Unlocking Untapped Potential: How to Find Contacts Who Haven't Received Marketing Emails in HubSpot

For e-commerce businesses leveraging HubSpot, identifying and engaging the right audience is crucial. But what about those contacts who have never received a marketing email? These untapped leads represent a significant opportunity for growth. However, finding them within HubSpot can be more challenging than it appears. This article explores how to effectively segment your HubSpot contacts to identify those who haven't yet been touched by your marketing efforts, maximizing your reach and conversion potential.

The Challenge: Pinpointing Untouched Contacts in HubSpot

Many HubSpot users, especially those managing online stores and complex sales pipelines, need to accurately target truly "cold" contacts. A recent discussion in the HubSpot Community highlighted the difficulties in achieving this. The original poster wanted to create a dynamic list of contacts who had never received a marketing email. Following initial HubSpot guidance, they attempted to filter contacts based on "Last marketing email open date is unknown" and "Marketing emails delivered is equal to 0 / less than 1".

However, this approach proved problematic. Instead of identifying truly untouched contacts, the resulting list primarily consisted of bounced or undeliverable email addresses. This meant the filter was capturing contacts who couldn't receive emails, rather than those who simply hadn't been targeted.

The core questions raised were:

1. How can you reliably distinguish between contacts who were never targeted for a marketing email and those whose emails bounced or were undeliverable?
2. Can HubSpot retroactively filter for contacts who've never received an email, or does this require a proactive workflow setup going forward?

Community-Driven Solutions for Finding Untouched Contacts

The HubSpot Community stepped up with several insightful suggestions to address this challenge.

Leveraging the "Last Marketing Email Send Date" Filter

One community member suggested a more effective approach: filtering by "Last marketing email send date is unknown." This filter inherently includes contacts without valid email addresses, those who have hard bounced, and those with invalid email addresses, as these contacts would not have been sent an email in the first place.

To refine this filter and exclude bounced or invalid addresses, you can add the following additional criteria:

• AND Email hard bounce reason is unknown
• AND Email is known
• AND Invalid email is not equal to True

This combination of filters helps to isolate contacts who have a valid email address within your HubSpot database but have never been the recipient of a marketing email.

Understanding HubSpot's Data and Email Validation

Another community member emphasized the importance of understanding how HubSpot tracks email activity. A list created using the initial filters (no marketing email activity) primarily represents contacts who have an email address recorded in the system but have no recorded marketing email activity. This highlights the need for email validation tools to ensure the accuracy and deliverability of your contact data.

Actionable Steps for Identifying Untouched Contacts

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you identify and target those elusive untouched contacts in HubSpot:

1. Create a Contact-Based List: Start by creating a new contact-based list in HubSpot.
2. Filter by "Last Marketing Email Send Date": Set the first filter to "Last marketing email send date is unknown."
3. Exclude Bounced and Invalid Emails: Add the following filters to exclude problem contacts:
   • AND Email hard bounce reason is unknown
   • AND Email is known
   • AND Invalid email is not equal to True
4. Save and Analyze Your List: Save the list and carefully analyze the resulting contacts. Spot-check records to ensure accuracy.
5. Consider Email Validation: If you suspect a high number of invalid email addresses, consider using an email validation tool to clean up your contact data.
6. Implement a Targeted Campaign: Once you've identified your untouched contacts, create a targeted marketing campaign designed to engage them.

Beyond Filtering: Proactive Strategies for Tracking Email Engagement

While filtering can help you identify past untouched contacts, it's also essential to implement proactive strategies to track email engagement going forward. Consider using workflows and custom properties to automatically track whether a contact has received a specific type of email or engaged with your content. This will provide a more granular view of your contact's engagement history and allow you to create more targeted and effective campaigns.

By combining effective filtering techniques with proactive tracking strategies, you can unlock the untapped potential of your HubSpot contacts and drive significant growth for your e-commerce business. A well-defined segment of truly cold leads is a powerful asset in your marketing arsenal. Don't underestimate the power of reaching out to those who haven't yet experienced the value you offer. With the right approach, you can turn these untouched contacts into loyal customers and brand advocates. If you're searching for a powerful web store creator that integrates seamlessly with HubSpot, consider exploring solutions like ESHOPMAN to enhance your e-commerce capabilities.