1 million opt-ins in 26 days…
This is not another "how to make money" post or a "you can do this too" story. There is something truly unique about what we achieved. Here is how we managed our January launch, securing 1 million opt-ins, leveraging HubSpot fully.
Yes, HubSpot. We utilized every aspect of HubSpot Marketing Hub to achieve our goals. Forms. Landing pages. Emails. Workflows. Custom behavioral events. Reporting. The full stack, pushed to its limits.
Landing Pages and Multivariate Testing
Starting with landing pages, we ran multivariate tests, quickly determining winning headlines and hero images. Testing five versions simultaneously provided new insights, enabling scalable testing of multiple headlines. After that, we delved into traditional A/B testing.
The built-in reporting showed us what worked best at the utm_campaign level from different audience sources. That was a win. While we managed most pages with ease, challenges arose when publishing new pages or variants. HubSpot support assisted quickly, though it took a few days to push our first multivariate tests live. That was a bummer.
Forms That Handle Volume
We used HubSpot forms to capture opt-ins, leveraging onFormSubmit for external tracking, including Segment and advertising scripts. The forms handled the volume sent to the page with ease.
Despite HubSpot offering CTA pop-ups, we refrained due to loading issues and the lack of HubSpot form events. To have a pop-up form, we coded our own module, which worked fine, but it is disappointing that it is not a native CTA ability.
42 Million Emails
A campaign is not complete without emails. Yes, we sent a lot. 42 million to be exact. HubSpot allowed detailed email engagement analysis. Event reminder emails were delivered and inboxed on time, which is crucial when sending 1 million emails in a single batch. That deliverability alone justified the platform choice.
Workflows as the Backbone
Workflows managed event confirmations, cart abandonment sequences, and SMS reminders. Additional workflows cleaned up data, setting lead source, fixing typos, creating unique join links for customers. We pushed workflows harder than most teams would be comfortable with, but that is where the compounding value lives.
Custom Behavioral Events Changed Everything
A feature I particularly like is HubSpot's custom behavioral events. We used it to track cart abandonment, which enabled follow-up emails for those who clicked but did not purchase. This provided key data for data-driven decisions at the exact moment they mattered most.
The Command Center
Speaking of data-driven decisions, timely data delivery is mission-critical when managing launches at scale. HubSpot reporting and dashboards provided the command center to monitor engagement across all touchpoints. Landing pages, forms, emails, and custom events, all in one view. When you are moving a million people through a funnel in 26 days, you cannot afford to wait for yesterday's report.
Investing in HubSpot aimed to get the most out of it, and we are well on our way to maximizing its potential. Although early in our journey, our partnership with HubSpot has proven to be a great thing so far.
Related: Your First 100 Subscribers and Your A/B Test Is Lying to You.
