Most marketing automation focuses on opens and clicks, not revenue.
When your data lives in HubSpot (marketing), Mailchimp (email), Salesforce (CRM), and Stripe (billing), you can build marketing automation that drives revenue—not just engagement.
The 3 marketing automation workflows that matter
1. Lead Nurture
Lead nurture workflows nurture leads until they’re ready to buy, moving them through the funnel systematically. They score leads based on behavior, identifying which prospects are most likely to convert. Most importantly, they route qualified leads to sales automatically, ensuring sales focuses on the best opportunities.
2. Customer Onboarding
Customer onboarding workflows welcome new customers and set expectations for success. They guide customers to activation by helping them reach their “aha moment” quickly. Most critically, they drive feature adoption by introducing key features at the right time in the customer journey.
3. Customer Retention
Customer retention workflows re-engage inactive customers before they churn, bringing them back to active usage. They drive expansion opportunities by identifying customers ready to upgrade. Most importantly, they prevent churn by addressing issues proactively and demonstrating ongoing value.
What to build first (week 1)
Start with a simple lead nurture workflow:
- Lead capture (from HubSpot, forms, landing pages)
- Email nurture (from Mailchimp, automated sequences)
- Lead scoring (from HubSpot, behavior-based scoring)
- Sales routing (to Salesforce, qualified leads)
- Revenue tracking (from Stripe, closed deals)
Once you have lead nurture working, add customer onboarding workflows that welcome new customers, guide them to activation, and drive feature adoption. Add customer retention workflows that re-engage inactive customers, drive expansion opportunities, and prevent churn. Finally, add A/B testing capabilities to test subject lines, content, and timing to optimize performance.
Why most marketing automation fails
Most marketing automation fails because it’s disconnected from revenue systems, making it impossible to see which campaigns actually drive business outcomes. It’s generic with the same message sent to everyone, reducing effectiveness. It’s not measured, so you can’t see ROI or understand what’s working. Most critically, it’s not optimized, set up once and forgotten rather than continuously improved.
When you connect marketing automation to revenue, you can see which campaigns actually drive revenue rather than just measuring opens and clicks. You can personalize messages based on behavior and purchase history, increasing relevance. You can measure ROI accurately by tracking revenue from each campaign. Most importantly, you can optimize continuously by testing and improving based on actual results.
The hidden cost of disconnected marketing automation
When marketing automation is disconnected, you can’t see which campaigns drive revenue because marketing tools don’t connect to billing systems. You can’t personalize effectively because you don’t have purchase history or behavior data. You can’t measure ROI because you can’t track revenue from campaigns. Most critically, you can’t optimize because you don’t know what’s working.
Connected marketing automation means you can see which campaigns drive revenue by linking marketing activities directly to sales outcomes. You can personalize effectively using purchase history and behavior data. You can measure ROI accurately by tracking revenue from each campaign. Most importantly, you can optimize continuously by testing and improving based on actual revenue results.