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Use goals in contact-based workflows

Last updated: January 5, 2024

Available with any of the following subscriptions, except where noted:

Marketing Hub Professional, Enterprise
Sales Hub Professional, Enterprise
Service Hub Professional, Enterprise

When creating a contact-based workflow, you can set a workflow goal to focus the objective of your workflow and measure the success of your workflow in nurturing contacts. 

Similar to suppression lists, all contacts that meet the workflow goal will be automatically unenrolled. However, goal conversion rates will only be available in Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise accounts.

If you are trying to unenroll or exclude objects in company-based, deal-based, quote-based, or ticket-based workflows, learn how to  set unenrollment triggers instead.

Please note:

  • Because of changes related to Apple's recently announced iOS 15 privacy features, your email opens may appear higher than usual. You can consider using clicks or replies instead of email opens for your workflow goals instead. Learn more about how to navigate these changes in HubSpot
  • Clearing all goal criteria will reset the number of contacts that have met the current goal and will reset the workflow's conversion rate to zero. Updating goal criteria or adding new filters will not reset the workflow's goal data.


Before you get started

A workflow goal is the ultimate objective of your contact-based workflow. When an enrolled contact meets the workflow goal criteria, they are automatically unenrolled from the workflow before the next action executes. Common workflow goals include:

  • Moving contacts to a new lifecycle stage (e.g., the contact's Lifecycle stage changes to Customer).
  • Contacts taking actions that indicate engagement (e.g., the contact submits a specific form, clicks a specific call-to-action, etc.).
  • Contacts reaching a number of interactions with your marketing content (e.g., the contact reaches a certain number of page views, form submissions, email clicks, etc.).

When using goals, please also take note of the following:

  • When a contact is first enrolled in a workflow, HubSpot checks if the contact meets the goal criteria. If they do, they will not be enrolled in the workflow and will not count towards the workflow's goal conversion rate.
  • When a contact is active in a workflow and meets the goal criteria, they'll be automatically unenrolled from the workflow. You can identify active contacts that were unenrolled from a workflow as a result of meeting the goal criteria in the workflow details page.
  • Only contacts that have also been sent a marketing email in the workflow will count towards the workflow's goal conversion rate
  • While workflow goals and suppression lists both unenroll contacts from workflows, they serve different purposes:

    • Goal: used to measure the success of your workflow in nurturing contacts. For example, your goal criteria might include contacts who become a customer or submit a specific form while enrolled in the workflow. When a contact meets your workflow goal and was sent a marketing email in the workflow, they will count towards the workflow's goal conversion rate. A contact can meet a workflow goal while currently enrolled or any time after completing the workflow. It's recommended to use goals only when the workflow contains a marketing email send.
    • Suppression list: used to suppress contacts you don't want to enroll in the workflow. For example, your suppression list might include your competitors, contacts who are already customers, or current employees. It's recommended to use suppression lists instead of goals when the workflow does not contain a marketing email send.

Set a workflow goal in your contact-based workflow

  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automation > Workflows.
  • Click the name of your contact-based workflow.
  • Navigate to the Goals tab, then click Set goal.
  • In the dialog box, select and set the goal criteria. Then, click Save.

  • To add multiple criteria to the goal, click AND or OR. Learn more about AND vs OR logic.

AND-OR-logic-goal

  • When you're done, click Save.

View your goal performance (Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise only)

After setting your workflow goals, you can view your goal conversion rate and contact trends. 
  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automation > Workflows.
  • Click the name of your contact-based workflow.
  • Click the Goals tab to display the goal reports.

navigate-to-goals-workflows

Use goals in workflow enrollment criteria

Enroll contacts in a workflow based on whether they met a workflow's goal criteria. 

  • For workflows that use goal criteria and send marketing emails:
    • In the workflow editor, click Set up triggers. Learn more about setting enrollment triggers in workflows.
    • In the left panel, under Workflows, select Achieved workflow goal. This will enroll any contacts who count toward the workflow's goal conversion rate. Since the filter enrolls based on goal conversion rate, this method won't work if the workflow doesn't send marketing emails.
    • Click + Add trigger.
    • In the right Add trigger panel, click Workflow and search for and select the name of the workflow you want to use.
    • Click Save

select-workflow-filter

 

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