case study

Solution: Streamlining HubSpot Integration with Paragon for Bullseye.so

Justin

Justin

— 4 min read
Solution: Streamlining HubSpot Integration with Paragon for Bullseye.so

Working with Bullseye.so on this HubSpot and Paragon integration project was quite the adventure! When I first got the brief from Ryan and the Bullseye.so team, I knew it would be an exciting challenge to tackle. The objective was clear - craft Paragon workflows to add contacts to HubSpot lists, filtering based on ICP criteria. Simple enough on paper, but as any seasoned integration specialist knows, the devil is always in the details.

Justin is a pleasure to work with and, more importantly, excellent at his work. We had him come in to build a custom HubSpot workflow for a new iPaaS. The project ended up being more complex than anticipated (no fault of Justin's) and he was patient and approached each roadblock diligently, creating a fully functional workflow in the end. We will work with him again in the future. - Ryan Tabb (bullseye.so)
We've worked with Justin twice now and he has been excellent both time. An integration and workflow master! - Ryan Tabb (bullseye.so)

Before diving in, let me give you a quick rundown on the key players. HubSpot is this awesome all-in-one CRM platform that helps businesses grow their digital presence and manage customer interactions. For Bullseye.so, HubSpot is mission-critical for organizing contacts, tracking interactions, and automating marketing. On the other hand, Paragon is a slick no-code platform that makes building integrations between apps a breeze, without drowning in lines of code. In this project, Paragon was the key to connecting client websites to HubSpot, allowing contacts from advertising data to flow seamlessly into the right lists.

Now, I won't sugarcoat it - we hit some bumps along the way. Right off the bat, setting up the systems and getting the right permissions in place was tricky. We ran into some static save button shenanigans in the HubSpot connect portal that blocked necessary API scope changes. Thankfully, the Paragon support team swooped in and saved the day on that one.

But wait, there's more! We encountered a pesky discrepancy between the list IDs provided by Paragon and the actual IDs in HubSpot. After some serious head-scratching and back-and-forth with Paragon, we traced it back to an API version mismatch. As a temporary fix, we reverted to v1 for stability (v1 to be disabled may 2025). Crisis averted!

Of course, no integration project is complete without handling edge cases. We had to figure out how to gracefully handle missing or empty emails to keep the workflow chugging along. I cooked up a nifty little bypass to keep things moving in the absence of valid emails. Then there was the challenge of ending workflows early based on non-ICP qualifiers. I initially tried a somewhat controversial "error-out" method, but after double-checking with Paragon, we opted for proper conditional nodes instead.

As we approached the finish line, it was time for the moment of truth - testing and finalizing the workflows. This is where the real fun began! Live testing with Ryan's inputs, manually tweaking integration points, and lots of feedback loops with Paragon. It was like a high-stakes puzzle, but we managed to piece it all together.

In the end, we successfully implemented and deployed four key workflows:

Add ICP Visitors to List: Checks for ICP-matching contacts, creates them, and adds to the list (no company)

Add ICP Visitors and Companies to List: Checks and creates all contacts, adding them to lists.

All Visitors and Companies to List: The big kahuna - creating and associating all contacts and companies.

Add All Visitors to List: A catch-all for adding all encountered visitors (no company).

Despite the technical hurdles, we made it to the finish line with all critical workflows up and running. Bullseye.so was thrilled with the results and acknowledged the complexity involved. They even hinted at future collaborations, especially involving Salesforce integrations. Talk about a vote of confidence!

From my perspective as the freelancer, this project really highlighted the importance of scope management and continuous learning in the wild world of integrations. It also sparked my interest in creating detailed case studies like this to showcase the work and share insights with clients and fellow integration enthusiasts.

Looking back, the success of this project boiled down to persistent problem-solving, keeping communication channels open, and actively involving the client in testing and validation. It was a team effort, and I'm proud of what we accomplished together.

So, there you have it - the tale of taming the HubSpot and Paragon integration for Bullseye.so. It's projects like these that keep me on my toes and remind me why I love what I do. The constantly evolving landscape of integrations and automations means there's always a new challenge around the corner, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

If you're reading this and find yourself nodding along, or if you're facing your own integration conundrums, don't hesitate to reach out. I'm always happy to chat, swap war stories, and see how I can help untangle your automation adventures.

Until next time, happy integrating!

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