Why Event Marketing in HubSpot Is Hard – And How To Fix It
Event marketing in HubSpot sounds like a dream until you try scaling it. If you’re managing multiple events a month, you’ve likely run into a wall of repetitive setup, broken workflows, and endless manual updates.
That’s exactly why Burrows Consultancy, experts in advanced HubSpot integrations, built EventEngine - a bespoke application designed to eliminate manual processes and unlock scalable, on-brand event marketing inside HubSpot.
In this article, we’ll break down why event management in HubSpot becomes unmanageable, where the real pain points lie, and how EventEngine solves them at scale.
The Real Cost of Managing Events in HubSpot
You chose HubSpot for its marketing automation power. But if you’re running more than a few events per month, you’ve likely discovered that event marketing in HubSpot can quickly become a full-time job.
Every single event requires the same time-consuming process:
- Create a new registration form and reconnect it to workflows
- Build multiple workflows for signups, reminders, and follow-up sequences
- Design and publish a branded landing page from scratch
- Write and schedule event-specific email campaigns
- Manually sync data with Zoom, Eventbrite, or other event platforms
- Test everything, fix broken links, and pray nothing breaks before go-live
The result? Your marketing team spends weeks on repetitive setup work instead of driving registrations, analysing performance, or crafting compelling event experiences.
If you’re managing 10+ events monthly, this is easily costing you 20+ hours in setup time alone - time that could be invested into strategy and optimisation.
Why Event Processes Break Down (And Why It Gets Worse Over Time)
Managing a few events manually feels manageable at first. But once you hit 5, 10, or 20+ events per month, the cracks start showing. Here’s exactly where it breaks:
1. You Hit a Scaling Wall
Manual event setup creates exponential complexity. Even with templates, every new event requires:
- Reconnecting forms to the correct workflows
- Updating email copy, timing, and registration links
- Styling landing pages to match current brand guidelines
- Creating new contact lists and reporting properties
- Testing integrations with external platforms
The hidden cost: Your HubSpot instance becomes a cluttered with half-named workflows, orphaned forms, and disconnected assets. Team members waste time hunting for the right workflow or figuring out which form connects to which event. What started out as organised has now become chaos.
2. Your Brand Consistency Suffers
Each manually created page introduces risk. When you’re moving fast, brand standards slip:
- Registration buttons don’t match your primary colours
- Speaker sections lose formatting consistency
- Form headers abandon your established tone of voice
- Event descriptions vary wildly in style and structure
Marketing teams end up spending hours tweaking layouts or chasing internal design approvals just to maintain brand integrity. When multiple team members are involved, this inconsistency multiplies uncontrollably.
3. Administrative Work Eats Into Strategic Time
This is where the real damage happens. The marketing team become task executors instead of strategic thinkers:
Repetitive tasks consuming your team:
- Copy-pasting email templates and updating event-specific details
- Manually reconnecting Zoom or Eventbrite links to registration forms
- Testing reminder sequences and follow-up workflows individually
- Creating custom tags and properties for each event’s reporting needs
This isn’t just tedious - it’s error-prone and demoralising. Broken links reach attendees. Wrong event details get sent out. Follow-up emails fire at incorrect times. Your team spends more time fixing mistakes than preventing them.
4. Integration Gaps Create Double Work
HubSpot’s native event capabilities don’t match how modern marketers actually work with event platforms:
- One-way sync limitations: You can pull data from Zoom or Eventbrite into HubSpot, but can’t push updates back
- Manual alignment required: Rescheduled events, speaker changes, or session updates won’t automatically reflect across systems
- Data inconsistency: Attendee information lives in multiple places, creating confusion about registration status and engagement
When you’re running dozens of events, maintaining manual alignment across platforms becomes unsustainable.
The Hidden Costs Beyond Time
The manual approach creates costs that extend far beyond setup hours:
- Executive Reporting Challenges: Scattered data across multiple workflows makes it nearly impossible to demonstrate clear ROI to leadership. Event performance becomes a collection of spreadsheets rather than actionable insights.
- Team Collaboration Friction: When multiple team members manage events, the manual process creates bottlenecks, version control issues, and finger-pointing when things break.
- Growth Anxiety: Teams become hesitant to expand event programmes because they know current processes won’t scale. Opportunity costs multiply as potential events get delayed or cancelled.
- Attendee Experience Risk: Manual processes increase the likelihood of registration failures, missed communications, or broken event links - impacting attendee satisfaction and brand perception.
What High-Performing Event Marketing Actually Looks Like
Enterprise-level event marketing should feel like a well-oiled machine, not a constant fire drill.
The ideal setup provides:
- One-time configuration that powers unlimited future events
- Universal registration system that works consistently across all event types
- Automated workflows that handle capture, nurturing, and follow-up without manual intervention
- Template-driven pages that maintain brand consistency while allowing customisation
- Bidirectional platform sync that keeps all systems aligned automatically
- Clean data architecture that doesn’t grow more complex with each new event
The goal isn’t to clone faster - it’s to eliminate cloning entirely.
How EventEngine Solves Event Marketing Challenges in HubSpot
Developed by Burrows Consultancy, EventEngine is purpose-built for enterprise marketers who run events and need a clean, repeatable system.
Unlike generic plugins or manual templates, EventEngine installs directly into your HubSpot portal and creates a long-term infrastructure for fast, consistent, branded event execution.
Standardise Your Event Framework
Instead of custom workflows for each event, build universal processes that adapt dynamically to different event types and requirements.
Implement Template-Driven Design
Create branded page templates that automatically populate with event-specific content while maintaining consistent styling and user experience.
Establish Bidirectional Integration
Set up connections with event platforms that sync data both ways, ensuring updates flow seamlessly across your entire technology stack.
Automate Data Management
Build systems that automatically tag, segment, and route attendee data without manual intervention or custom properties for each event.
Stop Rebuilding, Start Scaling
Every duplicated form represents wasted time. Every manually reconnected workflow is a missed opportunity for strategic work. Every hour spent on event setup is an hour not spent optimising performance or growing your programme.
If your team manages 10+ events monthly, you’re likely losing 20+ hours on setup tasks that could be automated.
That time should be invested in:
- Optimising registration conversion rates
- Analysing attendee engagement patterns
- Improving content and speaker experiences
- Demonstrating clear programme ROI
- Expanding your event portfolio strategically
The difference between struggling event teams and scaling event teams isn’t resources - it’s systems.
Ready to transform your event marketing from manual chaos to automated excellence? The solution starts with building the right technical foundation in HubSpot.
