5 Ways HubSpot Reporting Is Letting You Down

HubSpot is renowned for its comprehensive suite of tools, catering to sales, marketing, customer service, and CRM needs.  This reputation has lead to it being considered the perfect CRM for most businesses, catering to all needs. 

However, despite the vast features and functionalities offered, often its reporting capabilities are where cracks beginning to show….Now whilst the pre-built reporting capabilities offer significant value, many teams encounter common pitfalls that can hinder their ability to extract actionable insights, often key data that is the difference in turning your Revenue function into “All-Stars”. 

In this blog, we’ll explore 5 of these pitfalls and provide strategies to overcome them, ensuring you get the most out of HubSpot’s reporting features.

1. Limited Customisation Options

Pitfall:

Whilst the HubSpot reporting tool is considered relatively robust, it can fall short when it comes to specific customisations.  Pre-built reports cover a wide range of metrics, however tailoring these reports to specific business needs can be challenging (even more so if you are not a company who is big enough to justify a data analyst/HubSpot expert) 

Solution:

There are some options around the customisable report builder within HubSpot that can be leveraged – this does however often require a much deeper HubSpot knowledge.  Additionally (our first shameless plug!) you can look to integrate third-party analytic tools such as Lava Metrics, which can provide targeted revenue orientated dashboards and reports to assist your Sales and Marketing functions. 

2. Complex Data Segmentation

Pitfall:

Segmenting data……sounds great, however in HubSpot many find this to be a complex task, especially within businesses that have either a particularly large dataset and/or intricate sales and marketing processes.  The wider issue here is often complexity is followed by inaccuracy in reporting and at times vital insights are missed. 

Solution:

With data segmentation, the devil is in the detail – simplifying the process and having a clear and defined segmentation criteria will enable you to use the lists and filters provided by HubSpot more effectively.  It is also advisable to regularly clean and update your data, which will help ensure accuracy.  Finally, train your team on best practices for data management within HubSpot, this can further mitigate any segmentation issues. 

3. Insufficient Granularity

Pitfall:

This is where a lot of businesses find pain, whilst HubSpots standard reports lack the granularity needed for deep analysis, the option to build custom reports still has gaps when it comes to reporting on critical revenue related data.  This becomes a problem with Sales and Marketing are looking to scale and created predictable revenue forecasts, whilst missing key components of data. 

Solution:

No choice but to use the second shameless plug here – it is the key reason Lava Metrics exists – there is a real gap in reporting for HubSpot when it comes to getting the right information.  The best suggestion here, is if you are beginning to notice these gaps in analytical insight then it may be time to invest in a partnering tool.  (We know a good one….) 

4. Reporting on Multi-Touch Attribution

Pitfall:

“WHERE DID THAT LEAD COME FROM” the question all CEO’s and Investors are asking – “Which channels are working”, “Where should we spend more” all relate back to being able to report on multi-touch attribution.  It is critical for a successful Sales and Marketing function to be able to understand which elements of their customer journey are having the biggest impact.  To be honest we're a bit sick of attribution being treated as the saviour to all B2B marketing problems but that's a conversation for another day.

With all that in mind, HubSpot’s capabilities in this area can be rather limited, this often leading to an incomplete view of how the Marketing teams efforts are impacting Sales. 

Solution:

Feels a bit like shameless plug city here, however a tool like Lava Metrics which offers deeper analysis really is the solution if this is a challenge for your business. 

We would also add that ensuring you both your first touches (Original Source) and last touches 'Last Conversion' or the form they took action on. This is easily done in HubSpot so you can report on what gets people in and what gets people to act. If you throw in a little lead scoring you can then see how many touch points are needed for conversions.

5. Limited Predictive Analytics

Pitfall:

A key component of any successful, growing business lies within it’s ability to forecast accurately, yet this is where it can often come undone.  Whilst it is never ideal to forecast high and deliver low, equally forecasting low and going way above this, will not give boards and investors much confidence that your Revenue teams know their pipeline or numbers.  This is why it is a limitation when it comes to HubSpots predictable analytics features, as these often fall short of other platforms. 

Solution:

This is really the closed circle for Lava Metrics – we have already begun to explore how we can help establish the key components of your Marketing funnel and customer journey to support more effective pipeline generation, however deeper than that is our ability to produce clear and concise dashboards and reporting that improve on visibility of predictable revenue.  

This capability allows your organisation to offer more sophisticated reporting when it comes to modelling and forecasting, which in turn will support your strategic planning and decision-making processes. 

Conclusion

While HubSpot’s reporting capabilities are powerful, understanding and navigating its common pitfalls can help you unlock its full potential. By addressing issues related to customisation, data segmentation, granularity, integration, real-time reporting, multi-touch attribution, and predictive analytics, your sales and marketing teams can derive more actionable insights and drive better results. Additionally, integrating advanced tools like Lava Metrics can further enhance your reporting capabilities, ensuring that you make informed decisions based on accurate and comprehensive data.