How to Build an Automated Report Tracking Contact Email Engagement in Specific Workflows

Tired of manually piecing together email engagement data for every workflow you launch? Spending valuable time each week exporting lists and crunching numbers just to see how your workflow emails are performing in terms of opens, deliveries, and bounces? This cumbersome process not only eats into your productivity but also delays crucial insights into your campaign effectiveness.

This guide provides a much-needed solution: a step-by-step method to build a custom HubSpot report that automatically tracks these vital email metrics specifically for contacts within your chosen workflow. 

Step-by-step:

1. Start a New Custom Report:

• Navigate to Reporting in your HubSpot portal.
• Click on Reports.
• Click the Create report button in the top right corner.
• Select Custom Report Builder.

2. Choose Your Data Sources:

• In the "Choose your data sources" section, select My own data sources.
• Search for and select the following primary and secondary data sources:
  • Primary data source: Marketing email analytics
  • Secondary data source 1: Marketing email (Click "Add data source" and search for it)
  • Secondary data source 2: Contacts (Click "Add data source" and search for it)
• Click Next.

3. Filter Your Report Data:

This step is crucial for focusing your report on the specific contacts who entered your workflow. You have two main options:

Option A: Filter by List Membership (Recommended for Workflow Specific Contacts)

• First, create an active contact-based list:
  • Go to Contacts > Lists.
  • Click Create list.
  • Choose Active list.
  • Give your list a clear name (e.g., "Contacts in [Your Workflow Name]").
  • Set your filter criteria to identify contacts who have entered your specific workflow. (Workflow name: Is any of [Your Workflow Name].)
• Now, back in the Report Builder (Filters tab):
  • In the left sidebar, search for List membership.
  • Drag and drop List membership into the "Filters" area.
  • Select the active list you just created ([Your Workflow Name]).

Option B: Filter by Email Name (If Emails are Exclusive to the Workflow)

• If the marketing emails you want to track in this report are only used within this specific workflow, you can filter by their names.

• In the Filters tab of the Report Builder:

  • In the left sidebar, search for Email name.
  • Drag and drop Email name into the "Filters" area.
  • Select the operator is any of.
  • Enter the names of all the marketing emails used in your workflow.

• Adjust the Event Timestamp Filter:

  • By default, the report might show data for a broad timeframe. To focus on recent activity, find the Event timestamp filter (it might be under "Marketing Email Analytics properties").
  • Click on the filter and set the desired date range (e.g., "Last 7 days," "Last 30 days," or a custom range).

4. Configure Your Report Visualisation:

• Click on the Configure tab at the top.
• Choose a Table visualisation. This is the most suitable format for displaying the requested metrics per email.

5. Add the Desired Properties to Your Report:

• In the left sidebar, browse or search for the following properties and drag them into the "Displayed columns" area of your table:
  • From Marketing email:
    • Email name
  • From Marketing email analytics:
    • Marketing email delivered count
    • Marketing email open count
    • Marketing email bounce count
    • You can also add other relevant metrics like Marketing email click count, Marketing email open rate, Marketing email click rate, etc.

6. Save Your Report:

• In the top right corner, click Save.
• Give your report a clear and descriptive name (e.g., "Workflow Email Engagement Report").
• Click Save.

7. Set Up Recurring Email Delivery (Automation):

• Open your newly saved report.
• In the top right corner, click the Actions dropdown.
• Select Schedule email.
• Configure the following settings:
  • Recipients: Enter the email addresses of the people who should receive this report.
  • Subject: Create a clear subject line for the recurring email.
  • Frequency: Choose how often you want the report to be sent (e.g., Weekly, on a specific day).
  • Day of the week/month: Specify the exact day the email should be sent.
  • Time: Set the time the email should be sent.
  • Include a note (optional): Add any context or information for the recipients.
  • Include report as: Choose the desired format (e.g., CSV, XLSX).
• Click Schedule email.

Congratulations! You have now created an automated custom report in HubSpot that will track email opens, deliveries, and bounces for contacts who entered your specified workflow. The scheduled email will deliver this report to your chosen recipients at the defined frequency, saving you time and ensuring you have up-to-date engagement data.