Case study · HubSpot
Marketing Analytics Suite: making look-alike reports act like real ones
HubSpot's old Analytics Tools looked like reports but didn't act like them. I brought them on platform as the Marketing Analytics Suite, so for the first time customers could save them to dashboards, edit them in the report builder, and find them in reporting.
Now: web traffic analysis inside the suite. Image: HubSpot Knowledge Base.
COMPANY
HubSpot
MY ROLE
Product Manager, Reporting
SCOPE
Old Analytics Tools
SUITE LAUNCHED
February 2025
THE CONTEXT
Where this started
Why move these reports now?
HubSpot's old Analytics Tools ran on separate, aging infrastructure, and they looked like reports but didn't act like them. Leadership asked us to bring them on platform ahead of a global navigation change, and reporting was set to be a core pillar of the INBOUND 2024 keynote.
What was I responsible for?
This was my first project at HubSpot. Planning was already done, so I owned the execution: bringing the tools onto the modern reporting platform, starting with Sources, without disrupting the people who relied on them.
01 · THE PROBLEM
They looked like reports. They didn't act like them.
HubSpot's old Analytics Tools sat off platform. They looked like real reports, but customers couldn't save them to a dashboard, edit them in the report builder, or find them with the rest of their reporting. That was the complaint we heard most. And when I dug in, two systems were calculating web visits and conversions differently, so customers could see two answers to the same question.
Where it started
Then: the original analytics tools
HOW IT CAME TOGETHER
Change how it looks without changing how it's used
The reports were going to look different. The job was making sure that didn't disrupt the people who relied on them.
Phase 1
Validate
WOULD THIS DISRUPT ANYONE?
→ Planning was already done, and leadership asked us to move ahead of a global navigation change we knew was coming.
→ We validated heavily with power users of the Sources report, since the reports would look different.
Where AI helped: writing docs and analyzing customer sentiment.
Phase 2
Launch
DID WE MESS THIS UP?
→ Activation on the Sources report mattered most. If customers kept using it at the same rate, we were happy.
→ We expected CSAT to dip. It dropped significantly in beta, and we almost held the launch. Comments and calls with low scorers showed most of it was change pain, so I made the call to go ahead.
→ As soon as the dip showed up, we added a “we're moving” banner to the old experience and ran something close to a sunset protocol, so everyone knew what was coming.
→ We expected net new users to match the baseline of existing users.
Phase 3
After launch
MORE VISIBLE, MORE USED
→ The bonus: watching how behaviour changed as the reports became easier to find.
→ We tracked customers saving these reports to dashboards and sharing them externally.
Where AI helped: small front-end polish and text changes after launch.
02 · THE KEY DECISION
Fix the metric, even if the numbers move.
IT WASN'T
“Keep the old numbers so nobody notices.”
IT WAS
“Redefine visits and conversions once, backfill history, and explain the change in the product.”
We accepted a short-term dip in trust so customers' numbers reconciled with GA4, the source they already trusted. The pushback faded once the numbers matched.
03 · THE TRADE-OFF
What made v1, and what waited
✓ In v1
The core Analytics Tools rebuilt on the modern reporting platform, starting with the high-traffic Sources report: savable to dashboards, editable in the builder, and part of the reporting navigation.
→ Left for later
The long tail. We rebuilt the core, high-traffic tools first, starting with Sources, and brought the lower-traffic Analytics Tools over in later releases.
My role: I owned bringing the Analytics Tools on platform and the metric decision: aligning the teams involved, making the backfill call, and partnering with go-to-market on the analytics story for the 2024 INBOUND keynote.
04 · THE OUTCOME
What happened next
$150K+
in influenced MRR across Marketing, Sales and Service Hubs
25+
new out-of-the-box reports, most of them for Service Hub
2x+
engagement on the rebuilt Sources report after launch
For the first time, customers could save these reports to a dashboard, edit them in the builder, and find them alongside the rest of their reporting. The Sources results proved the new platform could carry future analytics migrations, and the work fed HubSpot's analytics story at the 2024 INBOUND keynote.
As seen on the main stage
Featured in the INBOUND 2024 keynote
HubSpot showcased the analytics work on stage at INBOUND 2024, positioning reporting as a core product pillar. The segment starts at 19:13.
05 · WHAT TO TAKE FROM IT
Lessons for new PMs
1
Big products start small
Many big products start as one useful report. The job is noticing when scattered pieces have become a single job worth a dedicated home.
2
Fix the metric, earn the trust back
Two versions of the truth cost more than one awkward week. Backfill, explain the change in the product, and let matching numbers do the convincing.
3
Make it act like the real thing
If something looks like a report, customers expect to save it, edit it and find it like one. Matching the look isn't enough.
Sources: January 2025 Product Updates (HubSpot Community), the original Sources launch post (HubSpot blog), Use the sources report (HubSpot Knowledge Base). Images: HubSpot.
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