Top 3 HubSpot Workflows Every Business Must Set Up

HubSpot workflows are marketing automation tools designed to help you deliver the right content (or trigger/ notifications) to each customer at the right time. Teams that are forced to manually track, nurture, and guide each lead through the marketing funnel face a monumental and time-consuming task.

That’s where HubSpot workflows can step up to the plate with a far easier, more efficient solution to free extra time. Workflows allow you to set up certain automated actions, each with its own set of triggers.

You can manually or automatically assign customers to specific workflows based on anything from their location or job title to their geographic location or funnel level. But workflows go far beyond mere segmentation alone. 

Each workflow can be customized to trigger one of several different actions based on a customer’s behavior. Think of a HubSpot workflow like a classic Choose Your Own Adventure book, where your interactions with each contact are customized according to choices they make along the way.

Workflows can also be incredibly handy for internal use. For instance, you might choose to use them to send notifications to certain team members when a customer takes a specific action or to send out reminders to follow up with a particular set of leads.

HubSpot makes it easy to keep your workflows nice and tidy by organizing them into different folders. For example, you might create folders dedicated to lead nurturing, product promotions, or internal notification tools.

To create a new folder, select the Automation tab from the dashboard of your HubSpot account. Then click the Workflows option from the drop-down menu.

Select the “Create folder” option in the upper left-hand corner, type in the name of your new folder, and hit Save. Feeling uninspired? Don’t worry, you can change a folder’s name at any time by selecting it and then choosing “Rename folder” from the Actions menu.

Once you’ve created your new folder, check the boxes next to any workflows you’d like to assign to it. When you’re done, select Move and then click the new folder’s name to complete the process.

Need to find a certain workflow fast? HubSpot comes with several easy filter options that can help.

If you know the name of the workflow you need, just type it into the search bar at the top. You can also specify the type of workflows displayed by using filters, such as workflow type, creator, or team.

When you navigate to the Automation > Workflows page of your HubSpot account, you’ll be presented with two different options. You can either choose a pre-designed workflow from the template library or create your own using the Start from Scratch option.

The template library makes creating a new template a breeze. Simply choose from options designed to do anything from trigger an email campaign when a customer fills out a form to assign tasks for a new deal.

If you decide to start from scratch, you’ll be redirected to a screen where you’ll be asked to select two things: workflow object and type. On the left-hand side of your screen, you’ll see your object options. Think of these objects as categories that each come with their own set of action triggers.

Luckily, each object category comes with a handy breakdown to help you select which is best for your needs. For instance, you’ll find workflow examples like goal-based objects, which are triggered based on certain goals, or order-based objects which are triggered by orders.

On the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see various workflow type options and their properties. For example, a blank workflow allows you to choose your own actions and triggers, while a scheduled workflow repeats actions on customizable dates.

Whether you choose to start from scratch or use a template to create new workflows in HubSpot, there are a few additional terms you’ll want to understand. Chief among them are enrollment triggers and actions.

Enrollment triggers can be used to automatically enroll a contact in a workflow when they take certain actions, such as filling out an online form or viewing a certain webpage. While templates come with their own pre-assigned sets of triggers, you’ll need to set up your own if you’re building a workflow from scratch. Simply click the telltale button labeled “Set enrollment trigger” to pull up a wide range of customizable options.

Actions, on the other hand, are used to program a workflow to do what you want it to do. To add a new action, click the + plus icon that will appear after you set your enrollment triggers and select an action from the menu. The exact type of actions that will appear on your menu will depend on your subscription.

But in general, you can use actions to do things like send emails, create new tasks, or manage subscriptions. The more familiar you get with your workflow dashboard, the more actions you’ll be able to automate.

If you really want to dive into HubSpot workflows and what they can do, you might even consider signing up for a free lesson from the HubSpot Academy.

It’s important to note that only certain subscriptions come with the ability to access workflows in HubSpot. These include the Professional and Enterprise versions of HubSpot’s Marketing, Sales, Service, or Operations Hubs.

Professional accounts come with 300 workflows for up to 10 teams, while Enterprise accounts offer 1,000 workflows for up to 300 teams. That said, it is possible to purchase a workflow limit increase.

For an extra $200 per month, you can get a monthly boost of up to 100 workflows. While you can purchase multiple workflow limited increases, HubSpot caps the limit at 10,000 workflows for a single account.

Depending on your subscription type, your workflows may also be bound by other limitations. For instance, you can only use up to 250 different enrollment triggers for a single workflow. The good news is that it’s always possible to create multiple workflows if you need more.

Additionally, it’s worth being aware that only workflows customized with the HubSpot workflows tool are counted toward your monthly limit. In other words, things like sequences or automated projects created using other tools like emails or tickets, don’t count.

A look through HubSpot’s automation tools may leave you wondering about the difference between a HubSpot workflow vs sequence. One of the key differences is that while HubSpot workflows are geared towards marketing, sequences are tailored for sales teams.

In order to access sequences, you’ll need either a Professional or Enterprise subscription to the HubSpot Sales Hub or Service Hub. Sequences allow you to send a series of customized sales emails from your own connected email address over a certain period of time.

For instance, you might build a sequence geared toward nurturing a lead or sending out appointment reminders- this is triggered from the sales hub. Unlike workflows, which can be programmed to respond to various actions, sequences automatically unenroll a contact once they respond to the email.

You can also use sequences as a way to set reminders for yourself. You can set notifications that remind you to manually complete tasks such as making a phone call or following up on a lead.