HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter Vs. HubSpot Marketing Basic

This is not a drill. 

HubSpot has a new low-cost option that includes email marketing. 

YUS, PLZ. 

The newest product offering, called Marketing Hub Starter, provides a small business option for those just getting started with marketing or have previously been unable to invest in the full marketing suite up front. 

We love HubSpot Professional and Enterprise, but it's not always the best fit right out of the gate. This new product allows for businesses to engage with HubSpot and grow with every new step the business encounters.. 

So, now this begs the question, if you're looking at the Marketing Hub Starter or Marketing Basic, which one should you choose? 

What is HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter? 

As an entry-level marketing automation software, Marketing Hub Starter provides a marketing team with the foundational tools needed to get started, including:

• Email Marketing
• Forms
• Contact Management
• Contact & Company Insights
• Facebook & Instagram Lead Ads
• List Segmentation 

You can view the complete list of features on the product page. 

Pricing: Starts at just $50/month for the first 1,000 contacts. Each additional 1,000 contacts add a nominal $20 a month.

(Note: there is tiered pricing that decreases the addition the more contacts you have. This only applies if you have more than 10,000 contacts.) 

What is HubSpot Marketing Basic?

This product includes all of the items in basic, plus: 

• Content Creation Tools (Blog, Landing Pages) 
• SEO & Content Strategy Tools
• Calls-to-action
• Social Media
• Analytics Dashboards 
• SSL

You can view the complete details on the product page. 

Pricing: Starts at $200/month for the first 100 contacts. It goes up by $100/month for each additional 1,000 contacts. 

Which one should you start with? 

I'm sure you're going to love my answer: it depends.

Outside of the obvious criteria of price, there are a few other items to consider. Here are the questions you should ask before making a decision. 

Where are you in your digital marketing journey? 

If you're at the very beginning and maybe just want to focus on maximizing the content you have, then the Marketing Hub Starter is probably going to be a good bet for you. It gives you the tools to begin capturing leads via forms and lead flows. 

If you've been actively implementing a digital marketing strategy for a while and started out with cobbling together different software to get it all done (we remember those days!), then start looking at HubSpot Marketing Basic. Even with canceling some of the other software, it still might be more expensive, but think of the time you'll gain with an efficient process. 

How big is your marketing team? 

Is it a one person show? Do you have a few people? Do you even have a marketing team? 

If you're the business leader and marketing team, start with Starter. As your efforts expand you can always upgrade to more features. 

If you're a dedicated marketing team member or a marketing team of one, go with Basic (or higher). With your sole responsibility being marketing, start off with a larger suite of products to kick your strategy into high gear. 

Do you plan to work with an agency? 

If the answer is yes, select Basic (or higher). Your agency will want the most tools available to them to be efficient. Plus, HubSpot Partner Agencies know how to maximize the software, giving you more bang for your buck. 

Either way you start, you want to remind yourself that you're making an investment in your brand's future. By providing you or team with the best tools, you're setting them up for success. 

Want to talk to someone about HubSpot? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me.