Maximizing Event ROI: A Practical Guide to Integrating Hubspot with Videosync

In today's digital-first business environment, virtual and hybrid events have become essential components of marketing strategies. However, the true value of these events lies not just in audience attendance, but in the meaningful data and relationships cultivated during and after the event.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Esa Hakulinen, Digital Marketing Manager at Matrix42, to discuss how they've been leveraging technology to maximize the ROI of their annual flagship event, Digitalize and Automate. Esa shared some fantastic insights about how his team successfully integrated Hubspot with our Videosync virtual event platform to enhance lead generation and nurture prospects through their sales funnel. What follows are the practical lessons and actionable strategies from our conversation that you can apply to your own events.

The Challenge

Matrix42 faced several common challenges familiar to many marketers when planning their hybrid event:

• Tracking which contacts attended their virtual event

• Differentiating between in-person and online attendees

• Following up effectively with participants based on their engagement

• Measuring ROI from their event investment

• Managing data across two separate Hubspot portals (due to a merger with Efecte)

• Creating a streamlined workflow to get attendance and engagement data into Hubspot without excessive manual work

The Solution: Hubspot + Videosync Integration

Esa and his team developed a comprehensive approach that leveraged the strengths of both Hubspot and Videosync to create a seamless event marketing ecosystem. Their solution centered around using personalized tracking links to connect attendee data between the platforms while maintaining flexibility for their unique two-portal setup.

"We needed a system that would not only track who attended our event but also provide insights into their engagement and interests. This would allow us to follow up in a way that was relevant to each participant."

Their strategy covered the entire event lifecycle - from pre-event registration to post-event nurturing - creating a data flow that supported both marketing metrics and sales opportunities. Here's how they structured their approach:

Step 1: Create Landing Pages in Hubspot

Matrix42 created separate landing pages for:

• Virtual event registration (for the broader audience)

• In-person event registration (for VIP clients and key prospects)

  
  

Step 2: Configure URL Parameters

While the registration form and confirmation emails were handled in Hubspot, the real integration magic happened in how Matrix42 passed tracking information to Videosync. They needed a way to maintain the connection between a Hubspot contact and their activity in the virtual event platform without a direct API integration. Their elegant solution? Custom URL parameters.

The key to successful tracking was setting up personalized URL parameters. Here's how Matrix42 did it:

1. Used the Videosync event URL as baseline for the personal attendee link

2. In Videosync platform, using the External registration feature, defined the name for the query string to collect needed information

   
   

3. Added custom URL parameters to the confirmation email to be relayed to Videosync:

• Which Hubspot portal the contact came from (portal_id)

• The contact's unique ID (Record ID in the picture below)

• The source of traffic (for non-personalized links shared on social media)

  
  

This solution incorporated leveraging Hubspot capabilities fully, while allowing precise tracking of participants' attendance and engagement at the Videosync event platform. Let's next have a look what data was collected during the live event, as well as in the on-demand recording.

Step 3: Balancing Detailed Tracking with Maximum Reach

To maximize attendance and make it as easy as possible for people to join the event, Matrix42 created direct access links that were placed on their corporate website homepage, shared in LinkedIn posts, and distributed through other marketing channels. While these links weren't personalized with contact IDs (which would have required registration), they still included source parameters, which were subsequently collected to Videosync analytics dashboard, to track where attendees came from. As Esa explained,

"At some point, we wanted to prioritize getting more viewers over collecting complete registration data. We trusted in the brand value and made it simple for people to click and immediately view the content."

This approach helped them balance detailed tracking with broader reach.

Step 4: Capture Event Participation Data

During the live event, Videosync event page and analytics was used to collect various types of engagement data:

• Who attended which sessions

• Questions asked during Q&A

• Duration of attendance

The Videosync platform recorded this data while maintaining the connection to the original contact IDs. In addition, Videosync event page featured embedded Hubspot forms, from which demo requests were collected straight to Matrix42 Hubspot.

Step 5: Import Live Attendance Data into Hubspot

After the event, Matrix42 downloaded attendance data from Videosync and imported it into Hubspot:

1. They created lists in Hubspot based on who attended the virtual event

2. They primarily focused on basic attendance tracking (who was there versus who wasn't)

3. They used the contact IDs to match attendees with existing contacts in their database

"Our main priority was simply knowing who had attended," Esa explained. "While it would have been possible to segment based on which specific sessions people joined or how long they stayed, we focused on the attendance data for our follow-up, which was the most important factor for our marketing and sales teams."

Step 6: Implement Follow-up Workflows

For Matrix42, the event itself was just the beginning of the relationship-building process.

"What happens after the event often determines whether your investment actually generates business results,"

While they primarily tracked basic attendance in Videosync, Matrix42 used Hubspot's capabilities to create different nurturing paths based on how contacts interacted with their follow-up communications.

Matrix42 developed a strategic follow-up sequence:

1. Immediate follow-up: Thank you emails with event recording links (also tracked) for attendees

2. No-show follow-up: Separate emails to registered participants who didn't attend, providing them with recording access and maintaining the personalized tracking parameters

3. Feedback collection: Event survey to all attendees to gauge interest in specific products showcased

4. Sales notification: Alerts to sales representatives about engaged prospects, with particular attention to those who responded to feedback surveys

5. Recording views: Tracking who watched recordings after the event and insertion into matching nurturing sequences

This structured approach ensured no potential leads slipped through the cracks, whether they attended live or engaged with content afterward. It also provided sales teams with context for their outreach, making conversations more relevant and timely.

Results and Best Practices

Key Learnings

Based on Matrix42's experience, here are practical recommendations for your next integrated event:

1. Plan your data strategy in advance: Determine what information you need to collect and how you'll use it before setting up your event.

2. Use meaningful URL parameters: Think beyond basic tracking and consider how parameters can help segment your audience.

3. Create targeted lists: Use the collected data to build specific segments for more personalized follow-up.

4. Leverage both personalized and public links: Balance personalized tracking with easy access for last-minute attendees.

5. Prepare for manual data handling: While automated integrations are ideal from workflow perspective, having a process for manual data imports gives you more flexibility.

6. Repurpose event content: Create clips and highlights from your recordings for ongoing marketing efforts.

When implementing these lessons, focus on engagement signals rather than simply scheduling a series of automated emails. Esa emphasized that what really made their approach successful was how they used Hubspot to segment prospects and follow up on those who demonstrated interest through their actions — whether by asking questions during the event, requesting demos, or engaging with follow-up content.

For organizations managing multiple CRM portals (like Matrix42 with their two Hubspot instances), the manual import process actually provided an advantage, giving them more control over data distribution between portals and preventing duplicate records. This flexible approach allowed them to create a unified view of engagement by combining event participation data with other marketing activities. As Esa noted:

"In the end, the integration doesn't need to be completely automated to be effective. It's more important to think about what you want to do with the data than to collect every possible data point."

Conclusion

Integrating Hubspot with Videosync for virtual events provides a powerful mechanism for generating qualified leads and nurturing prospects. The key to success lies in thoughtful planning, strategic data collection, and personalized follow-up.

By following Matrix42's approach, you can transform your next virtual event from a one-time broadcast into an ongoing engine for relationship building and sales opportunities.

Want to learn more about integrating Videosync with your CRM? Contact our team for a personalized consultation.