Workflows. If you work in the world of marketing, I would be willing to bet you have probably heard this word thrown around a few times. I would also be willing to bet that the first few times you heard it you had one of two reactions:
- Anxiety. Workflows sound like another time consuming thing to be added to your day.
- No reaction at all. You thought it was just another one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around but has no real meaning.
Of course, workflows can mean different things in different places, but in the Inbound Marketing world and here at MINDSCAPE, workflows are handy tools in HubSpot that can do a ton of different things (including saving you time). HubSpot defines workflows as, “a series of automated actions that you can trigger to occur based on a person’s behaviors or contact information.”
What are some of these automated actions? I’m glad you asked! Like I said before. there are a ton of different things that you can do with HubSpot workflows. So many things that I could blog about them every day for a month and still not have told you all of them. But for now, I will stick with three of my favorite things that you can do with workflows.
1. Create Lists to Group and Segment Contacts
Does your contact database ever seem overwhelming? Do you ever stare at your list of contacts and wish it was more organized? Workflows can help with that!
You can set up workflows that will add contacts to a list anytime they have a specific quality, for example, if they are located in the same city as your organization. Or you can set up a workflow to create a list of contacts who have (or have not) performed a certain action, like opening an email or filling out a form.
Grouping and segmenting contacts is a great way to begin to understand your audience and create content that they will find valuable.
2. Set Up and Send Automated Email Campaigns
Sending emails, especially entire email campaigns, can be a time-consuming endeavor. But never fear, HubSpot workflows are here!
Let’s say you are launching a new email campaign to get people to perform a certain action like downloading a new online brochure or visiting a new section on your website. Here is an example of a workflow you can set up:
- Step 1: Send lists X, Y, and Z (like the ones I mentioned above) an email
- Step 2: If contacts perform the action you want they exit the workflow, if not they are sent another email
- Step 3: If there are any contacts who still haven’t performed the action they are sent a third, and final email
This is just one very simple workflow you can set up for an email campaign. Workflows can be as simple or as complicated as you need to get the job done and send your contacts along that nurturing path.
3. Send Engaged Contacts Relevant Content
I don’t know about you, but I love getting personalized recommendations, whether it’s movies to watch on Netflix or products to buy on Amazon. Workflows are a way to provide your engaged contacts with similar content recommendations.
So how does this work? Well, let’s say what someone fills out a form to download a piece of content from your website, like a checklist. You can set up a workflow saying that anyone who fills out the form to download that checklist will be sent an email 3 days later recommending another piece of content (like a whitepaper) that might interest them. Workflows like these can help move your contacts through their buying journey.
So as you can see, workflows make it easier to segment contacts and send them content that they will really enjoy, engage with, and help them along their buyer’s journey. If you are interested in learning more about HubSpot, workflows, and Inbound Marketing, we would love to chat!
