TL;DR
Migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot demands precise schema mapping to maintain structure, relationships, and accuracy. Focusing on key data, mapping Salesforce objects to HubSpot properties, and handling custom objects effectively ensures accurate reporting and streamlined workflows. Early planning and testing prevent costly errors, protect data integrity, and set your CRM system up for long-term success.
During a Salesforce to HubSpot migration, one of the biggest challenges lies in keeping every piece of business data intact. Data mapping ensures that information flows accurately from one system to another, preventing losses that can disrupt decision-making and customer relationships. When executed correctly, it acts as a business continuity safeguard that transforms migration into an opportunity to clean, refine, and strengthen your data foundation.
What Is Data Mapping and Why Does It Matter?
Data mapping is the process of matching fields and relationships between Salesforce and HubSpot to ensure data consistency. Each Salesforce object, such as Leads, Contacts, Accounts, and Opportunities, must align with corresponding HubSpot properties. Without this mapping, businesses risk broken workflows, lost context, and incomplete reporting. In essence, data mapping acts as a blueprint, ensuring that valuable business information is transferred without disruption.
Why Is Data Mapping So Important Before Migration?
Skipping or delaying data mapping often leads to duplicated records, reporting errors, and workflow failures. For business leaders, this means poor visibility into the sales pipeline and unreliable insights. Early schema mapping prevents these issues, enabling a faster transition, higher user adoption, and cleaner data that supports revenue growth and decision-making.
How Can You Get Data Mapping Right During Migration?
1. Audit your Salesforce data thoroughly
Identify every object, field, and relationship in your Salesforce setup. Understand how Contacts connect to Accounts and how Opportunities link to revenue. This foundation ensures that nothing vital slips through during transfer.
2. Prioritise critical business data
Not every field needs migration. Focus only on the data that drives marketing, sales, and service operations. Keeping your HubSpot environment lean improves efficiency and adoption.
3. Create matching HubSpot properties
Map Salesforce fields to HubSpot properties carefully. Align data types - text with text, date with date - to avoid mismatches. Proper mapping ensures reports and automations function as expected.
4. Leverage HubSpot custom objects
When Salesforce has unique data that HubSpot doesn’t, use custom objects. These maintain complex relationships and ensure no valuable context is lost during migration.
5. Validate with sample data tests
Before full migration, run trial imports to check data accuracy and relationship integrity. Testing small data sets reduces risks and builds confidence in your mapping plan.
6. Document and automate
Maintain a record of your mapping logic for future reference and audits. Use HubSpot’s import tools and Application Programming Interface (API) to automate repetitive actions, reducing manual effort.
Takeaways
- Data mapping protects the accuracy and usability of your CRM.
- Early planning avoids duplication and broken workflows.
- HubSpot’s custom objects preserve unique business data.
- Testing and documentation ensure sustainable migration success.
A well-executed mapping process transforms migration into a growth opportunity, creating a HubSpot CRM environment that delivers reliable insights from day one.
FAQs
- Can I preserve all Salesforce relationships in HubSpot?
Yes, with proper planning. HubSpot supports maintaining relationships between Contacts, Companies, and Deals. Use custom objects and test them during trial runs to avoid workflow errors. - What should I document before migration?
Every field alignment, relationship, and object mapping. This documentation becomes your audit record and reference for future CRM updates. - How do HubSpot custom objects help in data migration?
They enable you to store complex business data that doesn’t fit standard properties, ensuring you maintain business logic from Salesforce to HubSpot.
