Why Campaigns Matter In HubSpot
If you're using HubSpot's Marketing Hub, you've probably spotted the Campaigns section. Here's what's really happening there: campaigns are your command center for tracking activity and performance across all your marketing assets. We're talking forms, emails, workflows, and landing pages, all tied to one specific initiative. It's the difference between scattered marketing efforts and a cohesive strategy that you can actually measure.
The beauty of campaigns is that they let you see the whole picture. You're not just wondering if an email performed well or a form got submissions. You're seeing how everything works together to move humans through your funnel. Let's build one from scratch so you can see exactly how it works.
Step 1: Create Your Campaign Foundation
First things first, navigate to Marketing, then Campaigns in HubSpot. You'll see a button to create a new campaign. Click it.
Now you'll fill in the core details:
- Campaign Name: Be specific. Something like "New Leads Welcome" tells everyone exactly what you're doing.
- Campaign Owner: Assign yourself or whoever's running this show.
- Start and End Dates: Set realistic timelines. Today through December 31st is a solid foundation if you're planning for the year.
- Label: Add a year or category label like "2024" to keep things organized.
- Color: Pick a color to make your campaign stand out visually in reports and dashboards.
Step 2: Define Your Campaign Goals And Audience
This is where you get intentional. Write out your campaign goal in plain language. "Nurture and welcome new leads" gives everyone clarity on what success looks like.
Next, define your campaign audience. Who are you targeting? In our example, it's new leads coming through your funnel. Being specific here helps you measure the right metrics later.
You can also add notes about the campaign. These notes become super helpful when you're reviewing performance weeks or months down the road. Include context, strategy, or anything your team should know.
Step 3: Add Your Marketing Assets
Once you've created the campaign, it's time to connect all your moving pieces. Click "Add An Asset" and choose from your existing marketing tools:
- Emails: Connect your welcome emails or nurture sequences.
- Landing Pages: Link the pages humans land on when they click your campaigns.
- Forms: Add every form that captures data for this campaign.
- Workflows: Include workflows that trigger follow-up actions, like sending a secondary email after form submission.
Hit save and your campaign will start pulling in data from these assets automatically. Refresh the page, and you'll see the data populating in real time. Forms submissions, email opens, workflow completions, all connected to your single campaign.
Step 4: Fine Tune Your Campaign Details
Click into Campaign Details to add those finishing touches:
- Campaign Status: Set it to "In Progress" so everyone knows it's active.
- Budget: If you're tracking spend, add your total budget here. Even if it's zero, documenting it matters.
- Currency: Select if applicable to your organization.
You can adjust these anytime as your campaign evolves. HubSpot campaigns are flexible that way.
Start Measuring What Matters
That's it. You've built a campaign from scratch that's now collecting data across every touchpoint. You'll see exactly how humans move through your welcome sequence, which forms convert best, and which emails drive the most engagement. This is the foundation for smarter marketing decisions. Build it right, and you're set up for success.
