Data is the lifeblood of any modern business. Keeping that data current across your systems is critical, but manual updates can be time-consuming and error-prone. HubSpot’s Magic Workflows | HubDB action set introduces the ‘Write’ and ‘Update’ actions, making it easier than ever to keep your HubDB tables up-to-date by automating data entry and updates based on workflow conditions.
In this post, we’ll explore how these two actions—‘Write’ and ‘Update’—work in tandem, and how they can streamline your processes by leveraging changes in HubSpot CRM data. Whether you’re writing new data or updating existing entries, these actions bring efficiency and scalability to your data management.
The Power of the ‘Write’ and ‘Update’ Actions
- The ‘Write’ Action: This enables you to add new rows of data into a HubDB table, automatically capturing details from CRM workflows as they occur.
- The ‘Update’ Action: This action finds existing entries in a HubDB table and updates specific fields based on workflow triggers, ensuring the data is always current.
By using these two actions, you can automate the maintenance of your HubDB tables, reducing manual input and ensuring real-time data accuracy.
Use Cases: Leveraging ‘Write’ and ‘Update’ in Magic Workflows
Through our experience and collaboration with clients, we've seen several real-world applications of the ‘Write’ and ‘Update’ actions that have transformed how businesses manage data. Some of these use cases are already in action, while others represent innovative solutions we’ve envisioned for future opportunities. Here’s a closer look at how these actions can streamline various processes.
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Keeping Event Registration Data Up-to-Date For companies managing multiple events, attendee data needs to be accurate and accessible in real time. The ‘Write’ action can log new event registrations from HubSpot forms into a HubDB table. If attendees modify their registration details (such as selecting different breakout sessions or updating guest counts), the ‘Update’ action can adjust the entry in the table to reflect these changes. This keeps all event-related data current, allowing event organizers to streamline check-ins, material distribution, and follow-up communications without manual data handling.
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Maintaining Employee Certification Records For HR departments, tracking employee certifications is a must to ensure compliance and ongoing training. With the ‘Write’ action, when an employee completes a certification, a new row can be added to a HubDB table logging the certification details. As employees renew certifications or complete additional training, the ‘Update’ action ensures that the table reflects the most current status. This makes it easy to track who’s up-to-date and who needs recertification, all without manual oversight.
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Updating Subscription or Membership Data for Customer Portals Companies offering subscription-based services or memberships often need to track details such as renewal dates, subscription tiers, and payment statuses. The ‘Write’ action can add new subscribers or members to a HubDB table, and the ‘Update’ action can automatically adjust subscription data—like status changes or upgrades—when they occur in HubSpot. This data can be displayed dynamically in a customer portal, ensuring that customers always have real-time access to their membership details.
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Tracking Attendee Check-Ins for Events For companies hosting events, managing attendee check-ins is critical to ensure smooth operations on the day of the event. Using the ‘Write’ action, new registrations can be logged in HubDB as they happen. On the event day, the ‘Update’ action can automatically update attendee status to "Checked In" when they arrive, using workflows triggered by scanning a QR code or completing a check-in form. This helps event organizers track real-time attendance without manually managing check-in lists.
One Advantage of HubDB Over Custom Objects
In some cases, HubDB can offer unique advantages over HubSpot’s Custom Objects. One notable benefit is that HubDB doesn’t face the same association limits that Custom Objects do. For example, Custom Objects in HubSpot are limited to 50,000 contact associations per object record. If you’re managing large datasets with thousands of associations, HubDB can be a more scalable solution. It allows for flexible data management without the constraints of association limits, making it ideal for scenarios where you need to manage data across a large number of contacts, deals, or tickets.
Benefits of Using ‘Write’ and ‘Update’ Together
By combining the ‘Write’ and ‘Update’ actions, you can ensure that your data remains accurate and up-to-date across all workflows. Here are some key benefits:
- Real-time data accuracy: Both actions allow you to capture data and keep it current as workflows progress. You can eliminate the need for manual updates and ensure that all relevant data is synced across systems in real time
- Scalability: Whether you're logging new registrations or updating customer preferences, these actions allow you to manage large datasets efficiently, without hitting the limits of HubSpot's Custom Objects
- Improved customer experiences: With real-time updates reflected in your HubDB tables, you can dynamically display personalized and up-to-date content to your customers, improving the overall experience
- Efficient data management: By automating data entry and updates, your team can focus on higher-value tasks while HubDB and workflows handle the data maintenance behind the scenes
Maximizing Workflow Efficiency with Dynamic Data Management
The ‘Write’ and ‘Update’ actions in HubSpot’s Magic Workflows | HubDB workflow action set are key to automating and scaling your data management processes. Whether you’re managing event registrations, tracking employee certifications, or keeping customer support cases up to date, these tools ensure that your data is always accurate and current without manual intervention.
For businesses handling large datasets or complex workflows, HubDB’s flexibility—combined with the absence of strict association limits—makes it a powerful solution for managing dynamic data across your systems.
