How to send SMS in HubSpot

HubSpot CRM is one of the most popular CRM systems on the market, partly because you can combine sales, marketing and customer service in one system.

However, one limitation of HubSpot is that you cannot send SMS messages to and from Denmark. Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this: a HubSpot integration in inMobile.

With an integration between inMobile and HubSpot, you can insert SMS messages directly into your HubSpot workflows. Then inMobile makes sure your messages are sent at the right time to the right recipients based on your triggers in HubSpot.

In this article, you'll learn what possibilities an integration between inMobile and HubSpot opens up and how you can send and receive SMS in HubSpot.

Why integrate inMobile and HubSpot

You need to integrate inMobile and HubSpot if you want to be able to send, receive and manage all your SMS broadcasts directly in your Hubspot account.

For those who are used to sitting in HubSpot, this can be an advantage as the integration means you can do all your work in one place - including your SMS communication.

If you connect HubSpot and inMobile, this means that you can work with SMS in two places in HubSpot:

1. HubSpot workflows
2. SMS chat.

In the sections below, you can read what options you have for using SMS in HubSpot workflows and SMS chat respectively, and how the features actually work.

How to connect inMobile and HubSpot

In order to use SMS in HubSpot, you must first set up the integration between your inMobile account and your HubSpot account. There are two ways you can do this.

1. If you only need to send (and not receive) SMS messages in HubSpot, create the connection under the "Integrations" tab in your inMobile account.

2. However, if you need to be able to both send outgoing and receive incoming SMS messages, you should instead create the integration under the "SMS workflows" tab in inMobile. This setup requires that you have access to a virtual number.

See or read how to integrate inMobile and HubSpot in our guide: Create HubSpot integration.

‍

How to send SMS in HubSpot workflows

Once you've connected your inMobile to your HubSpot account, you can quickly and easily start adding SMS messages to your HubSpot workflows. See how to do it in the video below.  

How to send and receive SMS with Hubspot's chat feature

If you have set up your HubSpot integration with a virtual number, you can engage in dialogue with your contacts. You do this via the chat function on each contact's card in HubSpot. See how to use the chat function in the video below.

Possibilities with HubSpot SMS

When you use inMobile's integration for SMS in HubSpot, it opens up a wide range of possibilities for how you work with SMS. Both as a standalone channel, but also as part of your overall marketing mix.

Your options with SMS in HubSpot are of course dependent on what data you collect and have access to. Below are some examples of how you can effectively use SMS in HubSpot.

‍

Create automatic SMS broadcasts with HubSpot triggers

In HubSpot workflows, you can choose from a wide range of different triggers that automatically initiate your flows. A trigger could be, for example, a contact being subscribed to a specific list, clicking a unique link, sending a specific word in an SMS or one of the contact's data fields being updated to something specific.

Based on the many trigger options, you can create workflows with, among other things:

• Event reminders and event reminders = lower absence rates
• Welcoming onboarding flows = increased engagement
• Relevant cross-sell messages = higher conversion rates
• Autoresponders and confirmations = attentive customer service
• notifications for failed SMS messages = better quality assurance.

You can also combine the sending of email and SMS in your flows for an optimised and coherent customer experience.

‍

Let incoming messages turn into 1:1 dialogue

If you send SMS messages via a virtual number and have made the correct integration between HubSpot and inMobile, it is possible for your recipients to reply back to your SMS. It's great for confirmations, surveys, competitions and more.

It's also smart if you want to have 1:1 dialogues with your recipients. When you receive an SMS reply, it will appear on the contact's card in HubSpot.

Your and your customer's entire SMS chat becomes part of the contact card, and from here you can send messages and receive incoming SMS without leaving your HubSpot account - giving you access to easy, personal dialogue with customers.

Streamline your work with SMS templates in HubSpot chat

If you often need to send the same message over and over again to different recipients, you can save time by using SMS templates in HubSpot's chat function.

You create the SMS templates in your inMobile account under the "SMS templates" section(note that this section is only visible if you have an active HubSpot integration).

Once a template is created here, you can select and use your template inside HubSpot. Of course, you can customise the template from time to time if you need to change small details.

Companies like Travelheart Family, for example, use the template feature with great satisfaction. Read how in our Case: Travelheart Family improves customer service and sales with HubSpot integration.

Segment your recipients in Active Lists

In HubSpot it is possible to work with dynamic lists. These are lists where your contacts automatically enter or leave the list depending on your selected criteria. You can use this feature to segment your recipients and send highly targeted and relevant SMS messages.

For example, use the function to create lists:

• New SMS permissions
• particularly committed contacts
• returning customers
• abandoned-curve
• potential customers etc.

The more you target your broadcasts, the greater the chance of engagement among recipients.

‍

Data-based SMS broadcasts

In HubSpot, it is possible to collect and store data about your contacts' buying behaviour, demographics, stage in the sales cycle and general preferences. With access to such data, you can use your knowledge to trigger workflows and send super relevant messages to your contacts, customised to the recipient's personal preferences.

Of course, this option depends on you having access to that kind of data.

‍

Collect all activity under the single contact

When you integrate with inMobile and then create SMS messages in HubSpot, the sent SMS messages will be visible both in inMobile under "Message history" and on the individual contact's overview in HubSpot.

If you have set up other channels such as email or chat on your HubSpot account, messages from these will also appear in the contact's overview. This means that you get a complete overview of all the communication that has taken place between your organisation and the contact across channels.

‍

Restrictions for SMS in HubSpot

There are a few limitations with HubSpot SMS via inMobile. Of course, you should be aware of them.

‍

inMobile and HubSpot do not synchronise

First of all, it's important to know that HubSpot and inMobile do not synchronise. This means that if you create a contact in HubSpot, it will not be synchronised to inMobile and vice versa - as it happens with some of the other inMobile integrations.

However, messages sent in HubSpot will still appear in your inMobile message history as the SMS message was sent through inMobile's SMS gateway and simply scheduled in HubSpot.

‍

It requires an outgoing message to receive an incoming message

In addition, please note that you cannot receive an incoming message from a contact in HubSpot until you have sent an outgoing message to that contact first.

This can be solved by sending an outgoing SMS with a confirmation or welcome message when a new contact is added to your SMS list in HubSpot.

Once the first outgoing message has been sent to your contact with your virtual number as the sender, you can then receive incoming messages from the contact.

‍

Summarising

When you set up an integration between inMobile and HubSpot, enabling the ability to send SMS in HubSpot, you open up a lot of possibilities. In this article, we've outlined some of those options, but there are many more.

It's just a matter of getting started exploring and thinking creatively.

With HubSpot SMS via inMobile, you can:

• Create automatic SMS broadcasts.
• Have 1:1 dialogue with customers.
• Divide your recipients into relevant segments.
• Use data to target your SMS campaigns.
• Gather all contact activity across channels in one place.
• Much more.

‍

There are also a few limitations you should be aware of, including:

• inMobile and HubSpot do not synchronise.
• You must send a message before you can receive one.
• Incoming messages are only possible if you use a virtual number.
• If you use emojis in your SMS messages, the length of 1 message will be shortened.