At HubSpot, we’re asking the same questions as many of you: What now? What should we change about our strategy, and what can continue as business as usual? If we have to make changes, where should we invest our resources and focus?
It can be difficult to get a clear picture of how the market is changing in real time. There are plenty of headlines about the current state of business, but reliable data showing how behaviors are changing week-on-week is few and far between.
Like you, we’re looking for some concrete benchmarks. We’re analyzing aggregated data from our global customer base of over 70,000 companies to understand how business metrics are changing as the world grapples with the global pandemic.
Between now and the end of June, we’ll plan to update these insights based on additional business metrics such as website traffic, email send and open rates, sales engagements, close rates, and more. While it’s too early to make definitive predictions, we hope it establishes useful benchmarks to measure your business against and serves as an early indicator of when short- or long-term adjustments to your strategy may be necessary.
Over time, we plan to add more breakdowns (such as by channel and company size). You can sign up to receive notifications of new insights as they become available here .
About the data
- These insights are based on aggregated data from over 70,000 HubSpot customers worldwide.
- Our first cut includes weekly trend data for core business metrics in 2020, focusing on changes occurring in March 2020.*
- HubSpot’s customer base data reflects benchmarks for companies that have invested in an online presence and use inbound as a key part of their growth strategy.
*The spread of COVID-19 has had a different timeline in different regions, so we’re using the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 as our “official” start date.
NOTE: Because data is aggregated from HubSpot customer companies, please note that individual companies, including those within HubSpot, may differ based on their own markets, customer base, industry, geography, locale, and/or other factors.
What we are seeing
Shoppers are seeking out and interacting with businesses more today than they were a month ago. This is at least partly due to the fact that stay-at-home orders and business closures have moved many transactions online out of necessity, but it shows that, for now, shoppers are still looking to connect.
However, deal creation volume is down, a decline that australia telemarketing will impact most businesses’ sales forecasts. Sales outreach responses are also down, suggesting that sales strategies need to be adjusted to reflect today’s buying reality.
External factors such as budgets and industry-specific impacts of COVID-19 will inevitably impact sales cycles, but data suggests that companies have an opportunity to attract and engage interested customers.
The number of closed deals won and new deals created are declining.
As economic uncertainty has led many companies to re-evaluate their financial health, we saw the number of deals closed fall. New deal volume has also declined – as a leading indicator of pipeline health, this metric indicates that effective writing new content vs. updating old content: which wins? prospecting is more important than ever.
The weekly average of deals created decreased globally by 17% the week of March 16 and fell 23% the week of March 30, compared to previous global averages for those weeks. Region-specific data is included below.
The number of closed deals declined globally from belize lists previous weekly averages in the first quarter by 21%, with the most notable decline also occurring after the week of March 16.
Your website is a major source of business right now.
Customers are initiating more interactions with businesses today than they did a year ago, and they are doing more research online.
Average monthly website traffic increased by 13% in March, compared to February.
Weekly chat volume via website chat and Facebook Messenger increased 5% after March 16, based on global Q1 weekly averages.
Marketing and sales teams are reaching out to their customers more, with varying levels of success.
Marketing and sales teams sent a significantly higher volume of emails in March. However, only engagement with marketing emails increased, suggesting there is an opportunity to improve reach and connect with the right buyers at the right time.
Sales reach has increased, but responses are declining.
Sales teams were significantly more active in March, but buyers were less engaged with sales content. The lower response rate was ultimately reflected in lower deal volume.
- On a weekly basis, companies sent 23% more sales emails** the week of March 16 compared to previous weekly averages in the first quarter.
- The response rate to those emails began to drop the first week of March, with an overall decrease of 27% in March compared to February.
** Emails using the Sequences tool.
Marketing reach, open rates and database growth have all increased since the beginning of the crisis.
Email open rates increased in March despite a significant jump in send volume. Corporate communications conveying COVID-19-related messaging likely contributed to some of the growth in email volume, and we expect this metric to change over time. Encouragingly, the average number of contacts added to HubSpot customer portals increased over the same time period.
Average marketing email volume increased 29% the week of March 16, while open rates increased 53% the same week. Over the course of the month, the open rate increased by 21% overall.
The average weekly number of contacts added per portal increased by 51% after March 16, according to global weekly averages for the first quarter.
What this means for businesses
While these are early figures, some opportunities for businesses have already emerged.
Focus on education, not promotion.
The increase in website traffic, shopper-initiated conversations, and marketing email open rates suggest that customers are still looking to engage with businesses.
Your customers may be more interested in learning and education right now. Our own website has seen an increase in visits to educational resources like our blog, certifications, and Academy classes .
Instead of ramping up promotion of your products and services during a crisis — an approach that can be insensitive to your customer base — focus on nurturing the long-term relationship. Identify where you can help your customers today, without asking for anything in return.
Incorporate chat into your strategy.
Our data shows that chat volume has been steadily increasing over the past two months, and we believe this number is likely to continue to grow. Conversational marketing offers a real-time way to answer customer questions, as well as automate sales and marketing the lead journey process so your business can serve potential and existing customers even when your team is out of the office.
Investing in chatbots to get customer responses faster, automate lead scoring, or book meetings can help your business meet the surge in customer queries.
Free software to get started
Free conversational marketing tools included in HubSpot CRM
Facebook Messenger integration with HubSpot
Update your sales pipeline
Depending on your company’s sales process, a drop in new opportunities today may not impact your company’s P&L statement until several months from now. Many companies will need to rethink what prospecting looks like in order to bolster their pipeline for the long term.
Operationally, regularly adjust your sales projections to reflect potentially extended sales cycles or smaller deal sizes so that forecasts remain accurate. Just a touch on processes (or improvements to existing processes) goes a long way toward sales and marketing creating a clear picture of your business over time.
On one-on-one calls, encourage your team to emphasize a helpful, consultative selling approach. Certain factors, such as your customers’ budget and willingness to engage in sales conversations right now, are out of your control. Instead of cold-calling your entire database, use your knowledge of your customers’ industries to prioritize contacting:
- Industries that have suffered minimal impact or those that are rapidly transforming to meet new challenges.
- Industries where your solutions are particularly relevant or useful right now.