Essential Foundations for Integrating Apps in HubSpot

Discover the essential fundamentals for integrating apps in HubSpot. Define the step-by-step objectives and parameters of your integration projects.

Integrating applications into your company's HubSpot platform can significantly increase productivity and improve the experience and potential of the different action modules of your CRM, such as the Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, and Operations Hub. In addition to these benefits, through native integrations, integrations from the marketplace, or custom developments, HubSpot will be able to streamline and automate different business processes within your CRM, as well as the efforts of your teams.

However, not all applications are the same, and not all integrations are easy. To ensure that your application, platform, or system integration project integrations are successful, you must understand the essential fundamentals of integrating applications in HubSpot.

This article will address the main factors your company should consider before integrating applications within HubSpot, such as Recommendations, needs and objectives diagnosis, requirements definition, vetting process, execution plan, and the integration testing and optimization process.

We will now address this article in the following areas:

• What are HubSpot objects, records, and properties?
  
• Essential foundations for integrating apps in HubSpot.
  
• Diagnosis of needs and objectives of integrations.
  
• Contextualization of data models and APIs.
  
• Lessons learned from HubSpot's data integration and data model and API architecture certifications.

What are HubSpot objects, records, and properties?

Before consolidating an integration between complex systems, it is necessary to comprehend HubSpot's most basic and primordial elements: objects, records, and properties. These elements give life to the CRM, nurture the information, and make it flow between powerful software modules such as the Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, and Operations Hub. Let's start by understanding them one by one:

• What is an object: Objects represent the type of data in HubSpot.
  
• What is a record: Records represent the specific instances of an object.
  
• What is a property: Properties are fields used to manage and store information about the different types of objects in HubSpot.

Within HubSpot, there are multiple types of the elements mentioned above, but what are some of these types and their respective functions?

Let's start by understanding the functions of an object in HubSpot. As such, standard objects have the following purposes:

• Store and edit data.
• Segment and automate (this is within the entire CRM ecosystem).
• Generate reports (a graphical representation of what you get from that data).
• Integrate.

Essential foundations for integrating apps in HubSpot

What should we understand by fundamentals to integrate? Each platform is different, works in different ways, and has components that may or may not adapt in the best way to our company's business model. What happens when our company has multiple independent digital channels or applications?

The answer for many companies will be: "We need to integrate them into one" or have another platform or application that can collect all those contact points with customers, suppliers, and our team in a single unified system such as HubSpot.

Image provided by HubSpot.

As visualized in the previous image, there are four different types of approaches for integration strategies for systems, applications, and tools of various kinds within HubSpot:

• Integrations developed by HubSpot.
• Integrations developed by third parties (other development companies).
  
• Custom integrations by iPaas solutions.
  
• Integrations based on customized coding.
  

Diagnosis of needs and objectives of integrations.

The following are the essential fundamentals you should consider to integrate applications and platforms into HubSpot successfully and how you should view them from a needs and objectives diagnostic:

• Determine integration needs: Before integrating any application with HubSpot, you must assess your management needs and identify the gaps you must fill in the business process. Is there a need for an application that can automate your marketing campaigns, help your department with social media management, or streamline your sales processes? Comprehending your needs will help you find the correct application and avoid wasting time and money on unnecessary integrations.
  
  
• Research the application or platform: Once you've identified the app you need, research it thoroughly. Check reviews, ratings, and feedback from other HubSpot users to ensure it is compatible with HubSpot and meets your integration needs. Look for apps that offer API access and integration capabilities.
  
  Within HubSpot, there are essential criteria, such as information about the functionality an app has, the compatibility rate with your CRM (if it is compatible with the Hubs tiers your company has), and the data shared. The scopes will have by the app's payment type.
  
  
• Planning: Before integrating any application with HubSpot, it is essential to plan your integration carefully. Determine which data points you want to sync and which you don't. Map out your workflows in tools like Lucid Chart and make sure the application's features and capabilities align with your business processes. Create a project plan, set timelines, and allocate resources to ensure the success of the integration.
   
• Test the integration: Ensuring it works seamlessly with HubSpot is critical. Conduct thorough testing to ensure data syncing correctly and that application features work as expected. Create a test plan and test the integration in an isolated environment to avoid disrupting your live workflows. 
   
• Monitor and optimize your integration: Once you have successfully integrated your application with HubSpot, monitor and optimize it. Track integration performance and analyze data to identify areas for improvement. Regularly update the application's settings and configurations to meet your changing needs.
  
  

Contextualization of data models and APIs.

For business processes and complex integrations between systems, it is necessary to understand how data flows within a platform, in this case, HubSpot. Now I'll give you a broader perspective on understanding the timing of existing data models in HubSpot and its APIs. How to understand the value of understanding HubSpot's data models and API logic? Understanding the intricacies of HubSpot's data models and API logic has several advantages, which I would recommend addressing as follows:

• First, this knowledge allows you to create seamless integrations between HubSpot and other applications. This integration increases operational efficiency by allowing data to flow consistently and automatically across multiple platforms, eliminating manual data transfer.
• Second, understanding HubSpot's data models and API logic aids in developing custom applications tailored to unique business needs. Custom applications can be tailored to meet specific business needs, which improves productivity and customer satisfaction.

Lessons Learned from HubSpot's Data Integration and Data Model and API Architecture Certifications

It is not always simple to take the lead in integration projects; in many occasions, this kind of project in companies is only sometimes led by the technology department; many times, it is usually the same managers with another type of nature.

Despite this, HubSpot is more than just a CRM platform that can be purchased and ready to go. It also has a whole academic program full of courses, certifications, and accreditations that help companies nurture them with knowledge in different business areas, use of the additional software it provides, and many others you can find in HubSpot Academy.

Among the certifications, I share two incredibly enriching ones within this article as they are related and address the step-by-step processes and integration projects: The HubSpot Data Integration Certification and the HubSpot Architecture, Data Models, and APIs Certification. We recommend the following aspects:

HubSpot Data Integration Certification:

1. HubSpot Data Integration Certification recommends defining clear objectives, identifying the data you want to synchronize, and reviewing your existing workflows to ensure they will improve with application integration.
2. HubSpot Data Integration Certification advises that training should be comprehensive and tailored to your team's needs. It also recommends providing ongoing support and resources to ensure the team can use the integrated application effectively.
3. HubSpot's data integration certification emphasizes monitoring and optimizing integrations for maximum performance. It also recommends periodically reviewing integration strategy and goals to ensure they align with overall business objectives.
   

HubSpot Architecture I: Data Models and APIs:

1. Understanding the HubSpot Data Model: The certification provides an in-depth understanding of how HubSpot organizes its data, including the virtual business objects (contacts, companies, offers, tickets, products, etc.) and their relationships. This understanding is critical to working with HubSpot effectively.
2. Knowledge of the HubSpot API structure: Participants gain a solid understanding of HubSpot's API structure, operations, and standard conventions. Also, this includes a sense of RESTful principles, authentication protocols, rate limits, and error handling.
3. Ability to integrate external apps with HubSpot: The certification prepares participants to integrate external apps with HubSpot using APIs effectively. And this enables companies to unify their processes and improve efficiency by integrating their existing tools with the HubSpot ecosystem.
4. Synchronization and data management: Participants learn how to manage and synchronize data between HubSpot and other systems efficiently. This understanding ensures data consistency across platforms and improves the effectiveness of the overall data management strategy.
5. Creating and Managing Custom Applications: Armed with an understanding of HubSpot's data models and APIs, certified professionals can build custom applications to serve their specific business needs. They also acquire the skills necessary to manage these applications effectively.

Suppose you want to tackle complex integration projects in your company but need help figuring out where to start, or if you are clear, you need the expertise and human capital for this. Imagineer will be happy to help you, you can schedule a session with our consulting team, and we will add value to your processes, project, and, most importantly, your company.