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HubSpot Programmable Emails: How to scale your personalization with HubDB, custom objects, and user variables

Written by Erin Wiggers | Jun 6, 2023 12:47:55 AM

The power of programmable emails in today's business landscape

As we've discussed in a previous blog, programmable email tools allow you to create dynamic emails that change based on customer behavior and other triggers. This makes your emails much more personal and relevant.

Unlocking your competitive advantage: the importance of personalization

In today's fiercely competitive business landscape, personalizing your communications with customers has become more crucial than ever. With customers inundated with an overwhelming amount of generic marketing messages, personalized interactions can make a significant impact.

By tailoring your communication efforts to cater to individual preferences, interests, and needs, you can establish stronger connections, foster trust, and enhance customer loyalty.

Maximizing results: the imperative of optimizing your programmable email process

Just as personalized messaging has emerged as a necessity rather than a mere luxury, so has the optimization of this process. 

Enter: HubDB, custom objects and user variables. 

When it comes to programmable emails, utilizing these tools offers a superior solution compared to relying solely on smart content.

Unlike smart content, which may have limitations in terms of flexibility and scalability, utilizing HubDB, custom objects, and user variables allows you to access a broader range of personalization options.These features provide a structured and dynamic framework for managing and storing data relevant to your email campaigns.

But how can you use these three tools to build programmable emails? Keep reading to learn how: 


Building Programmable Emails: A Guide to Utilizing HubDB, Custom Objects, and User Variables

A client was looking to scale their programmable email process. Our team at Aptitude 8, developed this proof-of-concept shared below, on how to build programmable emails using HubDB, Custom Objects, and User Variables.

Please note: HubDB and Custom Objects were used here because we wanted them to see both options not necessarily because it was the best-fit use case.

01 Build your HubDB table

To begin, create a HubDB table specifically for your email campaigns. In this example, let's consider campaigns for Summer, Fall, and Loyalty Promotions. Include relevant content for each email and a list ID (or multiple IDs) that correspond to the target recipients.

02 Utilize custom objects for featured tours

Next, establish a group of custom objects dedicated to the featured tours that will be showcased or included in your various email campaigns. Custom objects offer a way to define and store specific data points related to your tours.

03 Associate objects to the campaigns in the programmable email module

Within the programmable email module, associate the custom objects to their respective campaigns using simple dropdown menus. This functionality allows for unlimited flexibility in connecting objects to specific email campaigns.

04 Customize email output based on list membership

As a result of the previous steps, the email output will dynamically display the appropriate content based on the recipient's list membership. Each recipient will see the content relevant to their specific list or lists.

05 Exclude already purchased tours

To enhance the email experience further, implement a feature that excludes any tours associated with a user as "Attendee." This ensures that recipients are not promoted tours they have already purchased, providing a more personalized and relevant experience.

Click here to watch Aptitude 8's technical director, Erin Wiggers, walk through how to do this in HubSpot. 

Expanding horizons: what else can you build with these tools?

The tools open a world of endless possibilities of the level of personalization you can provide for your end users. Let's look at another step you can take:

Implement a dynamic language switcher for emails

You can take this solution one step further by incorporating a dynamic language switcher for your emails. This feature allows you to customize the email content based on the recipient's preferred language, ensuring an even more personalized and localized communication.

Ready to get started?

This solution is highly versatile and can be expanded to accommodate various use cases. Interested in learning how you can get started?

Contact our team Aptitude 8 and let's see how we can use these highly flexible and adaptable tools to find a solution that meets your unique needs!