HubSpot Marketing Events vs. Custom Objects: The Granularity Dilemma for Event ROI

Hey ESHOPMAN community! As experts living and breathing HubSpot and e-commerce, we often see discussions in the HubSpot Community that hit right at the heart of common challenges. One recent thread caught our eye, tackling a very practical problem: how to effectively track event ROI and qualify leads with the right level of detail in HubSpot.

It's a classic HubSpot dilemma: when do you lean on a built-in tool, and when do you go for a custom solution? Let's dive into the conversation around HubSpot's Marketing Events tool versus creating a custom object for event tracking.

The Granularity Gap: Marketing Events vs. Custom Objects

The original poster on the HubSpot Community forum brought up a fantastic point. In their previous role, they used a custom object called 'Events' to meticulously track in-person event attendance, new business generated, and most importantly, the *quality* of engagement. They could use association labels like 'Registered,' 'Attended,' 'Booth Scan,' 'Hot Lead,' 'Attended Breakout Session,' or 'Requested Demo.'

This level of detail is crucial for RevOps and marketing teams. Knowing someone simply 'Attended' an event isn't enough; you need to know if they stopped at your booth, had a meaningful conversation, or asked for a demo to truly prioritize follow-up and calculate accurate ROI. This is especially true for businesses that might have evolved from a highly bespoke, custom build ecommerce environment where every interaction was meticulously tailored and tracked.

HubSpot's newer 'Marketing Event' tool, while powerful for integrating with webinar platforms and managing registrations, offers limited association labels: 'Registered,' 'Attended,' or 'Did Not Attend.' This is where the original poster's skepticism came in – how do you get that granular lead qualification back?

Community Insights: The Pros and Cons

A community member quickly jumped in, acknowledging the skepticism about the Marketing Event tool. They agreed it 'could use a little more love' but highlighted its inherent strengths. The Marketing Event tool is designed to be the 'Event Object' in HubSpot, offering built-in functionality like connecting to webinar tools and automatically updating registrations and attendance statuses. These are features you'd have to custom build if you opted for a custom object.

The advice was clear: if you need full functionality *today*, a custom object isn't the wrong choice. However, the Marketing Event tool is expected to evolve, and leveraging its existing integrations can save a lot of development time. The community member also encouraged submitting feature requests to the HubSpot Ideas forum – a powerful way to influence HubSpot's product roadmap.

The original poster followed up, specifically asking for workarounds to note the 'hotness' of leads, given the Marketing Event tool's limited tagging. This is where the expert hat really needs to come on.

Cracking the Code: Workarounds for Lead 'Hotness'

While the Marketing Event tool itself doesn't allow for granular association labels beyond its core three, HubSpot's flexibility allows for powerful workarounds to achieve that detailed lead qualification:

1. Custom Contact Properties: Instead of relying solely on event association labels, create custom contact properties that track event engagement. Examples:
   • Event Lead Status (most recent): A dropdown property with options like 'Booth Scan,' 'Attended Breakout,' 'Demo Requested,' 'Follow-up Required.'
   • Last Event Engagement Detail: A text field for specific notes from an interaction.
   • Event Interest Level: A number property (1-5) or dropdown to quickly gauge interest.
2. Workflows to Automate Updates: Leverage HubSpot workflows! Once a contact is 'Attended' a Marketing Event, this can trigger a workflow. You can then:
   • Manual Updates: After the event, your sales or marketing team can manually update these custom contact properties based on their interactions (e.g., from lead retrieval apps, direct conversations).
   • Form Submissions: If you have post-event surveys or 'Request a Demo' forms specifically for event attendees, form submissions can update these properties automatically.
   • Sales Activity: If a sales rep logs a specific activity (e.g., 'Event Follow-up Call - Demo Scheduled'), this activity can trigger a workflow to update the contact's 'Event Lead Status' property.
3. Lead Scoring: Build lead scoring rules based on these new custom contact properties. A 'Demo Requested' status could add significantly more points than just 'Booth Scan,' helping your sales team prioritize effectively.
4. Reports and Dashboards: With these custom properties, you can build custom reports and dashboards that filter contacts by 'Event Lead Status' and tie them back to the original Marketing Event, giving you the ROI insights you need.

This approach moves the granularity from the event association itself to the contact record, where it arguably belongs for ongoing qualification and nurturing. It ensures that even if you've migrated from a complex system like a magento multi store inventory setup with highly specific tracking, you can still achieve similar, if not better, insights within HubSpot's ecosystem.

When a Custom Object Might Still Make Sense

While the above workaround is robust, there might still be niche cases where a dedicated custom object for 'Events' makes sense. If your events are incredibly complex, involve multiple layers of unique data points that don't fit well on a contact record, or if you need to associate *other* custom objects directly with your events in a way that the Marketing Event tool doesn't support, then a custom object could be a viable path. However, for most in-person events and lead tracking, leveraging the Marketing Event tool with smart property and workflow strategies is often the more efficient and scalable solution.

ESHOPMAN Team Comment

We absolutely agree with the community's sentiment here: while HubSpot's Marketing Events tool has room to grow, its native integrations offer significant advantages. For e-commerce businesses managing various sales channels, adapting to HubSpot's intended use, even with clever workarounds for lead 'hotness,' is generally more beneficial than a full custom build ecommerce tracking solution. Leverage custom properties and workflows – they are your best friends for bridging any gaps in native functionality and getting precise event ROI.

Ultimately, HubSpot is an evolving platform. While the Marketing Event tool might not offer every single granular association label today, its foundation is strong. By combining it with HubSpot's powerful CRM, workflow automation, and custom property capabilities, you can build a robust event tracking and lead qualification system that serves your RevOps and marketing needs effectively. And don't forget to contribute your ideas to the HubSpot Ideas forum – your feedback truly helps shape the platform for everyone!