Convincing Your Boss to Adopt HubSpot: A Small Startup's Guide

As a small startup that recently raised external funding, you understand the importance of maximizing resources and leveraging the right tools to propel your marketing strategies forward. HubSpot has become a key player in the realm of inbound marketing, and implementing it could significantly enhance your marketing efforts.

However, convincing your boss, who is a developer with a hacker/DIY mentality, to adopt HubSpot might be a challenging task. Whether you're a current user or potential adopter, you can offer a unique perspective, as we did when exploring inbound marketing solutions for our SAP implementation. In this article, we’ll share our experience and provide tips on how to convince your boss to start using HubSpot.

How We Came to Use HubSpot and Inbound Marketing

Our journey with HubSpot and inbound marketing began with an internal recommendation from our marketing manager at an old job selling ERP systems. She suggested we transition from outbound marketing to inbound marketing, explaining that the costs of outbound efforts would become unsustainable in the long run. However, she couldn’t fully elaborate on what inbound marketing was.

As we embarked on our journey as independent SAP implementors, we did our due diligence to research various marketing approaches. After careful consideration, we concluded that mastering inbound marketing and pursuing this route made sense for our business. We took HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Assessment, which revealed that we had a lot of work to do. Since then, we've automated the tool and encourage you to take the assessment to gauge your current marketing situation. You can try it here.

Tips for Convincing Your Boss to Use HubSpot

To convince your boss, you need to understand how the Inbound Marketing Assessment (IMA) tool can help you. While HubSpot is an incredible tool, it requires a significant amount of effort from your team.

Revenue Considerations: If your average order value (AOV) is less than 500, HubSpot might not be the best fit. However, if your lifetime value (LTV) of any customer exceeds 500, then HubSpot is a great option. Other financial metrics also play a role, but the LTV to customer acquisition cost (CAC) ratio of at least 3 is crucial. Buyer Complexity: If your product or service is a 'considered sale' where buyers need to learn a lot about your offering before making a purchase, HubSpot is essential. Assessment Scores: If you receive an A on the IMA, it indicates that HubSpot is a good fit for your business. If your score is lower, it suggests that you should still consider using HubSpot to improve your marketing efforts.

It's important to note that HubSpot won't create content for you. Instead, it will help you decide what content to develop and provide guidance on how to create it. It also offers a wealth of free training, but you'll need to put the training into practice.

Additionally, if your sales process is not solid, start with HubSpot's CRM tool first. Producing leads without a clear follow-up process is essentially a waste of resources. If you have a well-organized sales process in place, integrating HubSpot into your overall strategy can yield incredible results.

The HubSpot Ecosystem: Partners and Solutions

One of the key advantages of HubSpot is its vast ecosystem of partners. These partners provide bolt-on solutions, enhancing the utility and effectiveness of your HubSpot implementation. Exploring these partners can help you find the right tools to complement your existing infrastructure.

In conclusion, HubSpot can be a powerful tool for small startups to streamline their marketing efforts and increase efficiency. By understanding the assessment tool and aligning your business needs with its capabilities, you can present a compelling case to your boss. Remember, the path to success with HubSpot requires dedication and effort, but the payoff can be substantial.

For more insights and to learn how to integrate HubSpot into your business, check out the resources provided within the platform or visit the official HubSpot Starter page.