot of time to manually complete tasks and pull reports – time and resources that startups simply don’t have. 

Rapid growth can be difficult to keep up with, but a CRM makes it easier. HubSpot helps startups manage contacts so they can build enduring relationships with their customers that foster brand loyalty.  

Once a contact has been added — manually or through an email integration — HubSpot will automatically create a company record so businesses can track each interaction with potential customers. 

HubSpot Contact Info Example

Source: HubSpot

Not only does HubSpot keep track of a potential customers’ contact information, but it also can help businesses collect and analyze data that they can use to target customers more effectively. 

Users also are able to categorize and track potential customers through the marketing process and implement automations to support their sales process. At the end of the day, no customer is the same, but building multiple deal pipelines allows companies to address each buyer’s unique needs. 

Grow Your Online Presence 

Between HubSpot’s content management system (CMS) and automation tools, businesses have everything they need to produce high-quality content and grow their online presence

With HubSpot, businesses can automate and manage email marketing, social media, and content campaigns. 

For example, users are able to plan social media posts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. By creating a content calendar and scheduling posts, businesses can become more efficient and grow their visibility online. 

HubSpot for Social Media
Source: HubSpot

HubSpot also provides a content strategy tool, which can help businesses identify topics and keywords that can improve their SEO rankings. 

By collecting and analyzing data from several different campaigns, HubSpot provides a more comprehensive overview of digital marketing efforts so businesses can adjust their strategy to be more effective. 

Digital marketing doesn’t always require a big spending budget, so it’s a great way to promote your startup and reach a broad audience.

By leveraging trending topics and producing high-quality content, you can provide value to your customers and engage them at every stage of the marketing funnel. 

Use Resources More Effectively 

Efficiency is key for startups with smaller teams. Tedious tasks that take a long time to complete are costing your company money. By automating some of your processes, you can save time, allowing your sales and marketing teams to focus on other responsibilities. 

In addition to increasing productivity, HubSpot helps teams respond quickly to potential customers, prevent leads from going cold, and enhance the quality of their work. As a result, performance will improve overall. 

For example, rather than manually sending emails to everyone on your contact list, your marketing team can use HubSpot to create email templates and sequences. 

This allows them to send many emails at once without sacrificing key email features such as personalization tags, images, and eye-catching CTAs. As a result, they’re able to reach many potential customers with high-quality content. 

Using HubSpot’s automation tools, companies can create quality content that is more likely to engage users, but still increase their reach. 

What is the HubSpot for Startups Partner Program?

According to HubSpot, the Hubspot for Startups Partner Program is a partnership program that provides “benefits to our partners and their affiliated startups, both current and alumni, through a tiered benefits system. Each tier unlocks more exclusive benefits.”

HubSpot knows that getting a business off the ground is challenging. Gaining visibility requires companies to invest in promotion and marketing, but many startups don’t have enough resources to grow the company. 

To help businesses expand, HubSpot has provided several services specifically to support startups. 

What does HubSpot for Startups Include? 

1. Onboarding support specifically for startups.  

Initially, HubSpot specialists will meet with startups to develop a growth strategy that will help them get as much value as possible from their HubSpot partnership. At this point, they will prioritize certain activities and help set up the startup’s HubSpot account. Then they will provide technical support going forward. 

2. Community mentorship

Many companies love HubSpot for their community support. They provide training and educational resources led by industry experts. On top of that, HubSpot has several forums and community groups that allow professionals to network and learn from one another on a variety of topics. 

3. Training

HubSpot offers training sessions for startup founders. They dive deep into how to create an inbound marketing strategy and how HubSpot’s tools can help them execute their plans. Their goal is to generate qualified leads and convert them into buyers. 

How Much Does HubSpot for Startups Cost? 

HubSpot offers several different packages, including a free subscription, but prices increase depending on the tools your team needs. HubSpot does offer discounts up to 90% off to startups based on their funding and partnerships.

HubSpot for Startups Prices
Source: HubSpot

These discounts make it much more affordable for companies looking to invest in their inbound marketing strategy. Businesses can also save by paying for an annual subscription instead of just monthly payments. 

Even if your company doesn’t qualify for these discounts, check out HubSpot’s pricing plans. They offer both free and starter packages for businesses that aren’t associated with their entrepreneurial organizations as well. 

HubSpot for Startups Will Grow Your Business

HubSpot’s CRM and automation tools are particularly helpful for startups looking to invest in marketing and sales. 

If your business qualifies for the HubSpot for Startups program, you can save money on HubSpot’s tools and get additional onboarding and training support. 

Startups that don’t qualify for the program can still benefit from a HubSpot subscription.

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Additional Reading

Need help selecting a company?

Based on your budget, timeline, and specifications we can help you build a shortlist of companies that perfectly matches your project needs. Get started by submitting your project details.

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