In the world of marketing, there’s one thing that separates the great from the good: data. Sure, you can create the snazziest campaigns, the most jaw-dropping email designs, and the wittiest social media posts. But if you’re not tracking and analyzing how those efforts are performing, you’re essentially flying blind.

Enter HubSpot Reports—your all-in-one analytics hub that tells you what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus your efforts for maximum impact. Whether you’re tracking email open rates, website traffic, or lead conversion, HubSpot gives you the tools to analyze your marketing performance in stunning detail. And don’t worry—it’s not as intimidating as it sounds. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of tracking and analyzing your marketing performance with HubSpot Reports.

So, grab a coffee (or your beverage of choice), and let’s dive in!

Why Use HubSpot Reports?

Before we get into the how, let’s quickly talk about the why. HubSpot Reports are your marketing GPS, giving you all the data you need to adjust your strategy and optimize your efforts. Here are just a few reasons why they’re a game-changer:

• Clear Insights: Understand what’s working and what isn’t across all your marketing channels.
• Easy-to-Use Dashboards: No need to be a data scientist—HubSpot’s dashboards present your data in a way that’s both visually appealing and easy to interpret.
• Customizable: Tailor your reports to track the exact metrics that matter to your business.

Pro Tip: Don’t fall into the vanity metrics trap! Metrics like website visits and social media likes are great, but the real magic is in the conversion rates, leads generated, and revenue numbers. Focus on metrics that drive actionable insights.

Step 1: Access HubSpot’s Reporting Dashboard

The first step in tracking and analyzing your marketing performance is accessing your HubSpot reporting dashboard. It’s the control center for all your reports, and it’s surprisingly user-friendly.

1. Go to the Reports Tab: Once you’re logged into HubSpot, navigate to the “Reports” tab at the top of your screen.
2. Select “Reports Dashboard”: This is your central hub for all things analytics. Here, you’ll find a variety of pre-built reports (which are perfect for getting started) as well as the option to create custom reports.

Pro Tip: Start by getting comfortable with the default reports. HubSpot provides a wide range of ready-to-go dashboards, such as traffic analysis, email performance, and lead conversion, to give you a solid foundation.

Step 2: Choose Your Report Type

Not all reports are created equal, and depending on your marketing goals, you’ll want to track different metrics. HubSpot offers several types of reports to help you measure everything from website performance to email campaign results. Here are the most common report types:

1. Traffic Analytics: This tracks the number of visitors to your website, where they’re coming from, and which pages they’re viewing.
2. Email Performance: This shows open rates, click-through rates, and the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
3. Contact Reports: These focus on the activity of your contacts, helping you understand where they are in the buyer’s journey.
4. Campaign Performance: Tracks the success of your overall marketing campaigns, including website visits, social media engagement, and leads generated.

Example: Let’s say you’re running a campaign to promote a new product launch. You’d use Campaign Performance reports to see how many people are engaging with your ads, visiting your landing page, and ultimately converting into customers.

Pro Tip: Pick reports that align with your key performance indicators (KPIs). If your goal is to increase lead generation, focus on contact and conversion reports. If you’re building brand awareness, traffic analytics might be more your speed.

Step 3: Set Up a Custom Dashboard

While the default reports are helpful, creating a custom dashboard allows you to track the metrics that matter most to your business. HubSpot makes it super easy to personalize your dashboard so that every time you log in, you’re greeted with the data that matters.

1. Click “Create Dashboard”: In the Reports Dashboard, click the “Create Dashboard” button in the top right corner.
2. Choose a Template or Start From Scratch: HubSpot offers templates for specific purposes, such as sales, marketing, or customer service. If you want complete control, you can start from scratch.
3. Add Reports: Once your dashboard is set up, you can add individual reports to it. These could be pre-built reports from HubSpot’s library or custom reports that you create (more on that in a second!).

Example: Imagine you’re managing marketing for a fitness app. You might set up a custom dashboard with reports tracking new user sign-ups, app downloads, email engagement, and referral traffic from your social media campaigns.

Pro Tip: Name your dashboards clearly! If you have separate dashboards for email marketing, paid ads, and website traffic, make sure they’re labeled so you can easily find the data you need.

Step 4: Create a Custom Report

HubSpot gives you the power to build custom reports tailored specifically to your needs. You can track just about anything, from conversion rates to blog post performance. Here’s how:

1. Go to Reports > Reports > Create Custom Report.
2. Select Your Report Type: HubSpot offers various report types, such as single-object (e.g., deals or contacts), cross-object, or attribution reports.
3. Choose Your Metrics: This is where you get to geek out over the details. You can select specific metrics to track, such as the number of contacts who became Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), website conversion rates, or the total revenue generated from a specific campaign.
4. Customize Your Report’s Visuals: HubSpot gives you a range of options to visualize your data, including bar graphs, pie charts, and tables. Choose what helps you best interpret the data at a glance.

Example: If you’re trying to figure out which blog posts are generating the most leads, create a report that tracks blog traffic and conversions. You can even filter the data by time period or specific campaigns.

Pro Tip: Avoid going down the rabbit hole of trying to track everything. Focus on the metrics that directly impact your goals, like lead generation or sales conversions.

Step 5: Use Attribution Reports for ROI Insights

Let’s face it, the real question every marketer wants to answer is: What’s my return on investment (ROI)? HubSpot’s Attribution Reports help you connect the dots between your marketing activities and actual revenue.

Attribution reports show you which marketing efforts are driving conversions, whether it’s your blog content, email campaigns, or social media ads.

1. Go to Reports > Attribution.
2. Choose the Attribution Model: HubSpot offers several attribution models, including First Interaction (which attributes all credit to the first touchpoint) and Last Interaction (which credits the final touchpoint before conversion). You can also choose a Multi-Touch Attribution model, which spreads the credit across multiple touchpoints.

Example: Imagine you’re running a series of Facebook ads, email campaigns, and blog content to promote a product. Attribution reports will show you whether people who bought your product first engaged with a blog post, an email, or an ad. This helps you understand which channel deserves credit for driving conversions.

Pro Tip: Experiment with different attribution models to get a full picture of your marketing performance. Sometimes the first interaction is as important as the last!

Step 6: Monitor and Optimize Your Campaigns

Now that your dashboards and reports are up and running, it’s time for the fun part: monitoring and optimizing! This is where you get to play detective, tracking the performance of your marketing efforts and making data-driven decisions to improve them.

1. Monitor Key Metrics Daily/Weekly: Keep an eye on essential KPIs such as traffic, conversion rates, and email open rates. HubSpot’s dashboards automatically update, so you can see real-time performance.
2. Identify Patterns: Look for trends in your data. Are there certain times of the week when your traffic spikes? Which types of content are driving the most leads?
3. Test and Tweak: Based on what you find, start testing new ideas. Maybe your email open rates are low, so you experiment with different subject lines. Or perhaps your social media ads aren’t converting, so you tweak the ad copy or targeting.

Example: Let’s say you notice that your website traffic peaks on Mondays and Fridays. You might experiment with sending your newsletters on those days to take advantage of the increased traffic.

Pro Tip: Set benchmarks. Compare your current performance against historical data to see if your marketing efforts are improving over time. If your lead conversion rate was 5% last quarter, aim for 6% this quarter!

Step 7: Share Reports with Your Team

What good is data if no one sees it? HubSpot makes it easy to share your reports and dashboards with your team, ensuring that everyone is aligned on performance.

1. Click “Share”: Each report or dashboard has a “Share” button that allows you to send a link to teammates, or you can export the data as a PDF or Excel file.
2. Schedule Automatic Reports: You can set up HubSpot to automatically email reports to your team on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

Pro Tip: Keep reports simple and digestible. Not everyone on your team is a data junkie, so make sure the most important takeaways are front and center.

Conclusion

Tracking and analyzing your marketing performance with HubSpot Reports is like having a crystal ball into your marketing efforts. By understanding what’s working and where to improve, you can make data-driven decisions that lead to better results. Whether you’re new to reporting or a seasoned data guru, HubSpot provides all the tools you need to keep your marketing on track—and growing.