HubSpot Data Dilemma: Syncing Company Verticals to Contacts (and What to Do on Starter)
Ever found yourself staring at your HubSpot portal, thinking, "There has to be an easier way to get this data from my companies to my contacts?" You're not alone. This is a classic HubSpot challenge, especially for businesses trying to keep their customer data neat and actionable. Recently, a discussion in the HubSpot Community perfectly encapsulated this very real struggle, and it's a great opportunity to shed some light on best practices and potential workarounds.
The original poster in the community thread had a very clear goal: they created a "vertical" property at the company level to segment their customers (think retail, manufacturing, tech, etc.). Great move! Organizing companies by this property was a breeze. The snag? They wanted that same vertical information to appear on all associated contacts, allowing for consistent segmentation and targeted communication at the individual level.
Their frustration was palpable: "I understand I could create a contact level property called 'vertical' as well and go through each one to add their vertical property value... But surely there must be a way to associate all contacts underneath a company to the company vertical property already created. Some sort of bulk action or hierarchy rule. Please god I hope so." We've all been there, right?
The HubSpot Solution: Sync Properties
Thankfully, a helpful community member quickly pointed to the ideal, native HubSpot solution: sync properties. If you're on a Professional or Enterprise Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, or Service Hub account, this feature is your best friend for exactly this kind of scenario.
What are sync properties? Simply put, they allow you to automatically copy a property value from one object (like a company) to an associated object (like a contact) and keep them in sync. If the company's "vertical" changes, the associated contacts' "vertical" property automatically updates. It's a beautiful thing for data consistency and automation.
Here’s how you’d typically set one up:
- Navigate to your HubSpot settings (the gear icon).
- Go to "Properties" under "Data Management."
- Select "Contact properties."
- Click "Create property."
- Choose "Company" as the object type you want to copy from, and then select the specific company property (e.g., "Vertical").
- HubSpot will guide you through creating a new contact property that will automatically sync with the company property.
This functionality is a game-changer for RevOps teams, marketers, and sales professionals alike. Imagine an online shopping maker that segments its B2B clients by industry. With synced properties, every contact within a "Retail" company automatically carries that "Retail" vertical, enabling hyper-targeted email campaigns, personalized sales outreach, and relevant content delivery.
The Starter Hub Roadblock (and the Reality Check)
However, the original poster quickly hit a snag. They replied, "Thanks for this. We only have the starter level marketing tools so the functionality noted in that article is locked on my end. Any workarounds or other avenues to execute this that you know of?"
This is where the conversation gets real for many HubSpot users. As another community moderator and the initial responder confirmed, natively in HubSpot, this level of automation and property syncing is reserved for Professional and Enterprise subscriptions.
So, if you're on Starter, what are your options?
- Manual Bulk Update (One-Time Fix): For an initial setup or infrequent updates, you could export your contacts, add the company vertical data (perhaps with VLOOKUP in a spreadsheet if you export companies first), and then re-import them, mapping the new column to a custom contact property you create. This is a "fire and forget" solution that doesn't maintain ongoing sync. It's tedious and prone to errors.
- Upgrade: This is the most straightforward and recommended long-term solution. Investing in Professional or Enterprise unlocks not just sync properties but a host of other automation, reporting, and segmentation tools that become indispensable as your business scales.
- Third-Party Integration: For those who absolutely cannot upgrade but need ongoing sync, exploring third-party integration tools (like Zapier, Make.com, or custom API integrations) might be an option. These tools can often listen for changes in company properties and then trigger updates on associated contact properties. This route requires technical know-how and often comes with its own costs and complexities.
For an `online shopping maker` relying on HubSpot for their CRM and marketing, accurate and synchronized data is paramount. Without it, your personalization efforts fall flat, and your segmentation strategies become unreliable. It’s not just about convenience; it’s about effectiveness.
ESHOPMAN Team Comment
We see this question pop up constantly, and it highlights a critical point: HubSpot's tiered features are designed to scale with your business needs. While manual workarounds exist for Starter, they are inefficient and unsustainable for serious e-commerce or RevOps operations. Investing in Professional or Enterprise isn't just about getting sync properties; it's about unlocking the true power of automation and data integrity that drives personalized customer experiences and scalable growth. Don't compromise your data quality to save a few bucks on your HubSpot subscription; the long-term cost of bad data is far higher.
Ultimately, the community discussion beautifully illustrates a common pain point and the clear path forward. While Starter Hubs are fantastic for getting started, the need for robust data management and automation quickly becomes apparent as your business grows. Sync properties are a prime example of a feature that moves you from managing data to truly leveraging it for smarter marketing, sales, and service.
Think about your long-term goals. If consistent, accurate data across your contacts and companies is vital for your segmentation, personalization, and operational efficiency – and for most e-commerce businesses, it absolutely is – then planning for the Professional or Enterprise tier is a strategic move, not just an upgrade.