Trying to get your LinkedIn activity and HubSpot CRM talking to each other? You’re in luck! Connecting LinkedIn to HubSpot isn’t just possible. it’s practically a must for anyone looking to streamline their sales and marketing efforts. This integration lets you pull valuable professional data into your CRM, manage social media, track ad performance, and even send messages without constantly jumping between platforms. It’s all about making your work smoother and more efficient.
Now, while HubSpot offers some great built-in options for linking up with LinkedIn, it’s also true that these native features sometimes come with specific requirements or limitations. But don’t worry, there are plenty of fantastic third-party tools out there that can fill any gaps and give you even more power. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a clear picture of how to connect LinkedIn to HubSpot in various ways, understand the real benefits, know what to watch out for, and discover some excellent alternatives to supercharge your workflow. Let’s get your professional network and your CRM working in harmony!
Why Bother Connecting LinkedIn to HubSpot? The Big Wins for Your Business
Think about all the time you spend on LinkedIn for prospecting, engaging with leads, and sharing content. Now imagine if all that effort automatically flowed into your CRM, enriching your contact records and helping you make smarter decisions. That’s the core promise of integrating LinkedIn with HubSpot. It’s not just about convenience. it’s about real, tangible benefits that can seriously boost your business.
One of the biggest advantages is unified management and increased efficiency. Instead of logging into multiple platforms, you can track LinkedIn activity, manage leads, and even send outreach messages all from one place. This cuts down on repetitive tasks and helps your sales and marketing teams work more smoothly.
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For sales pros, it means better prospecting and personalized outreach. You can access LinkedIn insights directly within HubSpot, which helps you build better prospect lists and tailor your messages based on up-to-date LinkedIn activity. Imagine seeing a contact’s recent job changes or shared connections right there in their HubSpot record – that’s powerful stuff for crafting relevant conversations. A study by Statista in 2024 showed that B2B companies using integrated CRMs with social selling tools saw a 15-20% increase in lead conversion rates.
Marketers also get a massive win with enhanced lead generation and ROI measurement. When LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are connected, new leads flow directly into HubSpot, ready for nurturing. Plus, you can accurately track the performance of your LinkedIn ad campaigns and tie them back to your revenue in HubSpot, giving you a clear picture of your ROI. This helps you optimize your ad spend and focus on what’s truly working.
In a nutshell, this integration helps you: Can’t Login to HubSpot? Here’s How to Get Back in Action!
- Automate contact syncing: Say goodbye to manual data entry for importing contacts and exporting LinkedIn connections.
- Enrich contact data: Pull in details like job titles, company info, and even track job changes to keep your records fresh.
- Streamline communication: Send InMails from HubSpot and log LinkedIn messages to contact timelines.
- Improve targeting: Use LinkedIn data for more precise audience targeting in your campaigns.
- Gain real-time insights: Track profile views and interactions to engage leads at just the right moment.
It’s all about creating a more cohesive, data-driven approach to how you engage with your professional network.
HubSpot’s Built-In LinkedIn Integrations: What’s Available?
HubSpot understands that LinkedIn is a crucial platform for many businesses, especially in the B2B space. That’s why they offer several native integrations designed to connect different aspects of LinkedIn with your HubSpot portal. Let’s break down what each one does.
Social Media Publishing & Monitoring
This is probably one of the most straightforward ways to link up. HubSpot’s social media tool allows you to connect your personal LinkedIn account though typically you’d connect a company page and any LinkedIn Company Pages you administer.
Once connected, you can: Importing Landing Pages into HubSpot: Your Go-To Guide for a Smooth Transition
- Schedule and publish posts: Draft and schedule content directly to your LinkedIn Company Pages and personal profiles alongside other social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This means you can manage your entire social calendar from one dashboard.
- Monitor conversations: Keep an eye on mentions of your brand, industry, and competitors, helping you engage with your audience in real-time.
- Analyze performance: HubSpot provides analytics reports on your LinkedIn posts, showing engagement rates, reach, and click-throughs. This helps you understand what content resonates best with your audience. You can even get suggestions for the best times to post.
Things to keep in mind Limitations:
While handy, there are a couple of quirks. For instance, if you’re like me and love tagging people in your posts, you might find that you can’t tag personal profiles directly when posting through HubSpot’s social tool. Also, there’s a limit of four images per LinkedIn post when publishing from HubSpot, even though LinkedIn itself allows up to nine. Auto-posted blog links might not look as customized as you’d like either, often just showing the title and link without much additional text or hashtags. These aren’t necessarily HubSpot’s fault, but rather limitations imposed by LinkedIn’s API for third-party tools.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Integration
Now, this is where things get really interesting for sales teams. The HubSpot LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration is HubSpot’s original LinkedIn integration, and it’s built to enhance your prospecting and lead management.
Here’s what it brings to the table:
- View LinkedIn insights in HubSpot: You can see valuable LinkedIn profile details, like shared connections, experiences, and interests, directly within your HubSpot contact and company records. No more switching tabs to get the full picture!
- Send InMails directly from HubSpot: You can compose and send InMail messages to your leads without ever leaving the HubSpot contact or company record. This keeps your workflow smooth and efficient.
- Access lead recommendations: The integration can help you find related leads at the same company or get recommendations based on your ideal customer profile.
- Manage Sales Navigator tasks: If you’re on the go, you can even manage your Sales Navigator tasks through the HubSpot mobile app, like sending InMails or connection requests.
The Catch Requirements: This powerful integration isn’t available on all HubSpot plans. To use it, you’ll need a HubSpot Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise seat and a LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus subscription. This can be a significant investment, with Sales Hub Professional starting around $120 per user per month and Sales Navigator Advanced Plus at about $1,600 per person per year. So, while incredibly useful, it’s designed for teams deeply committed to Sales Navigator.
LinkedIn CRM Sync Integration
Building on the Sales Navigator integration, HubSpot also introduced the LinkedIn CRM Sync. This is a more robust, two-way integration that aims to keep your HubSpot data even more up-to-date and comprehensive. The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn, HubSpot, and Zapier Integration
With CRM Sync, you can:
- Automatically log LinkedIn activities: Every InMail, connection request, and message sent via Sales Navigator can be automatically logged to the corresponding contact’s timeline in HubSpot. This means your CRM records reflect your full sales activity.
- Sync leads and accounts: It helps keep your LinkedIn contacts and company data automatically updated in HubSpot.
- Validate HubSpot data: This integration can help you ensure the quality of your sales pipeline and validate your HubSpot data with LinkedIn’s professional insights.
- Measure marketing ROI: Marketers can leverage HubSpot data within LinkedIn Business Manager to accurately measure and optimize the return on investment of their LinkedIn marketing efforts.
Requirements: Just like the Sales Navigator integration, you’ll need HubSpot Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise plans and a LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus plan to take advantage of CRM Sync.
LinkedIn Ads Integration for Lead Gen Forms & Ad Management
If you’re running paid campaigns on LinkedIn, this integration is a must-have. It connects your LinkedIn Campaign Manager directly with HubSpot, giving you better control and insights into your advertising efforts.
Key features include:
- Automatic lead syncing from Lead Gen Forms: This is a huge time-saver! When someone fills out a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form, their information automatically flows into your HubSpot CRM as a new contact. This ensures no lead slips through the cracks and saves hours of manual data entry.
- Conversion tracking: You can track the performance of your LinkedIn ads within HubSpot, seeing which campaigns are driving leads and conversions.
- Audience targeting: One of my favorite features here is the ability to create LinkedIn audience segments directly from your HubSpot contact lists. This means you can run highly targeted ads to specific groups of contacts e.g., existing customers for upsells, or leads who haven’t converted yet, or even create lookalike audiences to find new, similar prospects.
- Apply tracking pixel: Easily apply your LinkedIn Insight Tag tracking pixel to track website visitors and attribute ad performance.
How to connect: Generally, you’ll go to your HubSpot account settings, navigate to “Marketing” then “Ads,” and connect your LinkedIn ad account there. You’ll then authorize the connection and configure your lead sync settings, including field mapping to ensure data goes to the right places in HubSpot. Finding Your Place: LinkedIn HubSpot Jobs
Step-by-Step: How to Connect LinkedIn to HubSpot General Guide
you’re ready to get these two powerful platforms talking! While the exact steps might vary slightly depending on which specific LinkedIn feature you’re trying to connect social publishing, Sales Navigator, or Ads, the general process usually looks something like this. You don’t need to be a tech wizard to get this done, but having admin rights on both platforms can make it a lot smoother.
Let’s walk through the common paths:
Connecting for Social Media Publishing & Monitoring:
This is usually the simplest connection to make if you just want to manage your company’s social presence.
- Log in to HubSpot: Head over to your HubSpot account.
- Navigate to Social Settings: In the top navigation bar, click the settings icon it looks like a cog or gear. In the left sidebar menu, look for Marketing > Social.
- Connect Account: In the upper right corner, you should see a button that says “Connect account”. Click that.
- Select LinkedIn: From the options, choose LinkedIn.
- Authorize Connection: HubSpot will redirect you to LinkedIn to authorize the connection. You’ll need to log into your LinkedIn account if you aren’t already and grant HubSpot the necessary permissions. This is where you’ll typically select your personal LinkedIn account and any LinkedIn Company Pages you are an administrator for.
- Confirm: Once authorized, you’ll be brought back to HubSpot, and your selected LinkedIn accounts should now be connected.
Connecting LinkedIn Sales Navigator / CRM Sync:
This integration requires accessing the HubSpot App Marketplace. Learn HubSpot Fast: Your Ultimate Crash Course!
- Log in to HubSpot: Get into your HubSpot account.
- Go to the App Marketplace: In the top navigation bar, click the Marketplace icon it often looks like a shopping bag and select App Marketplace.
- Search for LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Use the search bar to find the “LinkedIn Sales Navigator” integration.
- Install the App: Click on the integration listing, and then click “Install app” in the upper right corner.
- Authorize & Connect: Follow the prompts to authorize the connection between HubSpot and your LinkedIn Sales Navigator account. You’ll likely need to sign into Sales Navigator and allow HubSpot to access its data.
- Configure CRM Sync if applicable: Once installed, you might need to go into settings within the app and enable the CRM sync feature, especially for the two-way data flow. Each HubSpot user who needs to leverage this will typically need to connect their own Sales Navigator account.
Connecting LinkedIn Ads for Lead Gen Forms & Ad Management:
This is crucial for tracking your paid campaigns and leads.
- Log in to HubSpot: Access your HubSpot account.
- Navigate to Ads Settings: Click the settings icon cog in the top navigation bar. In the left sidebar menu, go to Marketing > Ads.
- Connect Ad Account: You should see an option to connect your ad accounts. Select LinkedIn as your ad network.
- Authorize Connection: You’ll be redirected to LinkedIn to log in and authorize the connection between your LinkedIn Ad Account Campaign Manager and HubSpot.
- Enable Lead Syncing: Once connected, go to the “Lead syncing” tab within the HubSpot Ads settings. Here you can turn on lead syncing for your specific LinkedIn ad accounts or pages.
- Map Fields: This is an important step! Ensure that the fields from your LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are correctly mapped to the corresponding properties in your HubSpot CRM. This makes sure contact information like first name, last name, email goes to the right place.
And there you have it! With these steps, you should have your LinkedIn and HubSpot accounts talking. Remember, sometimes these connections can take a little bit of time to fully sync up, so give it an hour or two for all the data to start flowing.
When HubSpot’s Native Integrations Fall Short: Exploring Third-Party Tools
While HubSpot’s built-in integrations with LinkedIn are super helpful, they do have some limitations. We touched on a few of them already, like the cost barrier for Sales Navigator integrations requiring Sales Hub Pro/Enterprise and Sales Navigator Advanced Plus, or the inability to tag personal profiles directly in social posts. Sometimes, the native sync can also be a bit slow or unreliable for some users, and it might not capture every piece of LinkedIn activity you want, like automatically pulling back replies to InMails.
This is where third-party tools come into play. Many developers have built fantastic solutions that expand on what HubSpot and LinkedIn can do together, offering more flexibility, deeper insights, or simpler workflows, often without the hefty price tag of the premium LinkedIn subscriptions. Mastering Lead Scoring in HubSpot: Your Ultimate Guide
Popular Third-Party Alternatives
Let’s check out some of the top players that can help bridge those gaps:
- PhantomBuster: This tool is a powerhouse for automating data extraction from LinkedIn. It can automatically pull LinkedIn data into HubSpot, including contact details, job titles, and company information. What’s really cool is its ability to monitor job changes and automatically update your HubSpot records, ensuring you always have the latest data. Plus, it works with any HubSpot plan and can often help sync contacts without needing a Sales Navigator account.
- Hublead: If you’re looking for something quick and easy, Hublead is a Chrome extension that lets you import LinkedIn connections and prospects into HubSpot with just one click. It also syncs LinkedIn messages directly to HubSpot, centralizing your communications and keeping all interactions in one place, which the native HubSpot integration doesn’t fully do. It’s a great lightweight alternative that works even if you don’t have Sales Navigator.
- Surfe formerly Leadjet: This tool is ideal for sales teams that want to manage their LinkedIn conversations and activity directly within their CRM. Surfe allows you to sync LinkedIn messages, profiles, and notes straight to HubSpot, keeping all that valuable context where you need it.
- Zapier: The ultimate automation tool, Zapier acts as a bridge between countless applications, including LinkedIn and HubSpot. You can use it to create custom workflows that automate data transfers based on specific triggers. For example, you could set up a “Zap” to add new LinkedIn connections as contacts in HubSpot or sync lead form data even if native options aren’t cutting it. This gives you incredible control over your integration.
- Wiza: This Chrome extension is a go-to for many sales professionals. Wiza helps you find verified emails and phone numbers directly from LinkedIn profiles even Sales Navigator or Recruiter and then push those leads into HubSpot in a single click. It’s also great for real-time job change alerts, which can be a huge advantage for timely outreach.
- Closely: Offering a more comprehensive suite, Closely integrates LinkedIn automation directly into your HubSpot dashboard. It can automatically log LinkedIn activities messages, connection requests, notes to contact timelines, allow you to reply to LinkedIn messages from within HubSpot, and even auto-sync your entire LinkedIn network. You can also use HubSpot workflows to push contacts into LinkedIn outreach campaigns automatically.
- LeadsBridge: While HubSpot has a native LinkedIn Ads integration, if you’re specifically looking to ensure your LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are seamlessly connected and flowing into HubSpot, LeadsBridge is a dedicated solution that can help configure this.
Each of these tools offers unique capabilities that can complement or even replace aspects of HubSpot’s native LinkedIn integrations, giving you more flexibility and power in how you manage your professional network within your CRM. When HubSpot’s built-in options don’t quite fit your needs or budget, these alternatives are definitely worth exploring!
Making the Most of Your LinkedIn & HubSpot Connection
Once you’ve got LinkedIn and HubSpot integrated, whether through native tools or third-party solutions, the real magic happens when you actively use them together. It’s not just about connecting. it’s about optimizing your processes to get the best results.
Here are some tips to truly leverage your integrated platforms: Learn HubSpot CMS: Your Ultimate Guide to Building and Growing Online
1. Keep Your Data Clean and Consistent
This might sound obvious, but it’s crucial. With data flowing between platforms, it’s easy to end up with duplicates or inconsistent information. Regularly audit your HubSpot contacts, especially those imported from LinkedIn. Make sure field mappings are set up correctly from the start to avoid headaches down the line. HubSpot’s CRM Sync tries to help with data validation, but a little manual oversight goes a long way.
2. Personalize Your Outreach, Seriously
One of the biggest benefits of this integration is having richer data in HubSpot. Use those LinkedIn insights—like a prospect’s current role, company news, shared connections, or recent activity—to craft highly personalized messages, whether it’s an InMail or a follow-up email. People can spot a generic message a mile away. A personalized approach, backed by real data, can significantly increase your engagement rates.
3. Automate Smartly, Not Just Everything
Tools like Zapier, PhantomBuster, or Closely let you automate a ton of tasks. But don’t just automate for the sake of it. Think about your actual workflows:
- Automated Lead Nurturing: When a lead comes in from a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form, trigger an immediate HubSpot workflow to send a personalized welcome email or assign a sales rep.
- Job Change Alerts: If you’re using a tool that tracks job changes like PhantomBuster or Wiza, set up automated alerts in HubSpot or even Slack. This gives your sales team a perfect, timely reason to reach out and congratulate a prospect on their new role.
- Connection Request Follow-ups: Automatically send a follow-up message on LinkedIn after a connection request is accepted, ensuring you keep the conversation going.
4. Leverage LinkedIn for Account-Based Marketing ABM
HubSpot and LinkedIn are a dream team for ABM strategies. Use your HubSpot contact and company lists to create targeted audiences in LinkedIn Ads. This allows you to serve highly relevant ads to specific accounts you’re trying to win, or even exclude existing customers from prospecting campaigns to optimize your ad spend. You can also use Sales Navigator insights within HubSpot to identify key decision-makers within target accounts.
5. Track and Analyze Everything
Don’t just set it and forget it! Use HubSpot’s reporting tools to track the performance of your LinkedIn activities. Cracking the Code: Your Guide to Predictive Lead Scoring in HubSpot
- Social Media Performance: Monitor engagement, clicks, and conversions from your organic LinkedIn posts.
- Ad Performance: Dive into how your LinkedIn ad campaigns are performing, seeing how they contribute to lead generation and revenue.
- Sales Activities: See how InMails and LinkedIn messages are affecting your deal pipelines and conversion rates.
By consistently monitoring these metrics, you can refine your strategies, understand what works best, and continuously improve your results. The goal is to make your LinkedIn efforts an integrated, measurable part of your overall HubSpot-powered growth strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I connect my personal LinkedIn profile to HubSpot?
Yes, you can! When you go to HubSpot’s social media settings, you’ll typically be prompted to connect your personal LinkedIn account. This allows HubSpot to publish content to your personal profile with your permission and also helps connect any LinkedIn Company Pages you administer. Keep in mind that for advanced features like Sales Navigator integration, individual users will need to connect their own Sales Navigator accounts.
Do I need LinkedIn Sales Navigator to integrate with HubSpot?
Not necessarily for all integrations. For basic social media posting and monitoring, you don’t need Sales Navigator. However, for HubSpot’s native, deeper integrations that allow you to view LinkedIn insights in contact records, send InMails from HubSpot, or use the CRM Sync, you will need a LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus subscription, in addition to a HubSpot Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise plan. If you don’t have Sales Navigator, third-party tools like PhantomBuster or Hublead can help you integrate LinkedIn data without it. Learn HubSpot CRM From Scratch: Your Ultimate Beginner’s Guide
How long does it take for LinkedIn leads to sync to HubSpot?
When you connect LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms to HubSpot, leads usually sync automatically. However, it’s good practice to allow some time for the data transfer. HubSpot states that it can take up to two hours for new leads to successfully sync from LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms to your HubSpot account.
Can I send LinkedIn messages directly from HubSpot?
Yes, if you have the HubSpot LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration set up, you can compose and send InMail messages directly from a contact or company record within HubSpot. The conversation will appear in a LinkedIn InMail pop-up box, but typically, the conversation won’t automatically save to the record’s timeline unless you manually log it or use a third-party tool like Hublead or Closely that specifically offers message syncing.
What are the main limitations of HubSpot’s native LinkedIn integration?
Some key limitations include the requirement for expensive HubSpot Sales Hub Professional/Enterprise and LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus plans for deeper integrations. For social publishing, you can’t directly tag personal LinkedIn profiles when posting through HubSpot, and there’s a limit of four images per post. Additionally, the native integration may not automatically pull back replies to InMails, and some users have reported it can be slow or unreliable.
Can I connect LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms to HubSpot?
Absolutely! HubSpot has a native integration for LinkedIn Ads that allows you to sync leads captured through your LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms directly into your HubSpot CRM. You’ll typically find this setup in your HubSpot Ads settings under the “Lead syncing” tab, where you can connect your LinkedIn ad account and map the form fields.
Is it possible to track LinkedIn ad performance in HubSpot?
Yes, once you integrate your LinkedIn Ad Account Campaign Manager with HubSpot, you can track the performance of your LinkedIn ad campaigns directly within HubSpot’s ads dashboard. This allows you to monitor key metrics, measure ROI, and see how your ads contribute to lead generation and conversions alongside your other marketing efforts. What Exactly is HubSpot CRM?
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