Hubspot: Workflow Actions & Trigger

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HubSpot Overview
HubSpot is a CRM platform utilised by sales, marketing, and service teams to manage contacts, companies, deals, and tickets. The HubSpot integration allows you to integrate HubSpot directly into the Workflow Builder, enabling customer-facing automations to respond to new contacts and vice versa. An instant trigger and five actions facilitate the most common contact-centric operations: creating, finding, looking up by ID, searching by email, and associating contacts with companies or deals.

Integration Components

  • Trigger (HubSpot → Workflows): One instant trigger – New Contact Created.
  • Actions (Workflows → HubSpot): Five actions – Create Contact, Find Contact, Get Contact by ID, Search Contact by Email, Create Association.

Note: Trigger and actions are premium features.

Connecting the Integration

Before any HubSpot trigger or action can operate, you must establish a connection. This connection permits your workflows to securely read from and write to your HubSpot portal.

Connect via the Workflow Builder (Recommended)

  • Open Automation → Workflows and select (or create) a workflow.
  • Add a HubSpot trigger or action — search for HubSpot in the Apps tab.
  • Select any HubSpot trigger or action.
  • On the action card, click Connect Now.
  • When prompted, sign in to HubSpot via OAuth; authorise the portal and the required scopes (Contacts: read/write, Associations).
  • Click Save to complete the process.

Connect via Settings (Alternative Method)

  • Go to Settings → Integrations.
  • Find HubSpot and click Connect.
  • Authenticate via OAuth and authorise the portal.

This release includes a single trigger. Additional triggers (e.g., deal stage, ticket events) are planned for the future.

  • New Contact Created – Activates when a new contact is created in HubSpot, returning the full contact payload along with standard and custom properties.
  • Create Contact – Creates a new contact in HubSpot. Standard fields include Email, First Name, Last Name, and Phone. Custom properties are also supported.
  • Find Contact – Looks up a contact by Record ID, email, or filter, returning matching contact(s) for further processing.
  • Get Contact by ID – Fetches the latest information of a contact using the HubSpot Record ID. Useful in long-running workflows.
  • Search Contact by Email – Performs an exact-email lookup; this follows a canonical deduplication pattern. Returns the contact if found, or an empty result for the Create path.
  • Create Association – Links an existing contact with a Company, Deal, or Ticket, creating a two-way relationship in HubSpot.
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Example: Setting Up a Trigger (New Contact Created)

This guide outlines how to set up a workflow that activates every time a new contact is created in HubSpot, using the contact payload as the basis for all downstream actions.

Step 1: Add the Trigger

  • Open the workflow and click Add Trigger.
  • Switch to the Apps tab and search for HubSpot.
  • Select New Contact Created from the HubSpot trigger list.

Step 2: Configure the Trigger

  • Workflow Trigger Name — give it a meaningful label such as ‘New HubSpot Lead’.
  • Filters (Optional) — constrain by lifecycle stage, source, or any contact property to prevent unrelated contacts from enrolling.

Step 3: Test the Trigger

  • Click Find New Records inside the Test Your Trigger panel.
  • The system retrieves the most recent matching contacts from HubSpot.
  • In the Records — Select Mapping Reference dropdown, choose one of the returned records. This locks the payload schema for downstream steps.
  • Click Save Trigger to finish.
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Example: Setting Up an Action (Create Contact)

This section illustrates how to create a HubSpot contact from a form submission, a common addition to inbound flows.

Step 1: Add the Action

  • In the workflow, click Add to include a new step.
  • Access the Apps tab and choose HubSpot.
  • Select Create Contact from the action list.

Step 2: Connect (First Time Only)

  • If the integration is not yet connected, click Connect Now on the action card.
  • Authenticate via HubSpot OAuth and authorise the portal.

Step 3: Configure the Action

  • Action Name — assign a meaningful label, e.g. ‘Create HubSpot Contact’.
  • Email (Required) — use an inline workflow variable, e.g. {{contact.email}}. Email acts as the canonical deduplication key in HubSpot.
  • First Name — map this field from the contact or form payload, e.g. {{contact.first_name}}.
  • Last Name — map from the contact or form payload.
  • Phone — optional. Map from the contact record or form field.
  • Custom Properties — any property defined on the HubSpot Contact object can be mapped here. Ensure it’s defined in HubSpot beforehand; unknown property names are silently ignored upon submission.

Step 4: Always Run Search Contact by Email First

  • To prevent duplicates, insert a Search Contact by Email step before Create Contact. Branch: if found, use the existing record (or skip); if not found, proceed to Create Contact. Email serves as the canonical deduplication key in HubSpot, and this two-step pattern is vital for maintaining hygiene in inbound CRM flows.

Step 5: Save and Use the Output

  • Click Save action. The new contact’s ID and full record will be exposed as workflow output variables. You can chain a Create Association step immediately after to link the contact to a Company or Deal if account-based context is relevant.
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How to Test the Trigger and Action

Always test before publishing. Testing locks the payload schema and provides real records for downstream steps to map against.

Test the Trigger

  • Inside the trigger panel, click Find New Records.
  • Select a recent contact as the mapping reference.
  • Ensure the Trigger Data Response panel displays the fields you intend to use.

Test the Action

  • Inside the action panel, click Test Action.
  • The action runs against the live HubSpot portal using sample values.
  • Verify that the contact appears in HubSpot with the expected properties.
  • If there are discrepancies, review the field mapping (especially custom property names) and re-test. Once satisfied, click Save action and then run a full Test Workflow before publishing.

Use Case 1: Form-to-Contact with Dedupe

Goal: Capture inbound leads into HubSpot without creating duplicate contacts.

Workflow Setup:

  • Trigger: Form Submission
  • Action: Search Contact by Email
  • Conditional: If found → skip Create; if not found → continue
  • Action: Create Contact (with form payload mapped into Email, First Name, etc.)
  • Action: (Optional) Create Association to a Company or Deal

Example: A prospect submits a contact form. The workflow checks HubSpot for the email; if a record already exists, it skips the Create step. If not, it creates a new contact, optionally associates them with a known company, and routes them into a welcome sequence.

Use Case 2: CRM → Workflows Two-Way Contact Sync

Goal: Mirror every new HubSpot contact into the platform CRM and keep the records aligned.

Workflow Setup:

  • Trigger: New Contact Created (HubSpot)
  • Action: Find Contact (platform side, by email)
  • Action: Create/Update Contact (platform side) with HubSpot data

Example: Whenever a contact is added to HubSpot — through a HubSpot form, a sales rep’s manual entry, or another integration — it mirrors into the platform CRM, ensuring that email, name, phone, and lifecycle stage are synchronised.

Use Case 3: Contact-to-Company Association on Signup

Goal: Provide sales with company context the moment the lead arrives.

Workflow Setup:

  • Trigger: Form Submission
  • Action: Search Contact by Email (deduplication)
  • Action: Create Contact (if necessary)
  • Action: Find or derive the company (for example, by email domain)
  • Action: Create Association (contact-to-company)

Example: A new lead from acme.com submits a demo form. The workflow either creates the contact or finds the existing one, looks up Acme Inc. in HubSpot, and associates the contact with the company. The Account Executive gains full company context as soon as they pick up the lead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is a CRM platform used by sales, marketing, and service teams to manage contacts, companies, deals, and tickets. The free CRM tier is widely available; Marketing and Sales Hub plans add automation, sequences, and more.

Q: Do I need a paid HubSpot plan to use this integration?

No. The integration operates on the free HubSpot CRM tier. Certain HubSpot features (such as in-HubSpot workflow automations and specific custom property types) do require paid Marketing or Sales Hub plans — these restrictions stem from HubSpot, not this integration.

Q: Are these actions premium workflow actions?

Yes. All five actions are classified as premium and consume premium action credits at the standard automation rate.

Q: Is the New Contact Created trigger Instant or polled?

It is instant — powered by a HubSpot webhook. Workflows enrol within seconds of a contact being created.

Q: How does deduplication work in HubSpot?

Email serves as the canonical deduplication key. Use Search Contact by Email as a guard step before Create Contact to prevent duplicate records. This is the most crucial pattern for inbound flows.

Q: Can I create or update custom HubSpot properties via Create Contact?

Yes. Any property defined on the HubSpot Contact object — whether standard or custom — can be mapped. You should define the custom property in HubSpot first; unknown property names will be silently discarded upon submission.

Q: What is the difference between Find Contact, Get Contact by ID, and Search Contact by Email?

Find Contact serves as a flexible lookup — by ID, email, or other filters. Get Contact by ID provides the quickest route when you already have a Record ID. Search Contact by Email focuses on deduplication through exact email lookups. Use Search for inbound forms, Get by ID for refreshing data in long-running flows, and Find when you require filter flexibility.

Q: What does Create Association do?

This links a contact to another HubSpot record — typically a Company, Deal, or Ticket — using HubSpot’s association type IDs. The relationship is two-way and visible from both records.

Q: Can I use workflow variables in any field?

Yes. All fields support inline variables, including dynamic helpers like {{right_now.minute}} and {{contact.email}}.

Q: What happens if Create Contact fails — for instance, if the email is malformed?

The action highlights the error in the workflow execution log, and the workflow continues its process based on the defined branching. You can add a fallback branch if subsequent steps depend on the creation succeeding.

Q: Will the trigger fire on contacts created by other HubSpot integrations?

Indeed. New Contact Created triggers for any contact created in HubSpot — whether from a form, a sales rep, or another integration. You can apply trigger filters to refine by source or lifecycle stage if necessary.