Can you categorize contacts in HubSpot?

I'm sure we've all been there before—you're working with multiple clients and need help organizing your client relationships for easy follow-up and communication.

You can't put everyone into the "General" tab because that's too vague, so what are you supposed to do? You could add them as subcategories under each other, but then they'll be lost within their own tabs. And if you want to see who works with whom at a glance, it makes no sense to separate out those general clients from everything else.

So how does one solve this problem of organizational chaos without giving up useful features such as tagging and filtering? The answer is simple: Categories!

In this article, I'm going to show you exactly how to set up groups of contacts in HubSpot CRM (inbound lead management software) using both free and paid tools.

How do I create a group contact in HubSpot?

First things first, let me explain some terms you might not know about. A Contact means any person, place, idea, etc., which has personal information associated with it. Contacts come in two forms: Inactive and Active. An inactive contact doesn't contain any data until an interaction occurs between the user and the individual. That said, you will usually only interact with active contacts.

A Group is simply a collection of related contacts. So now that you understand these concepts, here's how to actually create a new Category in HubSpot :

1. Hover over My People & Accounts on the left side navigation pane. Then select Groups. This brings up the Create/Edit Group window.

2. Enter a name for the group in the Name field. Keep in mind that if you plan to use more than one major category, you should avoid naming conflicts.

3. Select whether your group will be public or private. Public allows anyone to view members, while Private keeps member details hidden unless specifically approved. If privacy isn't important for your organization, consider making your group public. Otherwise, go ahead and choose Private.

4. Click Save. Your group will automatically update based on its settings.

5. Now that you created your group, you can start adding contacts to it. To do so, click Add Person / Account on the top right corner of your screen. From there, enter all relevant contact info including email address, phone number, title, company, website URL, social profiles (Twitter, LinkedIn), notes, birthday, gender, location, tags, industry, relationship status, note history, custom fields, and more. Once done, hit save.

6. At last, you can assign existing contacts to different categories by clicking Assign Person / Account on the same menu bar. Choose the appropriate option depending on what kind of interactions you wish to track. For example, Marketing needs to send emails, and Sales must call people back. Make sure to make your choices clear.

7. Finally, once you've defined your groups according to your preferences, you will notice several options pop up on the lower part of your screen. One of these is called All Activities. When selected, you can see every action taken against every single contact, regardless of where he or she falls within your pre-defined groups. It's really handy if you don't remember someone's specific role.

The downside is that All Activity also shows actions performed outside of HubSpot. Luckily, however, there is a way around this. By selecting Track Actions instead, you can filter down to just the activities you care about. Just keep in mind that doing so may result in slower response times from sales reps. Here's another tip: Use filters whenever possible. Filters allow users to search through large amounts of data much faster, especially if you already tagged certain items.

If you decide to use All Actions, it's best to narrow it down to either Marketing, Sales, Support, Administration, or Customer Service. Also, if you find yourself constantly needing to edit your lists, why not import them directly from Excel? Simply head to Tools & Import Data & Upload Spreadsheet File.

Once imported, navigate to My People & Accounts on the left sidebar again. Then select Groups. Under the list of available categories, scroll down and look for Customized Lists. Check off the boxes next to whichever ones apply to your situation. Hit Update Settings and continue importing your spreadsheets.

This method is ideal for larger organizations that manage thousands of records. However, if you only need to sort through a few hundred contacts per day, feel free to skip this step entirely.

How do I organize my contacts in HubSpot?

Now that you've got your groups set up, it's time to move onto sorting your contacts themselves. First thing you should do is tag your contacts. Tagging is basically assigning keywords to describe individuals, products, services, companies, locations, events, etc. Think of it as having labels assigned to objects, similar to folders on a computer desktop. Tags act as shortcuts to easily access a particular type of individual.

To begin tagging, hover over My People & Accounts on the left sidebar navigation pane and select Tag Manage. On the resulting page, you can add tags manually or upload CSV files containing tags. Be mindful of potential duplicate names, as well as bad spelling mistakes.

Next, check out our guide detailing how to properly segment your database. Segmentation involves breaking down your entire customer base into smaller subsets. These segments can range anywhere from region to department to service type. While most businesses use a combination of a couple of these methods, others prefer to focus primarily on one area. Either way, it's crucial to get organized.

Lastly, take advantage of HubSpot's built-in analytics tool. Analytic reports give you detailed insights into many aspects of your business — revenue, cost, performance, profitability, churn rate, product mix, traffic sources, conversion rates, referral links, etc. They are extremely helpful for identifying patterns and trends among various demographics, industries, customers, departments, etc.

HubSpot Analytics' reporting capabilities include KPIs, charts, graphs, tables, and maps. Users can even export results to Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.

Analytics are accessible via Reports & Insights, Dashboards, KPI Manager, and Reporting Center.

One caveat though, HubSpot Analytics requires a Pro account ($19 monthly fee). But if you're looking to perform deeper analysis, you should definitely pay for it.

How do I organize leads in HubSpot?

Leads are essentially inactive contacts that require further nurturing and support. As mentioned earlier, you should always be tracking your interactions with active leads. However, sometimes it helps to classify them separately into groups.

For instance, say you work in real estate. Let's assume you have three agents handling residential listings, apartment rentals, and commercial property deals. Each agent handles his or her own subset of leads. After classifying your leads, you can quickly identify which agent has control over which types of transactions. Or maybe one of your agents specializes in condos, whereas the other focuses on townhouses.

This process is slightly different compared to creating a group of contacts in HubSpot. Instead of adding leads to one main group, you're taking an existing lead and moving him or her into a new category after analyzing his or her profile.

Hover over Lead Management on the left panel and select Leads. Next, select Edit Details. Find the section labeled Profile and expand it. Scroll down to Relationship Status and select New Relation Type. Do the same for Industry and Department.

From there, you can pick whatever fits your case best. For example, Homeownership refers to homeowners vs. renters, while Construction Design refers to designers vs. contractors. There are hundreds of predefined options, so you shouldn't run out of ideas anytime soon.

After defining your relays, you can finally proceed to grouping your leads. Head back to the previous steps and select the newly added leads. Click Assign to Current Tab. Pick whichever suits your purposes best.

Finally, since you're dealing with leads rather than regular contacts, you won't encounter issues regarding duplicates and conflicting titles.

HubSpot recently released their new Contacts app for iOS and Android that lets users sort and search through their contact data more easily than ever before.

The company has also introduced some exciting features to its platform, including the ability to automatically create email addresses based on your existing mobile number, as well as the option to add notes directly from within the Contacts application itself.

In this article we'll explain how to set up and manage your contacts using HubSpot's new Contact Management feature. We will cover everything from creating custom fields all the way down to organizing them into groups. You can even choose which of these groups get shown at once while searching through your contacts list.

If you're an entrepreneur who is looking to streamline your business' internal communication system, then read on! This guide should help you understand exactly what HubSpot offers so far, and why they are making such bold claims about being able to "revolutionize" how businesses make decisions today.

How do I organize content with HubSpot?

When setting up any type of organization (whether it be work-related, family-oriented, or otherwise), most people typically start off by sorting information according to one of two methods -- labels or folders. In fact, many of us probably don't remember the last time we used a pen and paper to keep track of our day-to-day schedules, appointments, tasks, etc., instead opting for apps like Google Calendar, Evernote, Toodledo and others that allow us to store and access information via our phones.

But if you've never tried out HubSpot's new Contacts app, it may seem pretty strange at first glance because it does away with traditional lists altogether. Instead, it shows you your entire address book in chronological order, much like Facebook or Twitter. It makes sense since it was designed specifically for companies who want to connect with customers easier. However, those same companies often need to filter certain types of information, whether it be clients or other employees, while still keeping things organized. So what happens when you run across someone whose name doesn't fit neatly under a specific label? How do you categorize your contacts?

Well, thanks to HubSpot's new Contacts app, you no longer have to worry about losing that important client just because his or her profile isn't categorized properly. Now, simply tap on the person's thumbnail image, hover over Edit Info, and select Categorize Person. From here you can assign them to whatever group suits your needs best. If you only see people that fall under Category 1, tap on More Categories and pick whichever ones apply to your situation. For example, maybe you'd like to separate potential prospects from current clients. Or perhaps you know someone who works in tech but wants to focus primarily on marketing. By assigning both kinds of individuals different categories, you can quickly find relevant information without having to scroll too much.

And speaking of scrolling, HubSpot's newest version allows you to actually scroll through each individual's details right inside the app itself. All you have to do is click on View Details underneath their picture. Then, depending on what device you're viewing the Contacts app on, you might notice additional options pop up along the bottom that let you move between tabs, view related contacts, send messages, or open links sent to you. And yes, if you decide to switch back to your main screen, you can continue scrolling through everyone else's profiles until you eventually land on yours.

Another cool thing about HubSpot's new Contacts app is that it gives you the flexibility to edit and delete entries whenever necessary, unlike other similar services where you can only remove contacts after they've already been added to your database.

Now that you understand how easy it is to categorize contacts, let's explore how you can go about doing it on your own smartphone.

How do I categorize my phone contacts?

Most smartphones come equipped with preinstalled software that allows you to keep track of contacts, calendar events and reminders. The problem is that most of these applications aren't really built to accommodate large amounts of data, meaning they end up becoming cluttered very quickly. After awhile, deleting old contacts becomes a hassle, especially if you lose touch with someone for months, years or however long it takes to reconnect with them again.

So how do you take advantage of HubSpot's auto-categorization tools to improve efficiency? Well, you could spend hours manually tagging every single entry yourself, but that wouldn't save you anything unless you were meticulous enough to tag them correctly in the first place. Luckily, HubSpot provides you with an intuitive interface that makes labeling quick and simple. Just tap on a contact's photo, hit the Menu button located next to My Information, and select Manage Labels. Here you can toggle Create New Label(s) and/or Choose Existing Label(s). Once done, choose either System Default or Custom Labels. Depending on your preference, you can now begin adding new labels to anyone whom you wish.

Note: If you happen to not see a particular person listed here, that means it hasn't yet been assigned a label. But don't fret, since you can always head straight over to that person's page, tap Edit Info, and choose Categorize Person. Alternatively, you can wait for HubSpot to update its service.

You can also customize which labels appear alongside a given contact's info. To do this, visit Settings & Privacy & Personal Data and look for the section labeled Additional Information. Tap Edit, and then choose Configure Available Fields. Select any field you'd like to change, and then check the box beside Show Field Name. Finally, navigate back to the previous menu and choose Save Changes. Your changes should now reflect on your personalized homepage.

Finally, if you prefer using folders rather than labels, you can follow a similar process. Simply tap on a folder icon beneath a contact's thumbnail picture, and choose Edit Folder. Next, select Add Items, followed by Browse Folders. Navigate to wherever you'd like to put that item, and tap Done. Repeat this step for as many items as you need.

How do you categorize contacts on Android?

Unfortunately, HubSpot didn't release official instructions for Android users regarding how to set up their product on the popular operating system. That said, the steps outlined above are mostly applicable to Android devices running 2.2 Froyo or newer versions. As mentioned earlier, you can technically scroll through each contact's detail directly from the home screen. Plus, you can still assign them to categories by tapping on Edit Info, hovering over the arrow below People Linked With Me, and selecting Categorize Person.

Alternatively, you can opt to skip the manual steps entirely. Just download the free app, log in with your HubSpot account, and tap on Contacts. A window will immediately load asking you to enter your primary e-mail address, password and signup date. Follow the prompts to complete setup, and voila -- you'll soon discover that your newly downloaded app acts almost identical to the desktop counterpart.

Is there a way to organize contacts on iPhone?

No worries if you're an Apple user or someone who prefers using iPhones. Like Android, HubSpot's latest app comes packed with plenty of useful features. First, you can tap on the three horizontal dots situated on the top bar of your Home Screen. When doing so, you'll receive several options. One of these is titled Sort Contacts. If chosen, this action will bring up a dropdown menu containing various ways to arrange your contacts. Of course, you can choose Alphabetical Order to display them alphabetically, but another great option is Grouping by Relationship Type. Doing so will divide them into Family Members, Friends, Coworkers, Clients, Prospects, etc., which is perfect for filtering out unnecessary clutter.

For further customization purposes, you can also enable Grid View. This function enables you to show multiple photos per row, allowing you to better distinguish between them. Finally, you can always view each person individually by clicking on their respective images.

As you can tell, HubSpot's brand new Contacts app is filled with tons of handy organizational tools, letting you stay connected with your contacts regardless of what device they're using. Give it a shot and let us know what you think. Do you love the new design? Hate it? Either way, feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments.

I'm looking for something that will help me organise the people on my list into groups within HubSpot. So far there is no way to sort them this way. Is there any way to split up lists based on category so they can be more easily managed and emailed out?

If not what other methods are available to categorise your contact profiles in HubSpot?

Hubspot Answers below!

How do I add a group in HubSpot?

When adding new leads via an online form (e.g., Salesforce) you can select "Create New Group" under Contacts & Groups from the top navigation bar. This allows you to create multiple unique groups with different labels per lead profile. You can then assign individual users to each group as needed.

For example, if you work at a company where everyone has their own department/area of responsibility, you could set up one group called IT Support, another called Marketing and yet another called Operations. Then you can send emails through Outlook's mass email feature using filters so only those individuals who belong to specific groups get included.

You can also access these groups directly through the Contact Management section. Just click on Create New Group at the bottom right corner of the screen. The first field should say "Group Name," which is whatever name you want to give the group. Under "Target Audience", enter the names of all departments that need access to certain information. For instance, if you're creating a sales team, you'd type sales, marketing, operations, etc. Click Save after entering the audience and it'll automatically be saved to the appropriate group.

How do I email a group of contacts in HubSpot?

In addition to assigning users to groups, you can also assign them to templates. If you've ever used Gmail before, this process is similar. To do this, go to Contacts & Templates and choose Email Template. On the next page, scroll down until you see the box labeled Assign user(s). Type in the name of whoever needs to receive the email, followed by @yourcompanyname.com.

Once again, just press save and it'll populate the template fields accordingly. It doesn't matter how many people end up receiving the email -- it's always going to show the same content because it uses variables instead of static text.

Note: When sending Mass Emails, make sure to check off Send All Users in the dropdown menu at the top left of the window. Otherwise, only one person will actually receive the message.

How do you filter in HubSpot?

This option is slightly complicated since it involves two separate features: Smart Lists and Pipelines. First, let's talk about Smart Lists. In order to filter your data in smartlists, you must enable filtering in the settings. Go to Settings > Filtering and tick both Enable Filter Creation and Use Pipeline Variables. Now whenever someone enters a criteria (like First Name), HubSpot populates the pipeline variable with their entry.

To view the results, go to Home > People Center > Smart List Viewer. From here, you can drag-and-drop entries onto columns to apply filters. Once done, everything shows up according to your chosen parameters. However, if you don't know much CSS, you may find yourself having to manually switch between tabs.

Pipelines allow you to further refine your search. Similar to Smart Lists, pipelines can now pull from external sources such as social media feeds or RSS updates. Simply follow steps 1 - 3 above, and once HubSpot sets up the pipeline for you, navigate to home > people center > pipelines. Here, you'll notice four options: Social Media, Newsletters, Campaigns, and Custom. Each one of these comes preloaded with several useful tools.

Click on the blue button next to whichever one you wish to activate. Afterward, you can begin setting up your query. There are three main parts: Query Builder, Results Editor, and Preview Tab. Let's start with the latter.

The preview tab lets you test your queries without running anything else. So regardless of whether your goal is to retrieve Facebook Likes, followers, or Twitter Followers, simply input the URL, and hit run. A popup will appear asking whether you want to proceed. Hit Yes, and you're good to go.

Now we move over to the Results editor. By default, it contains some basic info such as number of records retrieved, date range, and total time spent processing. But unlike the previous step, you won't need to download anything here. Instead, head back to the homepage, and look for the green arrow icon at the top left corner. Clicking it will take you straight to the Results Editor.

On the right side, there's a row of icons including charts, graphs, tables, maps, and others. These functions come in handy when you're working towards goals like increasing conversions, building traffic, or boosting engagement rates.

How do you Organise HubSpot?

Unfortunately, HubSpot does not offer built-in functionality to manage your contact database this way. Because of this, most companies tend to resort to spreadsheets. Unfortunately, this method isn't ideal due to the fact that every new update requires manual changes which often become tedious to keep track of.

That said, HubSpot offers plenty of ways to organize your database. One of our favorite ways is to use Kanban boards. They're especially helpful if you're dealing with large numbers of customers, clients, vendors, or projects.

Kanban Boards consist of columns divided into cards. Cards represent tasks or events that require attention. At the beginning, you define general guidelines related to the column title and description. Next, you fill the board with cards. Finally, you mark completed ones with green color while marking incomplete ones with red. Doing so helps you stay organized, plus keeps things visually appealing.

Another great tool for organizing your database is Gantt Charts. As opposed to kanbans, gantts chart displays dates rather than task completion times. Plus, you can customize its appearance however you like, making it suitable for personal or professional purposes.

Lastly, Trello is perhaps the easiest to handle among all organizational platforms. Like kanban, trello consists of colored squares. Within each square, you place cards representing various activities. While viewing a card, you can either expand it horizontally or vertically. The former gives you better overview whereas the latter enables quicker scanning.

Do you still rely heavily on Excel to organize your contacts? What tips and tricks do you recommend? Share with us in the comments below.