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Case study · HubSpot architecture

Four brands, one Marketing Hub Enterprise build

A marketing software provider running four brands moved its marketing onto HubSpot Marketing Hub Enterprise, integrated with a complex Salesforce instance. I built the brands on one shared data model and added a custom Buying Cycle object that records every buying cycle from first inquiry.

Client
Multi-brand provider of websites and marketing for professional practices
Platforms
HubSpot Marketing Hub Enterprise, Salesforce
Services
Enterprise implementation, Salesforce integration, custom objects

Key result

4

brands running on one data model, with every buying cycle recorded from its first inquiry

  • 1

    custom Buying Cycle object, synced to Salesforce at MQL

  • 3

    dashboards plus an admin SOP suite

The situation

The company sells software to professional practices under four brands. Marketing needed one platform it could run as a single team, with each brand keeping its own forms, emails and pages.

Sales lived in Salesforce, with its own lead routing and qualification rules. Marketing needed to integrate with that instance without flooding sales with unqualified records, and leadership wanted to eventually answer which marketing efforts start buying cycles that end in revenue.

What was getting in the way

  • Contacts are the wrong unit for attribution

    A contact can inquire, go quiet and come back a year later, blending separate buying cycles into one.

  • Sales only wanted qualified records

    The integration had to respect Salesforce's routing and hold records back until they were ready.

  • Four brands, one team

    Each brand needed its own front end while sharing data, scoring and reporting.

  • Email preferences had drifted

    Subscription types had defects across all four brands, from a duplicate type to a missing one.

Recording buying cycles as their own records gives the company a clean unit to report on, long before the attribution model exists.

What I built

A shared foundation first, then the brand layer on top.

  1. A custom Buying Cycle object

    Created at every initial inquiry, linked to the contact and company through associations.

  2. Qualification before sync

    Cycles reach Salesforce only at MQL, with the cycle's origin attached.

  3. An attribution foundation

    Sources that start cycles, cycles that qualify, and revenue as closed-won data flows back.

  4. Multi-brand on one data model

    Global data, scoring and reporting; brand-specific forms, emails and pages.

  5. Subscription type cleanup

    Every type mapped, fixed and documented before more automation was built.

  6. Reporting and enablement

    Three dashboards, data model training and an admin SOP suite.

How it works now

Before
After
BeforeContacts blended separate buying cycles
AfterEvery inquiry opens its own Buying Cycle record
BeforeUnqualified records risked flooding sales
AfterCycles reach Salesforce only at MQL
BeforeFour brands, four ways of working
AfterOne data model with brand-specific front ends
BeforeSubscription types had drifted
AfterMapped, fixed and documented across all four brands

What carries to your firm

If you want attribution later, decide now what you are attributing.

Buying cycles created at first inquiry and handed to sales at qualification give you a clean unit to report on long before you build the attribution model.