Using Custom Events to Unite Apps, CRM Systems and Automation

Customer journeys today are complex, fragmented, and constantly changing. Businesses no longer operate in a single digital space — they engage users across websites, apps, chat platforms, and automation workflows. But when these systems don’t talk to each other, opportunities slip through the cracks. Enter custom events: the bridge that connects your app, CRM, and automation into one intelligent, real-time journey.

Covered in this article

1. Why Fragmented Journeys Hurt Conversions
2. What Are Custom Events?
3. How HubSpot’s Custom Events Connect Apps and CRMs
4. The Integration Layer: Where Data Meets Strategy
5. Turning Behaviour Into Action: Example Workflow
6. Real-World Benefits of Event-Driven Marketing
7. The Multi-Hub Advantage
8. Velocity’s Role: Building Smarter Journeys
FAQs

1. Why Fragmented Journeys Hurt Conversions

Every brand wants a smooth customer journey — one that moves from curiosity to conversion effortlessly. Yet in most organisations, the reality looks different. Customer data sits in silos: your app tracks activity, your CRM records deals, and your automation platform sends messages. None of them fully understand what the other is doing.

This disconnect leads to:

• Slow or missed responses when a customer takes action.
• Generic messaging that doesn’t reflect real user behaviour.
• Incomplete visibility into the customer lifecycle.

When marketing, sales, and service teams work with different data sources, engagement feels mechanical instead of meaningful. Custom events change that. They allow your CRM and automation tools to “see” what’s happening across every digital touchpoint — and react instantly.

2. What Are Custom Events?

Custom events are specific user actions that your business decides to track. Unlike form submissions or email clicks, they capture real behavioural signals inside your app or platform. Examples include:

• User completes profile setup.
• Subscription renewal is due.
• Customer logs in after a long absence.
• Payment fails or a plan is upgraded.

Each of these actions can trigger an automated response in your CRM. For example, a renewal reminder, an upsell email, or a customer success notification. The power lies in the context — you’re responding to what your customer is doing right now, not what they did months ago.

In other words, custom events turn static data into live engagement triggers. They connect your digital ecosystem so your CRM becomes proactive, not reactive.

3. How HubSpot’s Custom Events Connect Apps and CRMs

HubSpot’s Custom Event Framework (available in Marketing Hub Enterprise and beyond) allows you to collect, store, and act on behavioural data in real time. It connects seamlessly with your web apps, mobile apps, or external systems using APIs and webhooks.

How it works:

1. Your app sends a real-time event (like “Order Completed”) to HubSpot’s API.
2. HubSpot logs that event under the contact’s timeline.
3. Workflows, emails, and notifications are triggered instantly.

This means your teams can build automation around actual user intent instead of waiting for manual data entry. It’s a major leap for companies that depend on quick reactions — from SaaS platforms and online learning portals to e-commerce and subscription businesses.

What makes HubSpot stand out is its flexibility. You can integrate data from virtually anywhere using:

• Native integrations with common apps like Stripe, Zoom, and Slack.
• Custom APIs for in-house or niche platforms.
• Webhooks for instant, lightweight event transmission.

The result? A connected CRM that becomes your organisation’s central nervous system — automatically recording every meaningful customer action and keeping all teams aligned.

4. The Integration Layer: Where Data Meets Strategy

Custom events are only as powerful as the infrastructure supporting them. The integration layer is where data is translated, cleaned, and delivered across systems. Think of it as the traffic controller of your customer journey.

What the integration layer does:

• Receives events from your app via API or webhook.
• Validates and formats data to match CRM fields.
• Ensures successful sync even if a system is offline.
• Routes data to analytics dashboards or automation workflows.

This layer can be hosted on AWS, Azure, or other cloud platforms, depending on your stack. The important thing is strategy — knowing which data matters, and when it should trigger engagement.

That’s where a partner like Velocity steps in. We design integration layers that don’t just move data — they make it meaningful. Every field mapped, every trigger intentional, every insight actionable.

5. Turning Behaviour Into Action: Example Workflow

Let’s look at a practical example of how custom events can transform your automation journey.

Scenario: A SaaS platform for small business finance

1. A new user signs up through the mobile app.
→ Custom event: “Account Created”.
→ HubSpot triggers a welcome workflow that sends onboarding content and a first-login checklist.

2. The user completes 70% of setup but doesn’t add a payment method.
→ Custom event: “Setup Incomplete”.
→ HubSpot triggers a targeted email encouraging them to finish onboarding, plus a message to sales for follow-up.

3. The user finally upgrades to a paid plan.
→ Custom event: “Subscription Started”.
→ CRM updates lifecycle stage to “Customer” and triggers a thank-you campaign with referral offers.

4. 60 days later, usage drops sharply.
→ Custom event: “Usage Decline”.
→ Automated survey and service ticket created to re-engage or resolve potential issues.

Each of these events feeds the CRM with accurate behavioural data. No manual input. No delay. Just smart, connected automation that reacts to the customer in real time.

6. Real-World Benefits of Event-Driven Marketing

Event-driven automation isn’t just a technical upgrade — it’s a strategic advantage. Businesses that implement custom event frameworks see measurable improvements in engagement, conversion, and retention.

Key advantages:

• Personalised experiences: Deliver content and offers that match each user’s journey.
• Real-time reaction: Engage customers instantly when intent is highest.
• Unified visibility: Give teams one version of the truth across all platforms.
• Operational efficiency: Automate repetitive workflows so teams can focus on strategy.
• Smarter analytics: Measure what matters — user actions, not vanity metrics.

In an era of tightening budgets and rising competition, the ability to act on data faster than your competitors can define your growth trajectory. Event-driven systems give you that edge.

7. The Multi-Hub Advantage

HubSpot’s ecosystem is designed for scale — and when combined with custom events, it becomes a complete growth engine. Each Hub plays a role in orchestrating the customer journey:

When all these Hubs work together, your CRM transforms into a living ecosystem — one that understands every click, view, and conversion as it happens.

8. Velocity’s Role: Building Smarter Journeys

At Velocity, we believe that technology should serve strategy — not the other way around. That’s why our approach to RevOps focuses on connecting people, processes, and platforms through data-driven design.

What we do:

• Design event architectures: Define the right triggers and data models for your customer journey.
• Integrate systems: Connect apps, APIs, and CRMs into a single, unified automation ecosystem.
• Enable teams: Align marketing, sales, and service around real-time data visibility.
• Optimise continuously: Measure performance, find gaps, and refine automation loops for growth.

We don’t just implement HubSpot. We extend it — building custom middleware, API connections, and event-based workflows that transform your CRM into a powerful engagement platform.

Why partner with Velocity?

• HubSpot Diamond Partner with certified developers and RevOps strategists.
• Proven experience in higher education, SaaS, and enterprise sectors.
• Data-first approach that connects every marketing action to measurable ROI.
• Collaborative partnership — from planning to deployment to continuous optimisation.

Ready to build smarter journeys? Let’s connect your app, CRM, and automation to create experiences that feel personal, timely, and effortless.

Final Thoughts

Custom events are redefining how businesses engage with customers. They turn simple data points into powerful automation signals, helping teams anticipate needs rather than react to them. Combined with HubSpot’s flexible CRM architecture and Velocity’s integration expertise, your business can finally deliver the one thing customers want most — a seamless, personalised experience from first click to lasting relationship.

Velocity connects strategy, systems, and storytelling to build RevOps frameworks that accelerate growth — one event at a time.

FAQs: Custom Events, CRMs, and Automation

1) What exactly is a “custom event” in HubSpot?

A custom event is a user action you define and track—such as “Plan Upgraded”, “Feature Activated”, or “Payment Failed”. Your app (or website) sends this event to HubSpot via API or tracking code, and HubSpot can use it to trigger workflows, update properties, create tasks, or personalise communications in real time.

2) How are custom events different from standard analytics (page views, form submissions)?

Standard analytics show generic engagement; custom events capture business-specific behaviour inside your product or service. That means you automate on true intent (e.g., “hit usage limit” or “invited a teammate”) rather than generic interactions, improving timing, relevance, and conversion.

3) Do I need developers to implement custom events?

Yes, you’ll typically need a developer to instrument events in your app and send them to HubSpot via API or tracking code. Once events are flowing, marketers and RevOps teams can build workflows, lists, segments, and reports in HubSpot without further engineering effort.

4) Which HubSpot tiers support custom events?

Custom behavioural events and advanced event-based automation are available on higher-tier Hubs (e.g., Marketing Hub Enterprise). You can still use many event-style triggers with standard objects and integrations at lower tiers, but advanced event frameworks require the appropriate licences.

5) What systems can send events into HubSpot?

Almost anything: web and mobile apps, payment gateways, learning platforms, IoT devices, and back-office tools. You can connect via native integrations, webhooks, iPaaS tools, or direct API calls. Velocity helps you choose the most reliable approach for your stack and scale.

6) How do custom events improve personalisation?

They provide context that fuels timely, relevant messaging. For example, if a user completes onboarding but hasn’t added a payment method, trigger a guidance sequence and a sales task. If usage drops, start a re-engagement journey and alert Customer Success. Messages feel helpful because they are tied to live behaviour.

7) What data model should we prepare before sending events?

Define a clear event taxonomy (name, description, when it fires) and a minimal set of properties you’ll need for routing and reporting (e.g., plan, MRR, feature flag, device, workspace ID). Map events to HubSpot objects and properties, and agree naming conventions to keep reporting clean.

8) How do we keep event data accurate and compliant?

Use server-side calls where possible, validate payloads, add retries/queues, and log failures. Respect consent and data-minimisation: only send what you need. Document retention and deletion processes, and align with GDPR/POPIA/CCPA requirements. Velocity can design this governance into your integration layer.

9) What reporting can we build from custom events?

Build funnels (onboard → activate → convert), cohort retention, feature adoption, time-to-value, and campaign attribution that keys off actual product usage. You can also score accounts based on event patterns (e.g., “expansion-ready” or “churn-risk”) and route alerts accordingly.

10) How do we get started without boiling the ocean?

Start small with a 3×3 plan: three events that matter most (e.g., Activate Feature, Payment Failed, Usage Decline), three automations (nurture, alert, CS ticket), and three reports (activation rate, conversion lift, churn-risk trend). Prove value fast, then expand coverage. Velocity can help you prioritise, implement, and scale.