Five Tips for Using HubSpot Reporting Features

In an age of data, analytics, and reporting, now more than ever, marketing professionals at every level must prove their worth through data. 

But analytics and reporting do more than simply show the effectiveness of your marketing. They also have the power to inform the direction of future campaigns. HubSpot simplifies reporting by centralizing all of your data in one place.

If you’re new to HubSpot’s Marketing Hub here are five tips to get you up and running with HubSpot’s powerful reporting features. 

1. Start with canned or default reports 

HubSpot has over 100 canned reports. A quick way to access the most frequently used marketing reports is with dashboards. Pre-defined dashboards contain topically related reports in one location. Pre-defined marketing dashboards include:

1. Marketing (9 reports)
2. Lead Generation (8 reports)
3. Marketing Channel Performance (10 reports)
4. Web Analytics (8 reports)
5. Website Visits & Engagements (8 reports)

To access the dashboard library navigate to Reports > Dashboards > Create Report > Marketing.

You can also create custom reports and dashboards and add custom or canned reports to existing dashboards.

2. Access reports directly from the campaign tools

HubSpot’s Marketing Hub is built around campaigns. Campaigns can include any or all of the following assets/tools:

• Landing pages
• Blog pages
• Website pages
• Emails
• Paid Ads (natively Google, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin)
• Social pages

Selecting any of the asset links from the “Marketing” menu displays the most commonly used metrics associated with each campaign type. For instance, under Marketing > Email > Analyze, you’ll see reports and visualization charts including:

• Recipient engagement
• Delivery 
• Performance 

You can view performance of the asset types through their menu links or you can choose the “Campaign” link to view performance snapshots by campaign using either first or last touch attribution.

3. Connect Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and add UTM parameters

Connecting Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and adding UTM parameters to all of your content ensures you have the accurate and granular data you need to produce actionable insights from your traffic analysis reports. 

To connect Google Analytics, click the gear icon on the top right of your menu. From there, select Website > Pages in the side menu. Once there, navigate to the Integrations tab and select the box “Integrate with Google Analytics” and enter your tracking ID. Optionally, if you’re using Google Tag Manager you can also select “Integrate with Google Tag Manager” from the same location.

To enable Google Search Console, click the Marketplace icon (next to the gear icon), select “App Marketplace” from the dropdown. Search for “Google Search Console” and click install.

4. Connect your paid advertising accounts

With HubSpot, you can create, manage and report on all of your paid advertising in one place. Default paid ads integrations natively available include Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Benefits of integrating your paid ads include the ability to track contacts throughout the customer life cycle and tie ad spend directly to revenue. 

To connect your paid advertising accounts, simply navigate to Marketing > Ads > Connect Accounts.

Bonus Tip: One of the most exciting features of HubSpot reporting is “closed-loop” reporting. With centralized Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs you can track and report on every aspect of a contact’s journey and view their progress throughout the customer life-cycle stages.

5. Get the most from HubSpot reporting with a free certification course

So far we’ve only skimmed the surface of HubSpot’s robust reporting capabilities. If you really want to get a thorough understanding of harnessing the power of HubSpot reporting, take the free FayeBSG/HubSpot Reporting Certification Course. Through the course’s eight lessons you’ll discover:

1. Data-driven business fundamentals
2. Collecting meaningful business data
3. Managing business data in HubSpot
4. Driving growth with Attract Stage reporting
5. Unlocking the power of Engage Stage reporting
6. Creating momentum with Delight Stage reporting
7. Creating custom reports in HubSpot
8. Designing Compelling HubSpot dashboards
9. HubSpot Reporting Certification practicum