How to Set Up HubSpot: Your Day 1 Guide

Having invested in HubSpot, you must get the basics right from day one.

If you dedicate proper time and effort to your HubSpot set-up, you’ll have a platform that will transform the way you manage your marketing, sales, and customer service.

In this article, we’ll provide an in-depth guide to ensure a smooth implementation from day one.

From configuring your domains to setting up email templates, we’ll ensure you’re ready to hit the ground running and start seeing results.

Common challenges when completing a HubSpot Setup

Setting up HubSpot can be tricky, especially if you’re new to the platform.

One of the most common challenges is deciding what to use HubSpot for and who needs to be involved.

Defining your CRM goals and understanding how each team member will use the system is crucial. This includes managing permissions and ensuring everyone accesses the right data at the right time. Without clarity on these factors, your set-up can quickly become confusing and inefficient.

Another major challenge is securing buy-in from your team.

It’s vital to get the right people involved and ensure they’re on board with using HubSpot.

This means having clean, organised data from the start, and ensuring key stakeholders understand the value HubSpot will bring to their daily processes.

If you’re migrating from an existing system, data migration can also be a challenge. 
Moving your data from legacy systems or even spreadsheets into HubSpot often reveals issues, such as messy or incomplete data.

Data cleanup is essential before importing into HubSpot to ensure your CRM runs smoothly.

However, it doesn’t end there—once the data is in HubSpot, you need to establish processes to maintain its quality over time.

Another common pitfall during the HubSpot setup was the misuse of key features, such as sales pipelines.

Previously, we’ve seen some clients create multiple pipelines for different sales campaigns, only to find themselves with an overwhelming number of unnecessary pipelines. This often stems from a misunderstanding of how HubSpot’s tools work—one pipeline with flags for different types of business is usually more efficient.

Finally, another example is that businesses often struggle with workflows. Poorly implemented workflows or a lack of understanding of task automation can lead to confusion and inefficiencies.

By getting the basics right and fully understanding HubSpot’s capabilities, you can avoid these common set-up challenges and set yourself up for success.

HubSpot Implementation

Understand the key stages of a full HubSpot implementation, with our guide 'The 5 Stages of a Successful HubSpot CRM implementation'. Get a comprehensive overview of everything you need to do, from mobilisation to continuous improvements.

Establish a strategy for using HubSpot

Before diving into the tools and features of HubSpot, it's important to take a step back and think about why you’re using the platform in the first place.

HubSpot offers a vast range of capabilities across marketing, sales, and service, but the key to success is knowing what you want to achieve and having a clear strategy in place.

When you first subscribe, there are several basic settings and tasks to complete, such as configuring company details, setting your fiscal year, and connecting HubSpot to your website and social media. These steps are important, but they can be done at any time.

What’s more crucial is understanding your goals and how HubSpot can help you reach them.

So, take the time to consider what you want to accomplish. Are you focusing on marketing? Sales? Or a combination of both? What will success look like?  How will you measure success?

Creating a strategy first will prevent you from rushing in and potentially creating inefficiencies later.

If you have the option, it’s also worth setting up a sandbox environment where you can explore the platform without affecting your live data. This allows you to test different features, load in sample data, and get a feel for how HubSpot will work for your specific needs.

Your success with HubSpot will come from aligning the platform’s capabilities with your business objectives—so have a clear plan in place before you dive into the technical set-up.

6 basic things to prioritise on day 1 of your HubSpot set-up

1. Account settings and user permissions

Customise account details

This is where you establish the basics of your HubSpot account. Add your company name, and logo, and set up your time zone and currency. These settings ensure that any emails or communications sent through HubSpot reflect your branding and are set to your operational hours.

Manage users and permissions

HubSpot allows you to add team members and control what they can access. Permissions are essential for protecting sensitive information and ensuring that only authorised users can make changes to key settings like workflows or marketing campaigns. You can assign roles such as Admin, Marketing, Sales, or Service to match their responsibilities.  Focus on giving the project team access before end users.

2. Connect your domain and email

Domain connection

If you’re using HubSpot to manage your website or landing pages, you’ll need to connect your domain (yourcompany.com). This is crucial if you plan to host content on HubSpot or track analytics. Connecting your domain also allows HubSpot to send marketing emails from your domain.

Email integration

HubSpot allows you to send, track, and log emails directly from its platform. To do this, you need to connect your email account, such as Gmail or Outlook, to HubSpot.

This integration ensures that every email sent through HubSpot is recorded, so you can monitor open rates, click-through rates, and responses. You’ll also want to set-up your email signature to maintain professionalism and branding in communications.

3. CRM set-up and data import

Your business should agree on what you’re using HubSpot for first to understand what data you need to import into HubSpot.

Import contacts

HubSpot's CRM is the core of the platform, and you should upload your existing customer and prospect data as soon as possible.

You can do this by importing CSV files that contain contact information (e.g., name, email, phone number, etc.), but on Day one, you should start by assessing what data you have available and where it will come from  You should also review the source data quality for duplicates or gaps.

4. Configure lead capture and forms

Set-up forms

HubSpot’s forms allow you to capture leads directly from your website or landing pages. As a priority, you should create forms for different purposes, such as contact us, newsletter sign-ups, or requesting a demo. Make sure each field in your form is mapped to the right CRM property so that any new data gets automatically stored in your contact records and that someone is notified each time a lead is generated.

5. Integrate with other tools

Marketing tools integration

If you're running campaigns on social media, Google Ads, or similar platforms, linking those accounts to HubSpot is a straightforward exercise and something you can do from Day One.

This allows you to manage your campaigns from a central location and track how they’re performing in terms of lead generation, engagement, and conversion.

6. Reporting and dashboards

Dashboards are a powerful way to visualise key performance indicators (KPIs) for marketing, sales, or customer service. HubSpot enables you to easily set up some basic, standard dashboards to track metrics such as website visits, lead generation, sales pipeline, or customer support tickets. 

Get expert tips for your HubSpot set-up with Axon Garside’s free guide

Setting up HubSpot correctly from the outset is crucial for long-term success.

Whether you're just getting started or looking to optimise your platform, our comprehensive guide, The 5 Stages of a Successful HubSpot CRM Implementation, will walk you through everything you need to know.

With practical insights and actionable steps, this guide will help you avoid common pitfalls and get the most out of HubSpot's CRM platform.