HubSpot Rebuilds Japan Email Automation Without New Hires

HubSpot says a rebuild of its email automation program in Japan helped deliver ninefold growth in qualified leads. The company completed the overhaul in two months without adding staff, after finding that its existing automated emails were producing around 12 qualified leads a month against a target of 160.

The shortfall emerged when HubSpot reviewed its Japan automation programs last year. The company said hiring a Japan-based automation specialist would have been an obvious response, but that option was not realistic. Instead, it rebuilt the program using its existing resources. The source does not specify the final monthly lead count or the period over which the ninefold growth was measured.

HubSpot described the problem as one that can affect companies operating across multiple regions. As a US-headquartered business, it had historically concentrated its automation investment in a group of core markets: English, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese. Those programs received repeated development and optimization, while other markets had less dedicated attention.

In Japan, the company found a mixture of aging, partially built and insufficiently localized programs. The underlying content and infrastructure were already available, but the automation had not been designed for the Japanese market. HubSpot attributed the weaker performance to that mismatch rather than to a complete absence of marketing materials or technology.

The company said resource allocation can leave secondary markets in one of two positions: automation is either never established or remains in place for years without substantial updates. Its Japan program fell into the latter category. HubSpot framed the rebuild as an alternative to assuming that a dedicated local automation hire is the only way to address the gap.

What this means for marketers

Teams managing several markets can review whether older automation programs remain suited to the audiences they serve, particularly where results fall short of targets. An inventory of existing content and infrastructure may also help identify what can be rebuilt with current resources. HubSpot’s account points to the value of that review, although the available source does not detail the individual changes behind its result.