If you're anything like us, you already think HubSpot is awesome. Perhaps you're not there yet, and you're currently investigating the platform (we've got plenty of posts to help you make up your mind). Either way, you might have some questions, or need some extra support.
But what's the best way to get that support? Do you need a HubSpot Partner? Do you need a long-term retainer? Can you get help without a contract? How good is HubSpot help? We're here to answer some of those burning questions...
Do you need a HubSpot Partner?
There are a couple of elements to this. If you're buying Marketing Pro or Marketing Enterprise, you need to do HubSpot Onboarding. That's something you can either do with HubSpot directly, or through a HubSpot Partner.
After that, you don't officially have to have a Partner to help you. If you have a strong in-house team, the expertise you need, and the time and resource to do it, then you can absolutely continue without a partner.
However, you might find that there are some areas that you need extra support with (more on that in a second), if you don't have the experience or knowledge to do it yourself, or you don't have time.
One-off HubSpot help
If you do need something done that you can't do yourself, your next option is to find a HubSpot Partner that offers one-off help or projects that you can access without a retainer or contract.
For example, we have HubBytes - a selection of different tasks that you might need some help with. Maybe you have a big campaign coming up and can't get to everything you want to do, or you've got staffing or resource issues, or you're not sure how to do that one thing.
One-off HubSpot tasks are perfect for businesses that don't need a full retainer, but still want to be able to access experts for specific things, like database segmentation, template creation, landing pages, and so on.
You can get just the element you need, when you need it. Some providers also offer training, so your team can learn what to do for next time (we like making videos to answer your questions, so you have an easy 'how to' for next time).
Do you need a retainer?
It depends.
If you don't have the resource, skill, or insight within your team, you'll probably want a Partner to help you make the most out of your investment in HubSpot. Depending on what hubs you use, you'll need different elements.
A Sales Hub retainer might include sales coaching, training, sales enablement content, workflows, sequences, dashboards, forecasting, and CRM management.
A Marketing Hub retainer will likely include things like email marketing, content creation, social media, lead magnets, landing pages, and paid advertising.
You might need all of the above or a pick-and-mix approach (take a look at our post on bespoke packages and how much marketing costs for more on what type of packages you can get).
How much you need will depend on what you're trying to achieve and what resource you already have.
What about HubSpot Support?
HubSpot Support is great, but they can't do your marketing for you. They're there to support you with quick questions, issues, or fixes. Depending on the level of HubSpot package you have, you'll have different levels of access to the support team:
- If you're using a free account, you can access the HubSpot Community
- Starter accounts get email and live chat with HubSpot
- Professional and enterprise accounts also have phone support
The Community is a great starting point, alongside the HubSpot Knowledgebase and Academy - but you won't always get personalised information, and the results you get will be based on how much information you can provide, so it can be a challenge if you don't always know what your problem is.
Having access to Support means someone can log into your portal to see what the issue might be. But bear in mind they can't help with things that are operational, so if you need design help or help setting up an email campaign, for example, you'll need to go elsewhere.
Is there a hybrid option?
Do you need some ongoing support, but at a relatively low level, with occasional peaks in activity that need more help?
Some kind of hybrid between a retainer and ad hoc HubBytes or one-off tasks might be the best answer for you. That way you get the ongoing activities and can then bolt on the extra elements you need, as and when you need them.
If you know the peaks will be cyclical, you might be able to negotiate a retainer that stores up time over quieter months to cover the busy periods so you still pay the same each month to keep cashflow neat and tidy. This can be tough to manage from a resourcing perspective, so bear in mind that it may be more costly.
What's the best approach?
The best approach will always be one that's designed specifically for your business. If we know what you're trying to achieve, we can do a heap of analysis to find out what the best way to achieve that might be.
But, for a quick and dirty answer:
- If you have a great in-house team but need a few extra elements sometimes: HubBytes
- If you have no in-house team and need ongoing help: A bespoke retainer
- If you have peaks and troughs in activity requirements: A small retainer with ad hoc HubBytes
