Marketing automation has revolutionized the way we engage with our customers, and HubSpot workflows and sequences are an essential part of this automation process. Organizations everywhere are creating workflows designed to help save time and streamline their marketing efforts. However, setting up workflows can be challenging, and even the most experienced marketers can make mistakes.
There’s nothing worse than logging into HubSpot on Monday morning to find out that the great new workflow you set up last week is now causing HubSpot to alert you about errors. It can cause your day to come to a screeching halt.
Now what?
Errors in workflows can cause a range of problems, such as triggering the wrong actions, delays in triggering workflows, or even complete failure of the workflow. This can result in a negative impact on customer experience, wasted time and effort, and ultimately, lost revenue.
But don’t fret – you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re new to HubSpot workflows or an experienced user, this post is for you. We will cover the most common HubSpot Workflow errors and how to fix them, how to troubleshoot HubSpot workflow errors, and the best practices for setting up and maintaining successful workflows. Let’s dive in!
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It’s likely that an error from your workflow is what brought you here. So first, let’s take a look at some common examples of HubSpot workflow errors, what the errors mean, and how to fix them:
What does this error mean?
An internal notification email was unable to be sent to the specified user.
How to fix this error
This error indicates that there may be something blocking internal email notifications. To fix this error, make sure your specified user is able to receive internal email notifications:
What does this error mean?
Your workflow is using the Center on a date property and the contact was enrolled after the selected date for an action has passed.
For example, if your workflow has been set up with a Center on a date property to send an email on September 13th, but the contact is enrolled on September 14th. In this example, the contact enrolls after the selected date to send the email.
How to fix this error
If you’ve set up your workflow with actions that are meant to be triggered on a specific date, you can ignore this error.
If your workflow is designed with a recurring purpose, such as to trigger an email on a customer’s birthday, set the workflow to recur annually. This will enable the customer to enroll in the workflow and execute all workflow actions regardless of when they were enrolled and get their birthday wishes from you every year.
What does this error mean?
HubSpot knows that continuing to send emails to contacts who haven’t opened or clicked will lower your sender score. That’s why they do such a great job of trying to limit Spam and Graymail for you. In this case, the Graymail suppression has been enabled in either the specific email included in your workflow or your account’s marketing email settings.
How to fix this error
To send the email to unengaged contacts, ensure that graymail suppression has been turned off.
To check the email you’re trying to automate, go to the Send tab of your email and ensure the Don’t send to unengaged contacts checkbox is cleared.
To check your account’s marketing email settings, go to your Subscription Settings and ensure that the Don’t send to unengaged contacts switch is toggled off.
What does this error mean?
This error indicates that the email you’re trying to automate violates HubSpot’s Acceptable Use Policy.
How to fix this error
To remedy this error, review and update your email to remove any content that may violate HubSpot’s Acceptable Use Policy.
What does this error mean?
This error indicates that previous emails to this contact have hard bounced. Again, this is HubSpot trying to help with protecting your sender reputation.
How to fix this error
The first thing to do when you encounter this error is to verify that your contact’s email address is correct and valid. If it is valid, you can manually remove the hard bounce from the contact record. HubSpot offers step-by-step instructions on manually removing a hard bounce.
Are you encountering an error that’s not listed in this post? No problem, HubSpot has a handy resource with even more remedies for common workflow errors.
So, what do you do when your HubSpot workflows aren’t working as they should be? Even well-designed workflows can experience issues, and it’s crucial to identify and resolve them as soon as possible. Here are some tips to help you troubleshoot your HubSpot workflows effectively:
By following these tips, you’ll be able to quickly identify and resolve common issues with HubSpot workflows. It’s also important to document your workflows and regularly conduct audits to ensure they’re functioning as intended.
Setting up your workflows using best practices will help minimize the number of errors you encounter. Here are 5 best practices to create error-free workflows:
By following these best practices, you can set up HubSpot workflows that are effective, efficient, and tailored to the specific needs of your contacts.
HubSpot workflows are a powerful tool for automating marketing processes and improving customer engagement. However, errors can lead to a negative impact on customer experience and even lost revenue.
In this post, we covered the most common HubSpot workflow errors and learned tips to troubleshoot and fix them. When setting up your next workflow, make sure to use the best practices for setting up error-free workflows, such as defining goals, keeping it simple, testing thoroughly, segmenting contacts, and monitoring and optimizing workflows regularly.
More Workflow Examples? Check out these 5 for keeping your HubSpot database clean