HubSpot is an all-in-one powerhouse for marketing, sales, and customer support, but let’s be real - it’s packed with so many tools that it can feel a bit overwhelming. One common area where people get tripped up? Sequences vs. workflows. Knowing the difference can make a big impact on how effectively your sales and marketing teams generate and nurture leads.
Stick with us, and by the end, you’ll know exactly how to use each one to its full potential! 👇
What Are HubSpot Sequences?
In HubSpot, a Sequence is designed to help sales teams connect with bottom-of-the-funnel leads more efficiently, using personalized, automated emails and follow-up tasks. Ultimately saving sales teams up to 30% of the time typically spent on follow-ups according to HubSpot.
Think of HubSpot Sequences as a digital concierge, providing leads with the right information at the right when they need it, ensuring they feel attended to, and reminding sales teams to check in without them needing to be on standby.
Each email in a Sequence can be hyper-specific with automated reminders to call prospects or say “Hello” on LinkedIn performs administrative functions to keep your sales team organized and ahead of the game. These features make them perfect for Account-Based Marketing strategies. Sequences let the sales teams manage high-touch outreach efficiently, moving leads through the last stages of the buying cycle.
Key Features of Sequences
Personalized Email Automation: Rather than relying on general messaging, Sequences are designed for personalized outreach. For those implementing an Account-Based Marketing strategy, they can support efforts by creating an outreach approach that is tailored to decision-makers on an individual level.
Conditional Enrollment: Contacts are enrolled based on specific criteria. This allows users to get super granular with their messaging.
Task Automation: With Sequences, you can easily set up task automation like follow-up calls and reminders to connect on LinkedIn.
When to Use HubSpot Sequences
Ideal for sales follow-ups, lead nurturing, and re-engagement of potential clients.
Best suited for sales teams managing direct communications with leads.
Limited scope for personalized, relationship-driven outreach rather than broad marketing campaigns.
What Are HubSpot Workflows?
When you need to generate large, complex email campaigns aimed at segmenting recipients based on their actions, there’s only one answer. Workflows. This tool helps businesses simplify complex processes in marketing, sales, and customer service with triggers meant to zero in on highly personalized automation.
This level of adaptability makes HubSpot Workflows one of the platform's most essential tools. HubSpot even reports that automated emails sent through Workflows have been shown to improve open rates by as much as 20%. Workflows allow teams to create seamless, targeted experiences for leads, boosting the power of lead magnets while increasing efficiency and ensuring that customers stay engaged throughout the campaign.
Key Features of Workflows
Automation Flexibility: A good email campaign should be varied to meet the needs and actions of recipients. Workflows include multi-step, logic-based actions that can be tailored to unique actions and outreach pathways.
Branching Logic: Workflows excel when used for conditional paths (e.g., “if-then” rules). These pathways are ideal for creating personalized user journeys that resonate through the noise of busy inboxes.
Cross-functional Integrations: Workflows connect with various HubSpot tools like contact properties, lists, and deals, giving users the power of full-funnel automation.
Scalability: When you’re reaching out to larger segments, Workflows are the answer. They accommodate thousands of contacts, making them ideal for marketing campaigns and customer journey management.
When to Use HubSpot Workflows
Useful for marketing automation and lifecycle management. Perfect for onboarding, engagement, and reactivation.
Workflows enhance the user experience by delivering messages based on contact behavior.
Optimized for larger-scale campaigns and automated customer relationship management (CRM).
Differences Between HubSpot Sequences vs. Workflows
Now that you know how to set up your Sequences and Workflows, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what these two tools can do and their differences.
Subscription Type
First things first, you need to figure out your subscription type. Different features are tied to different subscriptions. Check your plan and its features before planning your email strategy.
Sequences: To access HubSpot Sequences, users must have either Sales Hub, Service Hub Professional, or Enterprise subscriptions, along with a connected personal inbox, like IMAP, Office 365, or G Suite.
Workflows: This tool is available to Professional subscribers but may have specific limitations based on the triggers or actions within the Hub level that you want to use.
Functionality and Complexity
While on the surface, they might seem the same or at least very similar, in reality, these tools operate very differently and have different goals in mind.
Sequences: Sequences are simpler and linear. They are simple outreach structures built to send fast and digestible outreach to known or validated contacts. Think of them as a sort of checklist, albeit with a bit more power to send communications.
Workflows: Workflows allow for conditional branching and multi-step, complex logic. They allow you to create detailed branching to break down large groups of contacts into segmented paths. Depending on your goals, they can get very complicated, very quickly.
User Control and Management
Sales and marketing teams often work hand-in-hand, but Sequences and Workflows are designed with their respective teams in mind.
Sequences: Sales teams control Sequences, allowing for manual enrollment and targeting contacts from their personal emails.
Workflows: Workflows allow marketing teams to automate customer interactions at scale, reducing or even eliminating the need for direct user input.
Enrollment and Unenrollment in HubSpot Workflows and Sequences
Enrollment and unenrollment triggers are a lynchpin of successful email outreach. Knowing how contacts will get into your email communications and how/when they’ll get out is crucial for ensuring your campaigns are operating efficiently and ethically.
Sequences: In Sequences, enrollment is primarily manual, whether one by one or in bulk. These aren’t meant for large lists or general messaging. The manual labor here is because these are supposed to be going to qualified leads, not spamming prospects. 💡 Tip: Contacts can’t be unenrolled from sequences until they meet an action, like scheduling a call or booking a meeting. Keep this in mind prior to setup!
Workflows: In Workflows, contacts can be enrolled automatically when they meet specific criteria, like submitting a form, updating a contact property, or creating a deal. Contacts can also be manually enrolled, either individually or through a contact list. On the flip side, contacts can be unenrolled through a variety of conditions, such as not responding to previous emails in the sequences or being inactive contacts.
Limitations:
While both tools have powerful capabilities, they each have their limitations. This is especially true with Sequences. Taking the time to understand these limitations will pay dividends when setting up your campaigns.
Sequences: These have some important limitations associated with them. Sequences are only able to include 5 actions. Likewise, the size of your list is also limited with the amount of contacts you can add kept small. For exact numbers, check with your HubSpot subscription type as they can vary based on it.
Workflows: If you’re looking for nothing to hold you back then Workflows are for you. HubSpot Workflows have no limitations on list size or number of actions. Get as complex as you like.
Reporting with HubSpot Workflows and Sequences:
The last thing you need to understand between Sequences and Workflows is how they work with reporting. During and after your campaigns, you’ll want to access the data to see what worked and what didn’t.
Sequences: If you’re hoping for robust reporting from your sequences, expect to be disappointed. Sequences only provide reporting on booking and reply rates.
Workflows: For marketers obsessed with data and metrics, then Workflows are perfect. You can choose from a wide variety of things to track, giving you flexibility and deep insights into what data you’re seeing and reporting on.
Scenarios for HubSpot Sequences vs. Workflows
We’ve gone into a lot of detail on how to set up HubSpot Sequences vs Workflows and discussed their strengths, weaknesses, and differences. Now let’s see what they look like in action. Here are three scenarios for HubSpot email campaigns and which tools are best suited for each.
Scenario 1: Lead Nurturing for Sales Follow-Up
This is your classic lead nurture sequence with a sales rep reaching out to qualified leads in the effort to make a personal connection and drive prospects towards a call or booked demo.
Initial Outreach: The sales representative sends a personalized introductory email to establish a connection, recognizing the lead's unique needs or challenges based on prior research or earlier conversations.
Follow-Up Email Series: If there’s no response, follow-up emails spaced a few days apart can attempt to engage the contact at a later date. These follow-up emails build off of the previous one, trying your luck with a new value proposition and attempting to tackle any potential objections.
Tailored Content Offers: In addition to the email series, include content offers such as case studies, product demonstrations, or customer testimonials. This approach helps the lead build trust in the company's capability to address their needs.
Final Push for Conversion: During the outreach, if successful in generating interest or a response, the sales rep should follow up with a call. Their aim is to quickly move the interested prospect out of the Sequence and into a meeting, demo, or personal email chain.
Scenario 2: Large-Scale Onboarding or Nurturing Campaign
Whether you’re planning a new customer onboarding or creating a nurture campaign for new business, this workflow is perfect. Triggering a series of automated, behavior-based emails is ideal for engaging a high volume of contacts and moving them progressively through your campaign.
Welcome Email: This initial email, sent upon sign-up, expresses gratitude to the customer, offers a quick-start guide, and emphasizes the resources available to help them succeed.
Educational Series: Depending on the customer's actions, such as opening the welcome email, the Workflow delivers educational content that includes product tutorials, best practices, and use cases specifically designed to meet their needs.
Engagement Metrics Tracking: The Workflow tracks email opens, clicks, and various engagement metrics. When a customer shows active engagement, they are provided with more detailed information or invited to join a community forum or webinar.
Feedback and Additional Support: After completing the initial onboarding, the workflow sends a request for feedback and provides extra support or resources tailored to the customer’s responses.
Scenario 3: Customer Retention and Re-Engagement
This Workflow is designed to reconnect with inactive leads or customers by delivering tailored content that reflects their previous behaviors and interactions.
Re-Introduction Email: The Workflow identifies inactive contacts and sends an email to reintroduce the brand, highlighting any recent improvements like new features or success stories.
Personalize Your Content: The next step involves sending personalized content that aligns with the recipient’s last-known interests, such as blog articles, product updates, or case studies that correspond to their previous engagement history.
Exclusive Offer or Incentive: If the initial outreach is unsuccessful, the workflow can follow up with a special offer, like a discount or a free trial, in hopes of encouraging re-engagement.
Final Engagement Push: For leads that haven't responded, the workflow can send a final email requesting feedback, encouraging them to reconnect, or providing a simple opt-out option.
Choosing HubSpot Sequences vs. Workflows
HubSpot Sequences and Workflows can be complicated and even overwhelming for anyone. Even the pros get things mixed up. However, with a little explaining and a couple of examples, you’ll realize they’re not too hard to understand. These tools are designed to be easy to use and meant to give you all the power to need to meet your goals. Once you’ve got the hang of the differences, you’ll be an unstoppable lead-converting expert!
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