# How to Integrate HubSpot with Salesforce: Complete Guide for B2B Sales Teams in 2026 ## Table of Contents - [Introduction](#introduction) - [Why Integrate HubSpot with Salesforce](#why-integrate-hubspot-with-salesforce) - [Prerequisites for the Integration](#prerequisites-for-the-integration) - [Setting Up the Native HubSpot-Salesforce Integration](#setting-up-the-native-hubspot-salesforce-integration) - [Field Mapping Between HubSpot and Salesforce](#field-mapping-between-hubspot-and-salesforce) - [Syncing Contacts, Leads and Companies](#syncing-contacts-leads-and-companies) - [Syncing Deals and Opportunities](#syncing-deals-and-opportunities) - [Workflows with the HubSpot-Salesforce Integration](#workflows-with-the-hubspot-salesforce-integration) - [Common Problems and How to Solve Them](#common-problems-and-how-to-solve-them) - [Alternatives to the Native Integration](#alternatives-to-the-native-integration) - [Frequently Asked Questions](#frequently-asked-questions) - [Conclusion](#conclusion) - [References](#references) --- ## Introduction HubSpot and Salesforce are two of the most widely used platforms in the B2B sales and marketing ecosystem. HubSpot excels in marketing automation, inbound marketing and content management; Salesforce is the reference CRM for enterprise sales teams with complex processes. Many companies use both platforms simultaneously, which makes the integration between them critical to avoid data silos and ensure that marketing and sales work with the same information. This guide covers everything you need to know to integrate HubSpot with Salesforce in 2026: from the initial setup to advanced workflows and resolving common problems. --- ## Why Integrate HubSpot with Salesforce ### The Data Silo Problem When marketing uses HubSpot and sales uses Salesforce without integration, data silos are created that generate multiple problems: - **Data duplication:** The same contact exists in both platforms with different and potentially contradictory information. - **Lack of visibility:** Marketing does not know what happens to leads after passing them to sales; sales does not know what marketing actions the lead has taken. - **Operational inefficiency:** Teams spend time manually updating data in both platforms. - **Incorrect attribution:** It is impossible to correctly measure the ROI of marketing actions if conversion data is in Salesforce and marketing data is in HubSpot. ### The Benefits of Integration With the HubSpot-Salesforce integration correctly configured: - **Complete visibility of the customer lifecycle:** Marketing can see the status of deals in Salesforce; sales can see the marketing activity history in HubSpot. - **Frictionless lead handoff:** Marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) are automatically transferred to Salesforce when they reach the scoring threshold. - **Precise attribution:** It is possible to attribute revenue to the specific marketing campaigns that generated the leads. - **Always up-to-date data:** Changes in one platform are automatically synchronised in the other. --- ## Prerequisites for the Integration Before setting up the integration, make sure you meet the following requirements: ### HubSpot Requirements - Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise plan (for full access to the integration). - Administrator access in HubSpot. - Clean contact data without duplicates (recommended). ### Salesforce Requirements - Salesforce Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited or Developer edition. - Administrator access in Salesforce. - Sufficient Salesforce user licences for HubSpot users who need access. ### Prior Preparation Before activating the integration, it is essential to: 1. **Clean the data:** Remove duplicates in both platforms and ensure that key fields (email, name, company) are correctly filled in. 2. **Define the data model:** Decide which objects will be synchronised (contacts, leads, companies, deals/opportunities) and in which direction (HubSpot → Salesforce, Salesforce → HubSpot, or bidirectional). 3. **Define the synchronisation criteria:** Not all HubSpot contacts should be synchronised with Salesforce. Define the criteria (for example, only contacts with Lifecycle Stage = MQL or above). --- ## Setting Up the Native HubSpot-Salesforce Integration ### Step 1: Install the Integration from the HubSpot Marketplace The native HubSpot integration with Salesforce is installed from the HubSpot Marketplace: 1. Go to **Settings → Integrations → App Marketplace**. 2. Search for "Salesforce" and select the official HubSpot integration. 3. Click "Install app" and follow the authorisation process. 4. Log in to your Salesforce account when prompted. ### Step 2: Install the HubSpot Package in Salesforce The integration requires installing a HubSpot package in Salesforce that adds custom fields and objects: 1. HubSpot will provide you with a link to install the package in Salesforce. 2. Install the package for all users (recommended) or only for administrators. 3. The package adds fields such as "HubSpot Score", "HubSpot Owner", "HubSpot Contact ID" and other synchronisation fields. ### Step 3: Configure the Synchronisation Criteria Define which HubSpot contacts are synchronised with Salesforce: - **Option 1: Sync all contacts** (not recommended for large databases). - **Option 2: Sync only contacts that meet specific criteria** (recommended). For example, only contacts with Lifecycle Stage = MQL or above, or contacts with HubSpot Score > 40. ### Step 4: Configure the Synchronisation Direction For each field, define the synchronisation direction: - **HubSpot → Salesforce:** The HubSpot value overwrites the Salesforce value. - **Salesforce → HubSpot:** The Salesforce value overwrites the HubSpot value. - **Bidirectional:** The most recent value overwrites the oldest value. - **Do not sync:** The field is not synchronised. --- ## Field Mapping Between HubSpot and Salesforce Field mapping is one of the most critical aspects of the integration. Incorrect mapping can cause data loss or incorrect overwriting of information. ### Standard Fields Synchronised by Default | HubSpot Field | Salesforce Field | Direction | |---|---|---| | Email | Email | Bidirectional | | First Name | FirstName | Bidirectional | | Last Name | LastName | Bidirectional | | Company | Account.Name | Bidirectional | | Phone | Phone | Bidirectional | | Job Title | Title | Bidirectional | | City | MailingCity | Bidirectional | | Country | MailingCountry | Bidirectional | | HubSpot Score | HubSpot_Score__c | HubSpot → Salesforce | | Lifecycle Stage | HubSpot_Lifecycle_Stage__c | HubSpot → Salesforce | ### Custom Fields In addition to standard fields, you can map custom HubSpot fields with custom Salesforce fields. This is especially useful for synchronising business-specific data such as sector, company size or budget. --- ## Syncing Contacts, Leads and Companies ### Contacts vs Leads in Salesforce Salesforce has two objects to represent people: Contacts (contacts associated with an account) and Leads (prospects not associated with any account). HubSpot only has one object (Contacts). The integration allows you to configure whether HubSpot contacts are synchronised as Contacts or as Leads in Salesforce. **Recommendation:** Sync HubSpot contacts as Leads in Salesforce until the sales team qualifies them. Once qualified, the sales representative converts the Lead into a Contact and associates it with an Account in Salesforce. ### Company Synchronisation HubSpot companies are synchronised with Salesforce Accounts. Company synchronisation is bidirectional: changes in one platform are automatically reflected in the other. --- ## Syncing Deals and Opportunities HubSpot deals are synchronised with Salesforce Opportunities. This synchronisation is especially important for revenue attribution: it allows you to know which marketing campaigns generated the closed deals. ### Configuring Deal Synchronisation To synchronise deals and opportunities: 1. In the integration settings, activate deal synchronisation. 2. Map HubSpot deal fields with Salesforce opportunity fields (name, amount, close date, stage). 3. Define the synchronisation direction for each field. --- ## Workflows with the HubSpot-Salesforce Integration ### MQL to Salesforce Handoff Workflow When a HubSpot contact reaches the MQL threshold: 1. **HubSpot Workflow** detects that the contact has reached the MQL threshold (HubSpot Score > 40 or Lifecycle Stage = MQL). 2. **Automatic synchronisation** creates or updates the Lead in Salesforce with all the contact data and their activity history. 3. **Notification in Salesforce** to the assigned sales representative. 4. **Task in Salesforce** automatically created for the representative to contact the lead within the next 24 hours. ### Lifecycle Stage Update Workflow from Salesforce When the sales representative updates the Lead status in Salesforce (for example, converts it to an Opportunity): 1. **Automatic synchronisation** updates the contact's Lifecycle Stage in HubSpot to "Sales Qualified Lead" or "Opportunity". 2. **HubSpot Workflow** detects the Lifecycle Stage change and updates the segmentation lists. 3. **HubSpot Workflow** pauses marketing nurturing for the contact (they are now in the hands of sales). --- ## Common Problems and How to Solve Them ### Contact Duplicates **Problem:** The integration creates duplicate contacts in HubSpot or Salesforce. **Cause:** Contacts with the same email but different capitalisation, or contacts without an email that are synchronised by name. **Solution:** Configure the integration to use email as the deduplication field. Activate the "Prevent duplicates" option in the integration settings. Use deduplication tools such as Dedupely or Cloudingo to clean up existing duplicates. ### Incorrectly Overwritten Fields **Problem:** Field values in HubSpot or Salesforce are overwritten with incorrect or empty values. **Cause:** Incorrect configuration of the synchronisation direction or the "winner" field in bidirectional synchronisation. **Solution:** Review the synchronisation direction configuration for each field. For critical fields, use unidirectional rather than bidirectional synchronisation. ### Slow Synchronisation **Problem:** Changes in HubSpot take a long time to appear in Salesforce, or vice versa. **Cause:** The native HubSpot integration with Salesforce synchronises data every 10–15 minutes. For faster synchronisations, webhooks or the HubSpot API must be used. **Solution:** For use cases that require real-time synchronisation (for example, notifying the sales representative when a lead requests a demo), use HubSpot Workflows with Salesforce actions instead of relying on periodic synchronisation. --- ## Alternatives to the Native Integration ### Zapier Zapier allows custom integrations between HubSpot and Salesforce to be created using "Zaps" (no-code automations). It is a good option for simple use cases that do not require full bidirectional synchronisation. ### Make (formerly Integromat) Make is a more powerful automation platform than Zapier, with support for more complex workflows and greater control over synchronisation logic. ### Custom Middleware For companies with very specific integration requirements, it may be necessary to develop custom middleware using the HubSpot and Salesforce APIs. This option offers maximum flexibility but requires development resources. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **Is the native HubSpot integration with Salesforce free?** The native HubSpot integration with Salesforce is included in Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise plans. There is no additional cost, although it requires a Salesforce Professional or higher licence. **How many records can I sync between HubSpot and Salesforce?** There is no fixed limit on the number of records you can synchronise, but synchronising very large databases (more than 500,000 contacts) can be slow and requires careful configuration to avoid performance issues. **Can I sync custom Salesforce objects with HubSpot?** Yes, with HubSpot Operations Hub Professional or Enterprise you can synchronise custom Salesforce objects with custom HubSpot objects. This functionality requires additional configuration. **What happens if I have duplicate contacts in HubSpot and Salesforce before activating the integration?** Before activating the integration, it is essential to clean up duplicates in both platforms. If you activate the integration with existing duplicates, the synchronisation may create more duplicates or incorrectly overwrite data. Use deduplication tools such as Dedupely to clean the data before integration. **Can I deactivate the integration without losing data?** Yes, you can deactivate the integration at any time from HubSpot settings. When deactivating the integration, existing data in both platforms is not deleted, but stops synchronising. --- ## Conclusion The integration between HubSpot and Salesforce is one of the most powerful integrations in the B2B ecosystem. When correctly configured, it eliminates data silos between marketing and sales, improves visibility of the customer lifecycle and enables precise revenue attribution. The key to integration success is preparation: cleaning data before activating the integration, clearly defining the data model and synchronisation criteria, and configuring the workflows that automate the lead handoff between marketing and sales. At Emovere we specialise in the implementation and configuration of the HubSpot-Salesforce integration for B2B companies. If you need help setting up or optimising your integration, contact our team. --- ## References [1] HubSpot — Salesforce Integration Documentation. https://knowledge.hubspot.com/integrations/salesforce [2] Salesforce — HubSpot Integration Guide. https://help.salesforce.com/ [3] HubSpot Academy — Operations Hub Certification. https://academy.hubspot.com/ [4] Gartner — CRM Market Guide 2026. https://www.gartner.com/ [5] Forrester — B2B Marketing Automation Platforms Wave. https://www.forrester.com/