TL;DR
How do I use HubSpot Sequences to improve my B2B email outreach and book more sales meetings?
B2B business development executives often struggle to cut through the noise of crowded inboxes to secure sales meetings. Rather than relying on generic corporate marketing blasts, sales professionals can utilize HubSpot Sequences to create direct, highly relevant, and scalable one-to-one outreach campaigns.
- Start with pre-made sequence structures for specific scenarios like event follow-ups, recent inbound conversions, or cold prospecting.
- Mix automated emails with manual task reminders, such as LinkedIn connections or phone calls, to create a comprehensive multi-channel approach.
- Personalize your messaging by providing relevant, educational content and always include a clear call-to-action with a direct meeting link.
- Pace your outreach by setting strategic delays between emails and optimizing send times for B2B prospects' business days.
- Monitor sequence performance data—such as open rates and click-through rates—to continuously A/B test and refine your strategy.
Does this sound familiar? "I know you are busy, but I just wanted to follow up and see if I can meet with you on Tuesday at 2 pm." Is your email inbox exploding with messages like these?
And yet, you are thinking, "How do I get more sales meetings on my calendar? How do I improve my Sales skills? Should I send more emails?"
"Write more content for inbound" isn't always the answer, nor is it a quick solution. To make your emailing smarter and your outreach more effective, you need the right tools. This is where HubSpot Sequences come into play, helping you automate and personalize your sales communication.
Contrary to "the marketing department" sending out corporate marketing emails, B2B business development executives and sales reps often need to establish a more direct relationship with individuals when looking to score an opportunity or setting up the next step with a prospect.
The HubSpot meeting tool and related calendar integration are excellent features for having your counterpart schedule a meeting; if you don't present it on your website or email, it will not be put to good use.....
Does Email Outreach Matter?
- Average Cold Email Open Rate: Around 24%. This means for every 100 new emails you send, you can expect about 24 to be opened.
- Average Cold Email Click-Through Rate (CTR): Between 2-3%. For every 100 emails sent, you can expect fewer than three clicks.
- Average Cold Email Response Rate: 8.5%. While this can vary by industry and campaign quality, it is a key metric for success.
- B2B Buyer Preference: 50% of B2B buyers prefer email for initial contact, making it a highly effective channel to reach your target audience.
Learn how to automate your B2B sales outreach using HubSpot Sequences to effectively engage prospects and book more meetings. This workflow covers everything from creating templates and setting delays to enrolling contacts and tracking performance.
Navigate to Automation > Sequences in your HubSpot account. Click Create Sequence to start from scratch or choose a pre-made template like Event Follow-Up or Recent Conversion.
Insert well-written, persuasive email templates into your automated workflow. Ensure each email includes a clear call-to-action and your HubSpot meeting scheduling link.
Use the dropdown menu to configure the time delays between each automated email. Spacing out your messages prevents overwhelming your prospects and mimics natural outreach.
Create and insert manual tasks to remind yourself to call the prospect, connect on LinkedIn, or research their company. This ensures a comprehensive, multi-channel approach between automated emails.
Select the contacts you want to target and click Enroll manually, or use a workflow for automatic enrollment. Contacts will unenroll automatically upon replying to an email or booking a meeting.
Monitor your open rates, click-through rates, and meetings booked directly within the Sequences tool. Use this data to A/B test send times and refine your outreach strategy over time.
Short on time or looking for deeper expertise?
Talk to our B2B consultants todayUsing HubSpot Sequences - Best Practices
A HubSpot Sequence is a sales automation tool that allows you to send a series of targeted, timed email templates to nurture contacts over time. By automating follow-ups, HubSpot Sequences help ensure persistence without manual effort, freeing up sales reps to focus on conversations with engaged leads.
HubSpot Sequences are among the core features in HubSpot Sales Hub Pro and Sales Hub Enterprise that can help you send better sales emails and book more meetings. Here are the steps on how to use HubSpot Email Sequences:
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Create a sequence. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automation > Sequences to access the sequence tool. When clicking Create Sequence, you can use one of many pre-made sequences and leverage sequences best practices:
- Recent Conversion - Use sequences to follow up with a prospect who has downloaded content from your website.
- Event Follow-Up - A sequence designed to follow up with a prospect you met at a trade show or conference.
- Product or Demo Request - Create follow-up email processes to use with a prospect after completing an initial discovery meeting.
- Prospecting - Call Heavy - Reach out to new prospects with the goal of booking a meeting.
- Prospecting - Email Heavy - Email automation to reach out to new prospects with the goal of booking a meeting.
- Left voicemail/unable to connect - When you call a prospect but they don't pick up, and you leave a voicemail.
- Reschedule Meeting Attempt - When a prospect doesn't show up to a scheduled meeting and you need to reschedule with them.
- Re-Engage Cold Prospect - When you haven't heard from the prospect in a while and want to check in to keep things moving forward.
- or select Start from Scratch.
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Add an email template to your sequence. You can add any number of emails to your sequence and automate them. Each email should be well-written and persuasive, encouraging recipients to book a meeting with you.
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Set delays between emails. Select from the dropdown to set delays between sequence emails. This will help you space out your automated emails and avoid overwhelming the contact.
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Add tasks to your sequence. The tool allows you to create tasks and add them to your sequence. These tasks can remind you to follow up with the contact by phone or LinkedIn or research the contact's company.
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Enroll contacts in your sequence. You can enroll multiple contacts in your sequence; enrollment can be manual or automatic. To enroll contacts manually, simply select the contacts you want to enroll and click Enroll. To automatically enroll contacts in a sequence, you can use a workflow (requires an Enterprise subscription). Contacts enrolled in the sequence will be automatically unenrolled when a contact replies to an email or is booking a meeting.
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Track the performance of your sequence. HubSpot Sequences tracks the performance of your sequence, so you can see how many contacts are opening your emails, your click rate, and how many are booking a meeting. This data can help you improve your sequence over time.
Here are some additional tips for using email in HubSpot, combined with sequences, to book more meetings:
- Use personalized emails. The more personalized your emails are, the more likely the contact is to open and respond to them.
- Include relevant information and links to relevant sources. Create content on your website that is relevant to your prospects and use this content in your outreach. When in doubt, educate, don't sell.
- Use a clear call to action. In each email, clarify what you want the recipient to do, such as book a meeting or learn more about your product or service. Don't forget to include a meeting link!
- Follow up promptly. Don't wait too long to follow up with contacts who haven't opened or responded to your emails.
- Use a variety of email formats. Don't just send text emails. Mix things up by sending videos, images, and even interactive emails.
- Optimize email send times. To maximize email opens, select sensible times for your recipients, A/B days and times when email is sent, especially for the first email in the sequence. For B2B prospects, make sure they are sent on business days.
- Ask a question. Create engagement and drive a higher reply rate by asking a question. Does this make sense to you? What is a good next step?
- Use a scheduling tool. HubSpot has a built-in scheduling tool that makes it easy for contacts to book meetings with you.
- Track your results. Use HubSpot Sequences to track the performance of your sequences so you can see what's working and what's not.
Common Mistakes in Email Outreach
- Don't send too many emails. Too many emails can be overwhelming and annoying for leads. Aim for 2-3 emails per week, max.
- Don't send irrelevant emails. Make sure your emails are relevant to the interests of the contact. They won't open your emails or respond if they're not interested in what you have to say. Maintaining your CRM Database is critical to personalization and getting the right message to the right people.
- Don't be spammy. Don't send out sequences that look like spam. Use a professional tone and avoid using all caps or exclamation points. And, of course, don't send emails that ARE spam.
- Don't give up. It takes time and effort to see results from sequences. Don't get discouraged if you don't see results right away. Keep at it, and you will eventually see results.
- Don't forget to test and optimize. Once you've created a sequence, A/B test it and see how it performs. Make changes as needed to improve your results.
- Don't send more (irrelevant) emails just because you can. Send emails you would send manually, and use automation to make you more efficient.
Just because you might be desperate doesn't mean your prospect is buying any more or faster.
HubSpot Resources
To help you understand and use HubSpot Sales Hub, there are several recommended resources that sales managers can leverage. These resources provide valuable insights, guidance, and expert services to ensure you make the most of HubSpot Sales Hub and drive your sales efforts to new heights.
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HubSpot Academy: HubSpot Academy offers many educational resources, including online courses, certifications, and practical guides. Sales-specific courses and certifications cover lead management, email automation, reporting, and sales enablement. By investing time in HubSpot Academy resources, sales team members and managers can effectively deepen their knowledge and skills in leveraging the core functionalities of the HubSpot Sales Hub. HubSpot Academy is available to all HubSpot users, even on free plans.
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HubSpot Community: The HubSpot Community is a vibrant and active online forum where marketing professionals and HubSpot users come together to share insights, ask questions, and engage. It's a valuable resource for sales managers looking to connect with peers, seek advice, and stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in using HubSpot Sales Hub. Participating in the HubSpot Community allows managers to tap into collective knowledge and experiences.
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HubSpot Solutions Partner: Looking for more customized support? As certified and accredited partners, our consultants provide HubSpot Services and customized services configured to your business needs, ensuring you get the most out of your Sales Hub and overall HubSpot investment. From onboarding to implementation, coaching and customization, integration, and strategic sales enablement, expert consultants can help you accelerate your sales growth and achieve your goals.
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HubSpot Suite of Products: The HubSpot Suite consists of HubSpot Content Hub, HubSpot Marketing Hub, HubSpot Operations Hub, HubSpot Sales Hub, HubSpot Revenue Hub, and HubSpot Service Hub. HubSpot CRM is a shared resource and is part of all hubs.
Unleashing Sales Success: Empower Your Team with HubSpot Sales Hub
HubSpot Sales Hub is the secret weapon sales managers have been waiting for. Its powerful features, from contact and lead management to sales automation and collaboration tools, empower sales teams to streamline their sales processes and drive revenue growth. Say hello to a smarter, more efficient sales team and accelerated revenue growth!
Hubspot has AI capabilities throughout the platform with Content Assistant and ChatSpot. Contact us to leverage AI in your platform or to upgrade your email effectiveness.
B2B Email Outreach & HubSpot Sequences FAQ
- Deutsch: Mehr Meetings buchen - Wie Sie HubSpot-Sequenzen mit E-Mail verwenden
- Español: Concertar más reuniones con email automatizado en HubSpot
- Français: Plus de réunions - Comment utiliser les séquences HubSpot avec l'email
- Italiano: Prenotare più incontri: Usare le sequenze di HubSpot con le e-mail
- Română: Mai multe întâlniri prin secvențe HubSpot: Ghid de utilizare
- 简体中文: 预订更多会议--如何通过电子邮件使用 HubSpot 序列
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Joachim is a certified HubSpot trainer with over 13 years of experience in content marketing, strategy, website development, and SEO. He has implemented numerous large-scale, international growth marketing programs, including one with UiPath, which grew from a startup to a successful IPO on the NYSE. Joachim has special expertise in multilingual marketing and sales enablement projects, and he uses the latest AI technologies to help our clients.

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