How to Track Your Case Study Process with HubSpot Pipelines

Many companies request case studies so that the marketing team can use them, either on their website or in specific campaigns.  Our client wanted a way to easily track whether a client and the undertaken project were firstly suitable for a case study and secondly, how the process was progressing. It needed to be a process that would inform both the marketing and client teams at all stages and ensure that both teams understood the next steps.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. In HubSpot Service Hub, navigate to Service > Tickets > Pipelines. (In Sales Hub, navigate to Sales > Deals > Pipelines).

2. Create a New Pipeline (if needed): If you don't already have a dedicated pipeline for case studies, click Create pipeline. Give it a clear and descriptive name (e.g., "Case Study Pipeline").

   • Potential Case Study: Initial identification of a suitable client and project.
   • Internal Review: Marketing and/or relevant teams assess the project's potential for a compelling case study.
   • Client Outreach: Contacting the client to gauge their interest and willingness to participate.
   • Client Approval: Formal agreement from the client to proceed with the case study.
   • Content Creation: Drafting the case study content (interviews, writing, design).
   • Client Review: Sharing the draft with the client for feedback and approval.
   • Finalisation & Publication: Making final edits and publishing the case study.
   • Case Study Complete: The case study is finalised and ready for use.
   • Disqualified: The client or project is deemed unsuitable for a case study at some point in the process.

     Define Your Stages: Carefully consider the different phases a potential case study goes through. These stages should represent key milestones in your process. Examples of stages could include:

Top tip: Think about the data you want to track and report on. Ensure your stages reflect this. For instance, having separate "Case Study Complete" and "Disqualified" closed stages allows you to report on the number of opportunities that were considered but ultimately not pursued.

3. For each stage in your pipeline, clearly define the criteria that must be met before a ticket (or deal) can move to the next stage. This ensures consistency and clarity in the process.

• Example for "Client Outreach": Exit criteria might include:
  • Internal review complete and positive.
  • Key talking points and potential questions for the client identified.
  • Contact information for the appropriate client contact obtained.

4. HubSpot's pipeline rules offer valuable control over the flow of your case study process. Configure these rules to enforce your desired workflow:

• Stage Creation Limits: You can specify if users are restricted to creating new tickets only in the initial stage. This helps track the overall time taken from the beginning of the process.
• Stage Skipping: Determine if tickets should be allowed to skip stages. In most case study processes, a linear progression is preferred, but consider if exceptions might be necessary.
• Backward Movement Restrictions: Decide if tickets should be prevented from moving backward in the pipeline. This can help maintain the integrity of the process and ensure steps aren't accidentally overlooked.

5. At each stage, configure a workflow to send a Slack notification to the relevant marketing team channel. This provides real-time visibility into the progress of potential and active case studies. To do this, utilise "If/then" branch logic in your workflows based on ticket properties to trigger specific actions and notifications:

1. • Client Team Notification: When a ticket enters the "Client Outreach" stage, automatically notify the contact owner or the relevant client-facing team member, informing them of the next steps and any required actions.
   • Task Creation: At specific stages (e.g., "Content Creation"), automatically create tasks for the marketing team, such as "Schedule client interview" or "Draft case study document."
   • Client Updates (Optional): Consider automated email notifications to the client at key milestones (e.g., when the draft is ready for review), keeping them informed of the progress.

Optional

We also used ticket tags to identify if a case study opportunity had been in a stage for too long. You could use these to identify the type of project that the case study is covering, or if a particular service offered or part of your business is highlighted in the case study, which will help for future campaigns.

This hack can be used in a number of applications if the premise is the same: to track a process.  Processes such as onboarding, internal requests, project management and HR can be tracked using ticket pipelines.

However, I issue a word of caution against having numerous pipelines, as this could lead to confusion, inefficiency, and difficulty in reporting and tracking.