HubSpot Hack: How to use workflows to nurture contacts that have engaged with your ads in HubSpot

Using workflows to nurture contacts who have engaged with your ads is crucial because it helps transform initial interest into qualified leads and potential conversions. Contacts who interact with your ads have already shown curiosity about your offerings. By nurturing them, you increase the likelihood of conversion, maximising the value of your ad spend. While not every ad click will result in a closed deal, nurture workflows allow you to guide contacts through the buyer’s journey, educating and informing them, so they can move from awareness to consideration and ultimately to a purchasing decision.

Let’s get into it…

Step 1: Identify your engaged contacts

HubSpot can track anyone who clicked on your ads, submitted a form from an ad or even visited a landing page promoted from an ad. Ensure your HubSpot Ads integration is set up to track these engagements automatically to do this;

Go to Marketing → Ads → Settings.
Verify Ad Tracking Settings:
- HubSpot tracking code is installed on all landing pages.
  Automatic tracking of clicks and form submissions is enabled.
For Google Ads, enable auto-tagging in Google Ads so HubSpot can capture UTM parameters automatically.

Step 2: Create a contact list

Go to Contacts > Lists > Create list.
Choose active list (This will automatically update).
Add filters to capture ad engagement, Some examples could be

- Contact clicked [ad campaign]
- Form submission from [ad landing page]
- Visited URL contains [ad campaign landing page]

Name your list “Ad-Engaged Contacts”

Step 3: Set Up a Workflow

Navigate to automation > workflows > create workflow.
Choose contact-based workflow > start from scratch.
Set your enrollment trigger:
Contact is a member of your “Ad-Engaged Contacts” list
Enable if you want contacts to re-enter the workflow for repeated engagement.
Now is the time to build your nurturing steps to guide your contacts, a suggested format as follows:
Send Email (Welcome email, content, or product offers related to the ad)
Add Delays (Example: wait 2–3 days between emails to avoid overwhelming contacts).
If/Then Branching (Email opened > send next email in sequence. Email not opened> resend or send alternate content
Lead Scoring (Increment score when contacts engage with emails, pages, or CTAs).
Internal Notifications (Notify sales when a high-value contact engages.
Add to Other Lists or Campaigns (Automatically move contacts into lifecycle stage lists or campaign-specific lists.

Once you are happy with the workflow test and set it to active.

Top tips for sending nurture emails:

Personalise emails based on which ad the contact engaged with, personalised tags are your friend
Use progressive nurturing: start with educational content, then move to offers.
Segment by ad platform or campaign for more targeted messaging.
Keep sequences short and relevant to maintain engagement.
Review your the workflow performance regularly; if it isn’t working, change it

By Mel Baker