• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, April 26, 2024

The top executives at marketing platform HubSpot must be reviewing this report very carefully. Sponsored by Aptitude 8, a HubSpot partner, and conducted by Ascend2, The HubSpot
Platform Review reports on HubSpot’s performance and does not shy away from issues.  

For instance, it lists several challenges faced by HubSpot’s B2B clients:   

• Technical issues/glitches — 42% 
• High cost/price limits the ability to expand use (other Hubs) — 38% 
• Integration complexity — 36% 
• Customization limitations — 36% 
• Overall complexity/learning curve — 33%
• Data accuracy across Hubs — 31%
• Communication/collaboration within the team — 16% 

In terms of job levels, technical issues affect end users or non-managers the most, the study notes. Executives are more concerned about customization limitations and integration complexity, it adds. 

This study is unusual in that Aptitude 8 intended it for public release instead of using it strictly for internal consumption. 

Of course, the central message is a positive one: “Let’s get one thing straight from the start: 99% of the users we surveyed said that HubSpot has had a positive impact on their overall business performance!,” it says. 

The respondents listed these benefits: 

• Efficiency/productivity — 59% 
• Customer journey/experience — 48% 
• Sales enablement — 42%
• Team alignment — 39%
• Lead generation — 39%
• Data visualization & reporting — 38% 
• Marketing automation — 35% 
• Data consolidation — 33%

As the study explains, HubSpot’s platform is divided into functional “Hubs.”  Of the companies polled, 82% are multi-hub users. Half of respondents use three or more. 

Specifically, they use these Hubs:

• Sales Hub — 64%
• Marketing Hub — 53% 
• Service Hub — 50% 
• Operations Hub — 47% 
• CMS Hub — 23%
• Commerce Hub — 16%

Among the features in Sales Hub is one called Sequences, which allows users to automate a series of 1:1 emails and tasks. Sequences is rated as very effective by 46% of users, and as somewhat so by 49%. 

Then there’s Marketing Hub, of which email is one of the most highly rated features: 69% rate it is as very effective, and 27% as somewhat effective.  

Please don’t read this as an endorsement. It reflects what users are saying in an outside poll. 

Ascend2 surveyed 266 marketing, sales, service, and revenue operations professionals who use HubSpot. Of this sample, 40% are in B2B and 60% in B2B and B2C equally.