Maximizing Growth with HubSpot's Custom Objects

Have your company gone through a previous HubSpot acquisition process?

Have you bought it and wondered how many business departments, processes, or object data entities you can adapt to HubSpot?

Have you purchased it and wondered how many business departments, processes, or data object entities you can adapt to HubSpot? In the world of marketing and sales, the ability to adapt to the specific needs of customers is key to driving growth. HubSpot, one of the most powerful platforms for customer relationship management (CRM), has taken it a step further by introducing custom objects. These allow businesses to structure their data in a unique and personalized way, according to the specifics of their operations. But how can HubSpot’s custom objects maximize your growth?

Custom objects enable companies to handle and organize specific information that doesn’t fit within HubSpot’s standard objects like contacts, companies, or tickets. This provides unmatched flexibility to manage data that is critical to operations, such as projects, products, properties, or any other entity crucial to your business model. By allowing you to tailor your CRM to your specific needs, HubSpot offers a scalable solution that can adapt to your company’s evolution and processes.

HubSpot’s customization capabilities also lead to greater operational efficiency. By centralizing all your data in one place and structuring it according to your specific requirements, the sales or marketing team can gain a clearer, more detailed view of their clients and operations. This comprehensive view not only optimizes client segmentation but also improves process automation, enabling quicker, more data-driven decision-making.

Ultimately, the use of custom objects in HubSpot not only enhances data management but also strengthens your ability to personalize the customer experience, which translates to higher satisfaction, loyalty, and, ultimately, sustainable growth. Fully leveraging these functionalities will keep you one step ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

In this article, you will learn how to unlock and master the true potential of HubSpot's custom objects to take your business to new heights, prepare for expansion, and create and adapt new data entities within your HubSpot account.

Now, let’s break down each segment:

What are HubSpot's Custom Objects?

HubSpot's custom objects are a powerful feature that allows you to create and manage custom data within your HubSpot CRM. They enable you to define and track specific information unique to your business needs. Custom objects can store and organize data such as products, projects, business processes, properties, or any other important custom entity to your business.

HubSpot's custom objects are a game-changer when it comes to tailoring your CRM to meet your business's specific requirements. By utilizing custom objects, you can create and manage customized data and delve into the intricacies of your business processes. Whether it's a unique entity vital to your operations, custom objects offer a level of flexibility and organization that standard CRM features simply can't match. With the power of custom objects, you can truly take your CRM to the next level, gaining a comprehensive understanding of your teams, customers, and prospects and opening the way for data-driven decisions that propel your business toward growth and success.

Leveraging custom objects allows you to tailor your CRM to fit your business requirements and diverse business cases.

Understanding the Power of HubSpot Custom Objects

The power of HubSpot custom objects lies in their ability to provide a flexible and customizable data structure that aligns with your business processes. Unlike standard objects in HubSpot, custom objects allow you to define your own properties and relationships, allowing you to organize and manage your data in a way that makes sense for your business.

With custom objects, you can create custom properties that capture the specific data points you need to track. This lets you gather detailed insights and better understand your customers and prospects. Additionally, custom objects enable you to establish relationships between different objects, providing a more holistic view of your data and facilitating advanced reporting and analysis.

How do Custom Objects work?

Custom objects elevate HubSpot enterprise-level capabilities, going beyond what the platform provides by default. They work out of the box with native HubSpot features such as workflows, lists, emails, reports, etc.

Consider new possibilities for integrations, internal process management, and data modeling.

Standard Objects vs Custom Objects 

What are Standard Objects?

Generally speaking, objects are created in order to store the information you need for your business. Inside HubSpot, you can find standard objects by default. These objects are data entities that represent data for all the most significant and basic information that most businesses require. Here are some examples of standard objects:

• Contacts: This native object represents people, like a website visitor, clients, leads, and any other person inside your contacts database lifecycle stage.
• Companies: This native object inside of HubSpot represents business and organization entities, such as agencies, small and midsized businesses, enterprise or corporate businesses, providers, suppliers, and distributors, and that can also relate to your company's database lifecycle stage.
• Deals: This object inside HubSpot represents deal opportunities or potential sales within your sales processes. So basically, any deal information your company follows through each step of your sales process or sales funnel inside HubSpot. 
• Tickets: This object represents service support inquiries that are submitted or managed within your service processes. Essentially, any ticket represents an internal or external service request that your company manages in each step of your service process inside HubSpot.

There are many other standard objects inside the CRM where your company can store information, such as notes, meetings, activities, tasks, products, and log calls.

Standard objects also contain what are called their specialized superpowers. These are special capabilities that these standard objects have that can boost diverse actions beneath your HubSpot account.

For example: 

For contacts, we know that they represent people. Their specialized superpower is to send marketing emails from HubSpot to your contacts database.

The company's specialized superpower is automatically enriched with public information. For example, when you register a new company inside HubSpot, its superpower will automatically populate with information about that company.

Deals have a specialized superpower that allows you to generate revenue attribution reports and sales forecasting inside the CRM. All of this is based on the information you provide to the deals registered in your company's pipeline.

In terms of tickets, their superpower is to automatically create them by incoming emails and calls.

So, how do Custom Objects differentiate from standard objects?

Here's how custom objects work!

Custom objects are tailor-made, meaning you can create them to fit the specific needs of your business. They can be based on multiple scenarios that can fit unique business processes and data entities that your company needs to personalize your CRM to adapt to your business and not otherwise.

Let's assume the following scenario: 

You are the business owner of a car dealership, and you need to keep records of all the cars in your different agencies because your company operates in multiple regions nationwide. 

How can you apply HubSpot's custom objects to this scenario?

When applying a custom object to this and other business cases, you must consider some key aspects.

First, when you have to register your customer, the best data entity to store that information is inside of contacts.

Secondly, cars aren't a native HubSpot's standard object. So, for this case, the best way to store a complete record of all the cars from each of your agencies nationwide would be to create a custom object to store that information.

Lastly, what happens with the agencies, how do you register them?

 Agencies wouldn't be a fit for a custom object because they are companies, so the best way to register them should be inside HubSpot's standard company object.

How to create a custom object?

You can create custom objects inside the HubSpot settings or with API if you are a HubSpot super admin. 

Here's the following process: 

• Login into your HubSpot account; once there, click the settings icon.
• Then, you'll see the objects section in the left sidebar. Then click Custom Objects.
• Once there, you'll see the Create Custom object button and click it on the top right corner.
• It will pop a creation form where you'll submit the information about the custom object name for both singular and plural titles of the custom object.
• Then, enter the object description.
• To create the object, you must specify the primary display property. This is the key to registering information inside the custom object.
• Afterwards, select the property type. It can be either single-line text or a number.
• You should also select the checkbox to require unique values for the primary display property.

• Then, you should create a secondary display property and its property type.

• To conclude, click Create at the bottom.

Once finished, you can continue creating and editing your custom object's properties. Then, generate association labels and manage custom object pipelines to streamline business processes, create object records, and custom cards and sidebar associations.

If you want to learn more about setting custom objects and how they can help you expand your business, you can access our recorded event in the NYC HubSpot User Group Event: "Beyond Basics: Exploring Custom Objects for Business Expansion in HubSpot."

When are Custom Objects a good fit, and when not?

Custom objects are not just a feature for tech-savvy businesses; they are a versatile tool that can be tailored to fit the specific needs of any company. By customizing data entities and storing information that aligns with your unique business goals, you can maximize the potential of your CRM.

With custom objects, you have the power to design a data structure that aligns with your business objectives. This means carefully planning your custom object's properties, relationships, and hierarchies to ensure your data is organized logically and efficiently. You can maintain data accuracy and consistency by implementing data governance practices, such as establishing data entry and validation guidelines.

Custom Objects are suitable for all companies to integrate new business processes and core data entities from your business use cases and store information tailored to your business inside HubSpot.

However, because of their flexibility and complex applications in multiple industries, there are cases where they shouldn't be considered and instead be used with another feature from HubSpot. 

Here are a couple of rules you must consider before deciding if custom objects are the best solution for your business case:

1. If it is a person, store it as a contact. You can't store a person's information in different databases. This generates confusion, and it is not the best practice in HubSpot because you can't activate marketing campaign strategies with custom objects. Instead, use contacts.
2. Does the record of this data need to be dynamic or immutable? This question will help you understand whether the best way to store the data is with custom objects or timeline events. If the data is immutable, you should use timeline events.
3. Is HubSpot the source of truth for this data? This question will help you understand whether the best way to store the data is with custom objects or custom cards. If it is another system or platform, use custom cards.
   
     
4. Is this data primarily inward or outward-facing? This question will help you determine whether the best way to store the data is with custom objects or HubDB. If it is outward-facing, use HubDB.

Use cases of custom objects for multi-industry applications

Are you wondering which processes or data entities can be actual use cases where custom objects can be used?​

As mentioned previously, custom objects can be used to adapt diverse data entities from your business and internal processes inside of HubSpot to provide extensibility and flexibility to different business use cases, maximizing your company's capabilities, management, and tailored experience for your departments and teams.

Actual use case scenarios based on data entities:

Musical Instruments: Musical manufacturing companies or retail companies that sell instruments or special equipment can store them as custom objects. Not as a product inventory but mostly as tracking instruments, equipment delivery, and logistical imports. They could use a pipeline to measure their delivery, imports, and tracking of models and brands.

Animals: Animals or pets are a common scenario that can be used for custom objects. They are not native objects, and you can store their information if your company is a veterinary business or has any involvement with animals. You can also use pipelines to track vaccination and treatment processes, schedule treatments with their owner, and associate their information with them. Their owner can be stored as a contact inside of HubSpot.

Vehicles: As mentioned in the case of car dealerships, any sort of vehicle or transport can have custom object applications and use cases inside HubSpot. Even if they are products for sale in your company, you can create custom objects to store their data inside of HubSpot and associate them with your customers, deals, and tickets. Also, custom pipelines can be useful for tracking inventory of their models, brands, logistical imports, and maintenance processes.

Homes & Properties: Homes and estate properties can be a useful use case for a custom object. They aren't native objects in HubSpot and can be a great asset for Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, Construction, and Architecture companies that are required to register this data model type inside their CRM to measure property projects they manage, sell, work with, and establish any sort of relationship with their deals, companies, contacts, and tickets.

Machinery: In more complex scenarios, if your company provides its business model associated with industrial solutions and capabilities, you can use custom objects to register data and custom pipelines for machinery and its storage and maintenance, as well as for manufacturing process applications.

Actual use case scenarios based on business processes:

Contract Management Process: Custom objects in HubSpot offer a powerful tool for businesses to tailor their CRM to their specific needs. Companies can store unique data entities that align with their business processes by creating custom objects. For multi-industry companies, like car dealerships operating nationwide, custom objects can be used to track and manage complex information, such as contracts.

By registering contracts as custom objects, businesses can streamline the contract management process through custom pipelines, ensuring efficient tracking and organization of important contract details.

This level of customization not only enhances data organization but also boosts overall business productivity and effectiveness. With custom objects, companies can truly maximize the capabilities of their CRM system and drive growth through optimized data management.

Project Management Process: Project management is critical to any business, especially for multi-industry companies with diverse projects to track. Companies can register and manage projects with custom pipelines tailored to their needs using HubSpot's custom objects.

This not only allows for the storage of internal and external project information but also enables efficient tracking of the project management process. From tracking project timelines to monitoring progress and milestones, custom objects provide a versatile tool for streamlining project management across different industries.

With the ability to create custom pipelines, companies can ensure that each project is managed effectively and efficiently, ultimately driving business growth and success.

Customer Onboarding Process: By registering customer onboarding as a custom object inside of HubSpot, businesses gain a powerful tool for storing project onboarding information and tracking the onboarding management process once a new client is acquired.

Companies can streamline and optimize onboarding by creating a custom object specifically for customer onboarding. Custom pipelines can be designed to track each step of the onboarding journey, from initial contact to successful implementation.

This level of customization allows businesses to tailor the onboarding experience for each client, ensuring a seamless transition and maximizing customer satisfaction. By storing all relevant information in one centralized location, businesses can effectively manage and monitor the onboarding process, ultimately driving growth and success.

Why are custom objects crucial for your business growth?

Custom objects are crucial for growth because they empower you to capture and manage the specialized data that fuels your business operations. By leveraging custom objects, you can monitor and assess the precise information essential for your unique business processes, thereby equipping you to make strategic decisions that propel your business forward.

Custom objects allow you to delve deeper into your data, gaining valuable insights to drive your organization's growth and success.

Furthermore, custom objects empower you to create personalized customer and prospect experiences. By capturing and utilizing data specific to your business, you can deliver targeted and relevant content, offers, and recommendations to your audience. This level of personalization can greatly enhance customer satisfaction, engagement, and, ultimately, business growth.

Best practices for using custom objects

To make the most of HubSpot custom objects, it is important to follow some best practices:

Define your objectives: Clearly identify the specific data you want to capture and manage using custom objects. This will help you design a data structure that aligns with your business goals.

Plan your data model: Carefully design your custom object properties, relationships, and hierarchies to ensure your data is organized logically and efficiently.

Implement data governance: Establish guidelines and processes for data entry, validation, and maintenance to ensure data accuracy and consistency.

Train your team: Provide training and resources to your team members so they can effectively utilize custom objects and understand their benefits.

Continuously optimize: Regularly review and optimize your custom object setup based on your evolving business needs and team feedback.

By following these best practices, you can maximize the value and impact of custom objects in your HubSpot CRM.

Expand your Business and Maximize Growth with HubSpot's Custom Objects

A well-defined custom objects strategy can be instrumental in expanding your business. Here are some key steps to consider:

Identify expansion opportunities: Analyze your business processes and identify areas where custom objects can provide value and support growth. This could include tracking new product lines, managing complex projects, or capturing unique customer data.

Design your custom objects: Develop a data model that aligns with your expansion goals. Consider the specific properties, relationships, and workflows that will enable you to effectively manage and utilize your custom objects.

Implement and integrate: Set up your custom objects in HubSpot and integrate them with your existing systems and processes. This will ensure seamless data flow and maximize the efficiency of your operations.

Train and empower your team: Provide training and resources to your team members so they can effectively leverage custom objects in their day-to-day work. Encourage them to explore and experiment with custom objects' capabilities to drive innovation and growth.

Following these steps and adopting a strategic approach to custom objects, you can position your business for expansion and unlock new growth opportunities.

Benefits of Implementing Custom Objects

Implementing custom objects in HubSpot offers several key benefits:

Enhanced data management: Custom objects allow you to capture and organize specific data that is unique to your business. This gives you a more comprehensive view of your customers and prospects, leading to better decision-making and improved business outcomes.

Personalized experiences: By utilizing custom objects, you can create highly personalized experiences for your audience. This level of personalization can significantly enhance customer satisfaction, engagement, and loyalty.

Streamlined processes: Custom objects enable you to streamline your business processes by providing a structured and organized data model. This leads to increased efficiency, improved collaboration, and reduced manual effort.

Advanced reporting and analysis: With custom objects, you can establish relationships between different objects and generate advanced reports and analyses. This lets you gain deeper insights into your data and make data-driven decisions that drive business growth.

By implementing custom objects, you can unlock these benefits and empower your business to thrive and excel in today's competitive landscape.