How to Migrate from Salesforce to HubSpot: A Step-by-Step Guide

Asset Migration

When migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot, you’ll need to consider several aspects of your existing setup, including users, properties, lists, automations, reports, campaigns, and email templates and sequences.

The Assets

Users: You’ll need to ensure that all your users have access to HubSpot and have the appropriate permissions set up. HubSpot has a similar user management system to Salesforce, so this should be a relatively straightforward process.

Properties: HubSpot has a different set of properties than Salesforce, so you’ll need to map your Salesforce properties to the corresponding HubSpot properties. There may be default HubSpot properties that align with custom properties that you created in Salesforce.

Always leverage the default properties before creating duplicative custom ones. This is an essential step to ensure that your data is properly mapped and your automation works as intended.

Lists: While Salesforce uses views and queues for organizing and segmenting contacts and companies, HubSpot has list functionality.

Lists can either be static (in which contacts and companies have to be added or removed manually or via workflow) or active (in which contacts and companies will automatically be added or removed based on whether they meet the criteria). You’ll need to recreate your Salesforce views and queues in HubSpot as lists.

Automations: HubSpot has a powerful automation system that operates similarly to Salesforce flows, so you’ll need to recreate your Salesforce flows in HubSpot as workflows. However, if you have any significantly customized flows or APEX triggers, you may need HubSpot’s Operations Hub Pro in order to create custom-coded actions within HubSpot workflows in order to match the functionality you had in Salesforce.

Migrating automations is an important step to ensure that your lead nurturing, assignment, and follow-up sequences continue to function correctly.

Reports: HubSpot’s reporting system is robust, but doesn’t have some of the filtering and display options that Salesforce does.

Where possible, you’ll need to recreate your Salesforce reports in HubSpot. For reports that are not able to be brought over, you can use a third-party data platform like Databox.

Campaigns: Campaigns work differently between the two systems. While Salesforce allows for campaign members, HubSpot’s campaigns system is essentially a way to gather and report upon related assets like landing pages, emails, forms, workflows, and more. 

Email templates and sequences: You’ll need to recreate your Salesforce email templates and sequences in HubSpot. HubSpot has a similar email marketing system to Salesforce, so this should be a relatively straightforward process.

Data Migration

When migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot, you’ll need to transfer your contact, company, and opportunity data. This can be done via integration or manual export.

Integration: There are several integration options available that can help you transfer your data from Salesforce to HubSpot. The HubSpot Salesforce integration is one of the most popular options and provides a bi-directional sync between the two platforms.

This means that any changes made in HubSpot will be reflected in Salesforce, and vice versa. Other integration options include Zapier, Workato, and Mulesoft.

Manual export: If you prefer to do a manual export, you can export your data from Salesforce in CSV format and import it into HubSpot. However, this option can be time-consuming and error-prone, so it’s important to double-check your data before importing it into HubSpot.

QA Process

Once you’ve migrated your data and set up your assets, it’s crucial to test your setup thoroughly before making the cutover from Salesforce to HubSpot. This is where the quality assurance process comes in.

QA involves testing your setup to ensure that everything is working as expected. This includes testing your automation rules, lead scoring, workflows, and email sequences. It’s important to test both the frontend and backend of your setup to identify any issues that may arise.

To begin the QA process, start by testing your workflows. Create test contacts with different properties and run them through your automation rules to ensure that they are triggering the correct actions. This will help you identify any issues with your automation rules before going live with HubSpot.

Going Live with HubSpot

Once you’ve completed the QA process and ensured that your setup is working correctly, it’s time to make the cutover from Salesforce to HubSpot. This is a critical moment, and it’s important to plan carefully to minimize any disruptions to your business.

Here are some considerations for when your organization makes the cutover:

Mission Accomplished

Migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot can be a complex process, but with careful planning and execution, it can be a smooth transition. Consider the differences between the platforms, and make sure to migrate users, properties, lists, automations, reports, campaigns, and email templates and sequences. Transfer your contact, company, and opportunity data via an integration or manual export, and test your setup thoroughly before making the cutover. Finally, plan carefully for the cutover itself to ensure a successful transition. By following these steps, you can migrate from Salesforce to HubSpot with confidence and set your organization up for success.