How to use HubSpot for marketing data analysis

You've probably already experienced this situation: the team runs a campaign, increases investment, creates a landing page, sends an email, makes a post. In the end, you're left with a mosaic of metrics that don't talk to each other.

Clicks in one place, leads in another, sales in a parallel spreadsheet. And in educational marketing, this noise is costly because the student decision cycle is longer, involves more doubts, more objections and more "I'll come back later".

The good news is that HubSpot has been designed to bring marketing and the sales funnel together in the same system, which changes the quality of your data analysis.

Instead of just looking at "what happened" (traffic, clicks, forms), you start to see "what it generated" (contacts, stages, opportunities and revenue).

What follows here is a practical guide to using HubSpot's reporting features and moving from reactive mode to a consistent marketing data analysis process.

What you'll see in the post

Before getting into the step-by-step, it's worth clarifying what you're actually going to learn so that it doesn't turn into yet another text that seems complete but doesn't unlock the operation.

• How to prepare the basis for reliable data in HubSpot
• How to standardize URLs and UTMs without messing up reports
• How to use reports and dashboards to follow the sales funnel
• How to cross-reference consumer behavior with conversions and lead quality
• How to approximate conversion rate and return on investment in analysis
• Where Google Analytics helps and where HubSpot is strongest
• A weekly data reading script for educational campaigns

With this in mind, you can apply it today, even if your account isn't "perfect", because the gain comes more from the method than from a pretty dashboard.

Use the HubSpot platform's reports, dashboards, tracking and attribution to connect channels, leads and revenue, finding bottlenecks and opportunities by funnel stage.

When HubSpot is well configured, data analysis stops being a vanity report and becomes a diagnosis.

You can track traffic sources, campaigns and assets, but also see the evolution of the lead in stages, the conversion rate between stages and the contribution of each channel to contacts and business.

To complete the picture, Google Analytics comes in to complement behavior on the website, while HubSpot supports the reading of the journey and results in the CRM.

What "data analysis" means within HubSpot

Data analysis, in practice, is answering decision questions with evidence. It's not "looking at numbers".

It's being able to say with certainty: which channels brought in candidates with a profile, which campaigns accelerated the transition from lead to opportunity, where the conversion rate fell and what this indicates.

Within HubSpot, the big difference is that you analyze marketing in a CRM context. This changes the conversation from "traffic went up" to "traffic went up that converted into a contact and moved up the sales funnel".

The marketing reporting suite itself is designed to look at performance by channel, site and contacts, and save analysis on dashboards.

How do you connect the click to the enrollment without losing data in between?

In educational marketing, it's common to measure the top of the funnel precisely and lose track when it comes to customer service, WhatsApp, calls, exams, scholarships and enrollment. The point here is not to promise perfect tracking.

It's to reduce the "holes" with three simple decisions: standardize the campaign source, ensure website tracking and define properties that translate real stages of the journey.

If you already work with the logic of the journey in the sales funnel and are maturing to look at the consumer journey, HubSpot is the natural place to unify this reading without relying on scattered spreadsheets.

How do I configure HubSpot for reliable data?

You can create incredible reports and still make bad decisions if the base is fragile. The minimum configuration is not "too technical", it's what avoids the classic feeling that "the numbers don't add up".

Install and validate the tracking code

HubSpot recommends installing the tracking code to collect visitor data and monitor site traffic, even when you use pages outside the CMS.

From a data analysis point of view, this is the foundation you need to succeed:

1. See traffic sources consistently.
2. Understand which pages generate conversions and which just "visit".
3. Connect navigation with contact creation when there is a form, chat or identification.

If your site is a hybrid (part HubSpot and part WordPress), follow the installation of the tracking code recommended by HubSpot itself, and do a simple check: access a few pages, wait a few minutes and confirm that the visits appear in the reports.

Standardize UTMs with Tracking URLs, not "on the fly"

UTM is simple until it becomes a mess. One team writes "cpc", another writes "CPC", one channel becomes "instagram", another becomes "insta". The result: your marketing data analysis becomes a patchwork quilt.

The most practical way to discipline these points at HubSpot is to use the URL Tracking tool, which creates URLs with parameters and records these parameters when the visitor arrives at the site via that link.

A useful rule of thumb is: define a short dictionary of UTMs and treat this as an operational standard, not an individual preference. You don't need dozens of variations to learn. You need consistency to compare.

Connect Google Analytics when the question is site behavior

Google Analytics 4 is designed to collect data based on events, not sessions, which helps a lot when the question is "how people interact" with pages and elements.

HubSpot, on the other hand, is stronger when the question is: "who became a contact and how did they progress in the CRM"?

Instead of choosing one or the other, use integration when it makes sense. HubSpot describes the process of integrating Google Analytics with content to track visitor data and optimize site performance.

An honest way of dividing responsibilities is:

• Google Analytics for fine-grained reading of site navigation and events.
• HubSpot for funnel reading, campaigns, contacts and CRM-related attribution.

Create properties that represent your real journey

Without exaggeration: good data analysis depends more on nomenclature and process than on "tool".

If your sales funnel has its own stages (for example, "enrolled in the entrance exam", "documentation sent", "approved", "enrolled"), you need to reflect this in properties and stages, even incrementally.

The aim is to make it possible to answer questions such as: "which source generates the most leads that reach customer service" or "which campaign brought in the most qualified opportunities".

If you like to look at data in depth, it's worth aligning basic concepts from data science so as not to confuse metrics with insight.

SEE ALSO:

• Future of digital marketing: the role of Funnelytics

• How to improve lead conversions with Funnelytics

• Learn how to improve customer retention with HubSpot

Where to find insights in HubSpot without getting lost in reports

HubSpot has ready-made reports and also allows you to create customized reports, crossing marketing and sales data sources, which helps a lot when the question crosses objects and stages.

Start with marketing reports and save to dashboards

In practice, the quickest way is to start with the marketing reports suite, which guides analysis by channel, website and contacts, with the option to save and add to the dashboard.

And here's a simple point that changes the routine: a dashboard is not a "dashboard for the board". It's your cockpit. If you open 12 different screens to understand performance, your operation loses time and focus.

HubSpot itself details how customize dashboards, adding reports and organizing the view.

Use web traffic analysis to understand sources and consumer behavior

HubSpot's web traffic analysis tool allows you to see traffic by source, device, country and other dimensions, which provides an initial view of consumer behavior on the site.

Three readings that often bring quick insight:

1. Which pages attract qualified traffic, not just volume.
2. Which sources sustain permanence and navigation, not just clicks.
3. Which content opens up a journey and which pushes for conversion.

Go for campaigns when the question is "what worked together"

Campaign analysis in HubSpot is useful when you want to see the combined impact of associated assets, such as emails, landing pages and ads, and look at the impact on contacts, deals and traffic.

Here, the recommendation is very practical: there is only "campaign analysis" if you associate the assets with the campaign. If each piece is left alone, you're back in the world of reports per channel that don't add up.

Conversion rate per stage of the sales funnel

Conversion rate is not a single metric. It's a sequence. In educational marketing, it makes a lot of difference to distinguish:

• Conversion from visit to lead.
• Conversion from lead to MQL or internal equivalent.
• Conversion from MQL to opportunity.
• Conversion of opportunity to enrollment.

At HubSpot, you usually build this reading by combining form, page, lifecycle stage and pipeline reports. When you standardize stages and properties, this conversion rate results in diagnostics: where it falls, why, and which lever you control.

To organize this reading without confusion, the table below helps turn "loose metrics" into decision questions.

Table: Decision questions in the funnel: where to look in HubSpot, key metrics and typical action

This type of table seems simple, but it solves a real problem: stop discussing opinion and start debating evidence applied to the sales funnel.

Attribution and return on investment with less guesswork

When the question is "what contributed to creating contacts, business and revenue", you enter attribution territory.

HubSpot allows you to create attribution reports to measure which interactions result in the creation of contacts and business, with variations by conversion type depending on the plan.

In parallel, HubSpot also details the analysis of the campaign's return on investment (ROI), including the configuration of how to calculate ROI according to your settings.

An important note: return on investment depends on cost and result. If you don't record media costs or connect revenue in the CRM, the reading tends to be incomplete.

Still, you can evolve in stages, starting with "cost per lead" and moving on to "cost per opportunity" before demanding a perfect ROI.

When the team maintains a consistent routine of registration, tasks and follow-up in the CRM, as in the flow of activities in HubSpot, the reports are more complete and comparable.

Weekly data analysis roadmap for campaigns

Data analysis becomes a habit, not an event. Instead of waiting for the "end of the month", you create small cycles that protect your budget and learning.

The questions you need to answer every week

Before the questions, one point: good questions avoid endless reports. When you define the questions, you choose the reports, not the other way around.

• Which channel grew in volume and which in quality?
• At which stage of the sales funnel did conversion worsen?
• Which campaign brought leads to the best stage?
• Which pages gained traffic but lost conversion?
• Which audience segment responded best to the offer?
• Where is service taking longer and impacting on conversion?

After answering, record one hypothesis and one action per week. One action, not ten. Consistency overcomes the anxiety to "fix everything".

A simple 30-minute ritual

It works well to split it up like this:

1. 10 minutes to look at traffic and conversion variation by source.
2. 10 minutes to look at campaigns and assets that drove results.
3. 10 minutes to analyze the pipeline: progress, losses and time per stage.

The gain here is not "finding the perfect number". It's about creating predictability so that no one is surprised by a drop that started three weeks ago.

Common mistakes that distort your data

Most errors are not "lack of tools". It's an operational detail.

Inconsistent UTMs and unlinked campaigns

Without standardizing UTMs and associating assets with the campaign, your analysis becomes a different "who told that story?" per channel.

Tracking URLs help to impose a standard and maintain a consistent origin from click to contact.

Lack of tracking on non-HubSpot pages

It's common to have old landing pages, subdomains and areas of the site that have fallen off the radar. Without the code, you have a "hole" in the journey.

The installation documentation exists precisely to capture analytics from these pages as well.

Mixing vanity metrics with decision metrics

Likes and views can be useful as a signal, but they can't dictate the budget on their own.

In educational marketing, what sustains the decision is the progress in the sales funnel and the conversion rate between stages, because that's what explains the enrollment in the end.

Image: Visual representing how HubSpot helps turn campaign metrics into actionable insights.

Applying to educational marketing with practical examples

Here are three very real scenarios and how HubSpot helps turn "campaign ran" into insight.

Attracting students for entrance exams or selection processes

You can organize the campaign by assets (landing, emails, ads) and track the impact on contacts and associated business.

The typical insight: realizing that a channel brings in a lot of registrations, but low test attendance or low qualification.

The action is not to "cut the channel". It's adjusting the promise, segmentation and follow-up.

Event, open day or guided tour campaigns

Here, consumer behavior weighs heavily. Google Analytics helps to see navigation and events, while HubSpot shows who made contact and moved on. As GA4 collects event-based data, it complements the interaction reading well.

The typical insight: event page with strong traffic, but form with low conversion rate.

The action tends to simplify the form, reinforce the social proof and align the offer with the intent.

Nutrition for postgraduate, extension and continuing education courses

In this case, the decision time is usually longer. Data analysis needs to separate "interest" from "readiness".

At HubSpot, this usually appears in the cross-referencing of engagement (email, pages) with stage and commercial response.

The typical insight: leads who consume content, but don't move forward for lack of the right approach. The action tends to be to resegment, adjust cadence and revise the value argument.

How to start data analysis at HubSpot today?

To close, this checklist is the minimum you need to turn HubSpot into a data analysis routine, without expecting a "perfect project".

1. Ensure the tracking code is installed throughout the site.
2. Create Tracking URLs for paid campaigns and partnerships.
3. Associate assets with campaigns before analyzing results.
4. Set up a dashboard with few reports, but used every week.
5. Define stages and properties that represent your real sales funnel.
6. Review a hypothesis and an action every week, with owner and deadline.

If you apply this checklist for a few weeks, data analysis stops being a "moment" and becomes a system.

What are the most common questions about data analysis at HubSpot?

Can I do data analysis only in HubSpot without Google Analytics?

You can, mainly for reading funnels, contacts, campaigns and CRM-related tasks. Google Analytics is more useful when the question is site behavior and navigation events, while HubSpot supports the journey and result view.

How does HubSpot record campaign origins and UTMs?

A practical way is to use Tracking URLs, which add parameters to the link and make HubSpot save this information when the visitor accesses the site via that link.

Where do I see the conversion rate per stage of the sales funnel?

You usually build up this reading by combining form, page, lifecycle stage and pipeline reports. The ideal is to standardize stages and properties in order to compare periods and channels consistently.

Does HubSpot show a return on investment from campaigns?

It can, as long as you configure the ROI report and have cost and result data compatible with your model. HubSpot describes the campaign ROI report and the calculation options.

What else distorts marketing data analysis on a daily basis?

Inconsistent UTMs, campaigns without asset association, pages without tracking and goals that only look at volume. The fix is usually operational: standardization, routine and a lean dashboard.

Which metrics are most important in educational marketing?

It depends on the objective, but it usually works to keep track of: volume and quality of leads, conversion rate per stage, time in the pipeline, cost per stage and reasons for loss. This connects marketing to what the institution really needs: predictability of funding.

What to do after organizing data analysis in HubSpot?

HubSpot is not just for "looking at numbers". It serves to create a continuous line between marketing actions, consumer behavior, progress in the sales funnel and business results.

When you combine tracking, campaign standardization, reporting and a weekly ritual, data analysis stops being a report of the past and becomes an instrument for choosing the next step.

And in educational marketing, this difference appears where it matters: less noise, more clarity to decide.

If your goal is to take a deeper look at channels, pages and campaigns with a more "dashboard" view, setting up HubSpot Analytics helps you consolidate these insights without relying on loose reports.