This category is defined by business jargon and focused on software benefits and features.

The “Win Q4 and Beyond” campaign succeeded by bucking both of these conventions.

Speaking to real pain points and deeper human needs

Instead of talking to sales leaders in jargon, we tapped into their desire to win. This gave our work a more empathetic, human, and dare we say light-hearted tone in a category that can feel exceedingly dry.

Making the audience, not HubSpot, the hero.

We made our audience the heroes, showing how Sales Hub could be a key player in their own journeys for Q4 glory. Ironically, by putting people and not our product front and center, we generated significant interest in the product, creating more genuine curiosity through web traffic.

Own the feeling of winning Q4 and beyond.

This idea was born from a simple truth about sales leaders.

They aren’t passionate about sales software. They are passionate about hitting their numbers – especially in Q4.

Anyone who’s ever been near a sales organization knows the pressure salespeople feel in Q4. It’s make or break. Bonuses and jobs are on the line. There is nothing like the feeling of winning. And failure is not an option.

Our “Win Q4 and Beyond” campaign brought the drama and joys of this reality to life, making sales leaders the heroes of the story and treating them like star athletes supported by a new MVP (most valuable platform), Sales Hub.

We brought this idea to life by integrating with the nation’s biggest arena for winning and losing – professional sports – making HubSpot the indisputable partner of a winning Q4 and every other quarter.

Our campaign strategy was built around two strong media insights:

First: Sales leaders are 6X more likely to watch sports than the general public (Source: MediaHub Audience Data, 2023). And one thing that unites sales teams and their favorite sports teams? You have to win in the 4th quarter.

Our strategy tapped into this shared truth to amplify HubSpot’s relationship with every sales leader and their teams in the fall, ultimately positioning Sales Hub as the core play to unlock the joyful, heroic feeling of winning.

Second: Q4 and the following Q1 are huge travel moments for sales leaders, with business travel and conferences kicking into high gear. This second insight informed how we surrounded our sports-driven media plan to reinforce our message with sales leaders across channels and over time.

Our approach was to outsmart (not outspend) the competition, reaching sales leaders continuously throughout the campaign.

Our “Win Q4” anthem spot launched on NFL Sunday Ticket, with support throughout the season.

We coupled this with Monday Night Football buys, reinforcing our message with sales leaders at the work week’s start.

We deepened engagement by showing up in first-ever, unexpected spaces where our audience was spending time:

Draft Kings prediction pool and Monday Night Football takeovers.

Targeted buys on TikTok and Reddit.

In-stadium signage and hospitality to drive deeper consideration.

Integration with NFL Podcast Network.

As the season closed, we introduced our “Sales Dynasty” spot, celebrating how Sales Hub helps sales leaders win quarter after quarter.

To capitalize on seasonal increases in business travel, we focused Q1 media on travel-related placements, including airports, ride-sharing apps, and OOH takeovers at transit hubs in NYC and Chicago, in addition to contextual sports alignment.

The campaign created significant gains in awareness and sales association following launch:

HubSpot generated a +10pt lift in aided awareness for North American corporate decision makers and +7pt lift globally, resulting in an all-time high for awareness. HubSpot’s association with sales software soared post-launch, yielding a +5pt lift for NAM decision makers.

And audiences loved it. Sentiment increased +8pts with North American decision makers.

Paid media drove 1.27B+ impressions, creating massive interest in HubSpot’s sales offering:

+21% increase in Q4 search volume YOY

2.5M+ landing page visits, of which 92% were net new visitors to HubSpot.

Finally, a cross-channel media effectiveness study revealed a +14 point lift in association with sales software.

And all of this has cemented HubSpot as a true challenger to the category leader Salesforce, who lost 3pts of awareness with NAM decision makers QoQ.

(Source: HubSpot Brand Survey, 2024)