If you’re running B2B marketing, you know what a pain it can be to get a straight answer from your data. HubSpot CRM is great at tracking leads and deals, but good luck getting real analytics that actually help your sales or marketing teams make decisions. That’s where Grow comes in: it pulls data from a bunch of sources and lets you build dashboards that make sense. But connecting HubSpot to Grow isn’t always as plug-and-play as the marketing pages suggest.
This guide is for marketing ops folks, revenue leaders, and anyone who’s sick of exporting CSVs and hacking together spreadsheets just to answer basic questions about pipeline performance. We’re going step-by-step—no hand-waving, no jargon, no “seamless integration” fairy tales.
Why bother connecting HubSpot to Grow?
Let’s be honest: HubSpot’s built-in reports are fine for daily stuff, but they hit a wall fast. You want to see how marketing campaigns are actually impacting pipeline by region, or you want to blend CRM data with spend from other sources? Forget it.
With Grow, you can:
- Build dashboards that mix HubSpot data with data from Google Ads, Salesforce, spreadsheets, and more.
- Get real-time (or close enough) views of pipeline, campaign ROI, and sales performance.
- Cut down on the “can you pull this report?” requests.
But don’t expect magic. Connecting the two takes a bit of setup, and there are some quirks you’ll want to know about ahead of time.
What you need before you start
Before you get lost in the weeds, make sure you’ve got:
- HubSpot access: You’ll need at least “Super Admin” or integration permissions to set up the connection.
- Grow account: A paid Grow account—free trials are limited, and you’ll probably hit a wall quickly on features.
- Data you actually care about: Figure out which HubSpot objects you need (Contacts, Companies, Deals, Activities, etc.). Don’t just sync everything for the sake of it.
- Time for some cleanup: If your HubSpot fields are a mess, your dashboards will be too. Take a minute to check naming consistency and data hygiene.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure which fields you’ll want, ask your sales and marketing folks what questions they’re trying to answer. Start there.
Step 1: Connect HubSpot to Grow
Here’s how to get the two talking:
- Log in to Grow.
- Go to your Grow dashboard. If you’re setting up for the first time, you’ll land on “Add Data.”
- Add a new data source.
- Click “Add Connection” or “Connect Data.”
- Search for “HubSpot” in the connector list.
- Authenticate with HubSpot.
- You’ll be redirected to HubSpot’s login page.
- Log in and approve the permissions. (Grow will need access to contacts, deals, etc.)
- If you have multiple HubSpot accounts, pick the right one—double-check the portal ID.
- Wait for connection confirmation.
- Grow will confirm when it’s connected. If it fails, check that you have the right permissions and that you’re not blocked by HubSpot’s API limits.
- Test your connection.
- Try pulling a small table (like Contacts) to make sure data comes through.
Heads up: HubSpot’s API can be sluggish if you have a lot of data, and their free tiers have rate limits. You might need to wait a bit for large imports.
Step 2: Choose the right HubSpot data
Now, don’t fall for the “just sync it all” trap. Be picky:
- Start with the basics: Deals, Contacts, and Companies are usually enough for most B2B dashboards.
- Custom properties: If you use custom fields (e.g., Lead Source, Industry), make sure these are mapped.
- Historical data: Decide how far back you want to go. Pulling five years of deal history? Hope you’ve got time.
- Avoid Activities for now: HubSpot Activities (emails, calls, tasks) are a mess to pull and often overkill unless you have a specific use case.
Pro tip: The more tables you pull, the slower your dashboards get. Only bring in what you’ll actually use.
Step 3: Set up your data pulls in Grow
Here’s where most people get tripped up:
- Create a new dataset in Grow.
- Pick HubSpot as your source.
- Select the table/object you want (e.g., Deals).
- Use filters wisely.
- Filter by “Create Date,” “Deal Stage,” or “Owner” if you only care about certain segments.
- Don’t just pull “Everything”—your dashboards will crawl.
- Schedule refreshes.
- Set how often Grow should update the data (hourly, daily, etc.). For most B2B teams, daily is fine. Real-time sounds cool but usually isn’t needed.
- Name your datasets clearly.
- “HubSpot_Deals_2024” beats “Untitled Dataset 3.” Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later.
- Test with small sample pulls.
- Don’t wait until you’ve built a monster dashboard—check the data now for weirdness or missing fields.
What to ignore: Grow’s “auto-modeling” tools are fine for simple stuff, but if you want to blend data across sources, you’ll need to get your hands dirty with SQL or calculated fields.
Step 4: Combine HubSpot data with other sources
This is the whole reason you’re using Grow instead of HubSpot’s built-in dashboards. Here’s how to make it actually useful:
- Connect your other data sources: Google Ads, LinkedIn, Excel sheets, whatever you use to track spend or conversions.
- Blend datasets: In Grow, use the “Combine Data” or “Join” feature. Typically, you’ll join on fields like “Email,” “Company Domain,” or “Deal ID.”
- Watch for mismatches: Field names and formats won’t always line up. You might need to clean up data types (date formats, capitalization, etc.).
- Build calculated metrics: Want to see cost per SQL or pipeline by source? Use Grow’s formula tools to crunch those numbers.
Pro tip: Start with one or two simple blended metrics (like “Pipeline by Source”) before going wild with multi-source dashboards. Otherwise, things get confusing fast.
Step 5: Build dashboards people actually use
Don’t just copy-paste every metric you can think of. Good dashboards answer specific questions:
- Who’s the audience? Sales wants pipeline by rep; marketing cares about campaign ROI; execs want big-picture trends.
- Pick a few key KPIs: Start with 3-5 metrics per dashboard. Add more only if people ask.
- Use filters: Add date, region, or owner filters so users can slice the data themselves.
- Keep it readable: Ditch the 3D pie charts and rainbow colors. Simple bar charts, tables, and line graphs work best.
What doesn’t work: “Kitchen sink” dashboards with 30 widgets. No one uses these except the person who built them.
Step 6: Test, tweak, and get feedback
- Ask for feedback: Get a couple of users (not just other admins) to try out the dashboards. What’s missing? What’s confusing?
- Check refresh times: If your dashboards are slow, trim the datasets or reduce refresh frequency.
- Document what’s what: Make a quick “cheat sheet” explaining each metric. People will ask.
- Iterate: You won’t get it perfect on the first try. That’s normal.
Honest takes and common gotchas
- API limits are real: HubSpot restricts how many calls you can make per day. If you set aggressive refresh rates or pull huge datasets, you’ll hit walls.
- Data doesn’t always match: HubSpot and Grow sometimes interpret things like dates or stages differently. Double-check before sharing metrics with the board.
- Custom property headaches: If you add new custom fields in HubSpot, you’ll need to update your Grow connection to see them.
- No live sync: Data is only as fresh as your most recent import. “Real-time” is more marketing-speak than reality.
- Security: Don’t forget to review who has access to sensitive dashboards. Both HubSpot and Grow let you lock things down per user.
Wrapping up: Keep it simple, iterate often
Connecting HubSpot CRM to Grow isn’t hard, but it’s easy to overcomplicate. Start with the basics—one or two key metrics, a simple dashboard, and only the data you actually use. Get feedback, tweak as you go, and don’t worry if it’s not perfect from day one. The goal isn’t to build a dashboard empire; it’s to answer real questions and save yourself (and your team) hours of manual reporting.
Keep things lean, stay skeptical of “all-in-one” promises, and remember: simple analytics you actually use beat fancy dashboards no one looks at.