HubSpot Reporting: Tracking MQLs Against Monthly Regional Goals

Setting goals is crucial for any business, and tracking your progress towards those goals is equally important. In the HubSpot Community, one user was looking for a way to compare actual Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) against target MQLs, broken down by region and month. They wanted to see if they were hitting their targets of, say, 50 MQLs in France in January, increasing to 55 in February, and so on.

Breaking Down the Challenge

The original poster had experimented with HubSpot's ChatBot, standard reports, and sales goals, but hadn't found a solution that quite fit their needs. The core challenge was creating a dynamic, month-by-month comparison against a target that changes over time. Fixed monthly goals within reports weren't flexible enough.

Suggested Solutions and Approaches

One respondent suggested a region-by-region approach. If you have a manageable number of regions, creating individual reports for each can provide a focused view. Within each report, you could then use a goal line or a gauge report visualization to track progress.

However, the original poster noted that the goal line feature in HubSpot reports only supports fixed monthly goals, which didn't address the need for evolving targets. Gauge reports also presented challenges in achieving the desired month-by-month view.

A Potential Solution: Custom Reporting and Calculated Properties

While not explicitly mentioned in the thread, a more robust solution might involve a combination of custom reporting and calculated properties within HubSpot. Here’s a possible approach:

1. Create a Custom Property for Target MQLs: Develop a custom number property in HubSpot to store the target MQL value for each region and month. This could be a bit complex to manage, potentially requiring a separate workflow or integration to update these values automatically each month.
2. Build a Custom Report: Use HubSpot's custom report builder to create a report that includes the following:
   • Region
   • Month
   • Actual MQLs (count of contacts that became MQLs in that month)
   • Target MQLs (the custom property you created)
3. Calculate the Variance: Within the custom report, use a calculated property to determine the difference between actual MQLs and target MQLs. This will give you a clear view of whether you're exceeding or falling short of your goals.

This approach requires a bit more setup but offers the flexibility to handle dynamic monthly targets. You might also explore using HubSpot's integrations with tools like Google Sheets or data visualization platforms to further enhance your reporting capabilities.

For example, you could export your HubSpot data to Google Sheets, perform the calculations there, and then embed the Google Sheet in a HubSpot dashboard. This can be especially useful if you need to perform more complex calculations or create highly customized visualizations.

Exploring Other E-commerce Solutions

While the HubSpot Community thread focused on MQL reporting within HubSpot's native tools, it’s worth considering other e-commerce solutions that might offer more built-in reporting capabilities. For example, if you're currently using a platform like Shopify, integrating it with HubSpot can provide a wealth of data for analysis. Alternatively, you could explore platforms like ESHOPMAN, which is built directly into HubSpot. This eliminates the need for complex integrations and provides a seamless flow of data for reporting and analysis.

For those exploring options to create online store website free, remember to consider the reporting and analytics capabilities of each platform. A robust reporting system is essential for tracking your progress and making informed decisions.

ESHOPMAN Team Comment

This is a common challenge for businesses scaling their marketing efforts. While HubSpot's native reporting offers a good starting point, achieving truly dynamic, granular reporting often requires creative solutions like custom properties and calculated fields. We at ESHOPMAN believe that native integrations, like the one we offer, are the best way to avoid data silos and get a unified view of your e-commerce performance directly within HubSpot. Don't be afraid to explore integrations and custom solutions to get the insights you need.

Ultimately, the best approach will depend on your specific needs and resources. By combining HubSpot's reporting tools with a bit of creativity and perhaps some external tools, you can gain a clear understanding of your MQL performance and make data-driven decisions to improve your marketing efforts.