Much of our work with credit unions involves finding ways to centralize data to help streamline everyday operations. We help our clients find the right digital solutions for their needs and overcome any inefficiencies they may be experiencing. Our client, Leaders Credit Union, serves as a great example of this. Through our partnership, we’ve created enhanced reporting capabilities, providing them with accurate insights for more informed decisions.
Leaders Credit Union, a Tennessee-based financial cooperative, aims to help members achieve all of their financial aspirations. To do this, they need reports they could trust, with a sufficient view of prospect and member behavior. Unfortunately, this was not the case at the start of the project. Their use of Google Looker Studio led to data gaps and clunky reports, as key information was outside the HubSpot environment.
Together we decided to migrate their reporting dashboard from Google Looker Studio to HubSpot, where they were already deeply integrated as a full Enterprise-level HubSpot customer. This move would keep their data in one place, specifically designed for the needs of their board and senior leadership. However, this project wouldn’t be without its obstacles.
Project Goals Overview
The original reports Leaders had on their Looker Studio Dashboard included GA4 Website, Organic, Local, and Conversions overviews, MeridianLink funnel data for loan applications, a Simple Nexus Funnel for mortgage applications, Google Ads, Meta Ads, and three GA4 Board Report pages. The Board Report contained the key insights Leaders needed to present to their executive board on a monthly basis, making it a high priority for us to move to HubSpot.
To create a more seamless experience, they needed HubSpot dashboards that would accurately visualize the data they were currently presenting in the Looker Studio Report. The goal was for their reports to be unified, blending data from these multiple sources. They also needed to be able to segment their traffic sources, so they could gain additional information on engagement metrics and break down their audience behavior by type.
Reporting Dashboard Migration Challenges
As we began the migration process, we ran into some limitations that would require problem-solving. The first issue we encountered was HubSpot’s inability to fully integrate with Google Search Console and Google My Business – which were both necessary for Leaders’ GA4 Organic Overview and Local Overview in the Looker Studio dashboard. As a result, our team would need to integrate a separate data platform to build these reports.
Then, we needed to find a way to expand their MeridianLink application tracking. While Leaders’ HubSpot portal technically has MeridianLink data, it wasn’t enough to give them the information they needed. Without Operations Hub Enterprise, there was no way to build data sets (this was prior to HubSpot releasing data sets as an Operations Hub Professional feature). We needed to create these data sets so we could report on the data from the MeridianLink application behavior.
Plus, though we could technically connect the MeridianLink data to HubSpot, we weren’t able to visualize the data in a way that matched the Looker Studio dashboard. This is because HubSpot doesn’t allow for filtering or customizing the traffic report or the traffic session sources. Finally, Leaders’ basic version of MeridianLink tracking in their HubSpot portal was only capturing page-view level data, meaning any data sets we built wouldn’t be completely accurate.
Our Proposed Solutions
To navigate these issues for our client, we came up with a few potential solutions to present them with. This was an opportunity to educate on the platforms while building transparency. Our suggestions were as follows:
1. Upgrade to Operations Hub Enterprise
In order to migrate the existing reports in Looker to HubSpot, we needed to calculate conversion rates for each of the Leaders application journeys. That said, standard custom reports were not adequate to support these visualizations. We recommended that Leaders upgrade to Operations Hub Enterprise for the more advanced reporting requirements, allowing us to create custom data sets and calculated fields that could be used across all visualizations.
2. Purchase a Databox Subscription
While HubSpot has a GSC integration, it does not support the creation of custom reports for GSC data. The existing Looker dashboard included a report showing the top, non-branded keywords for Leaders, which needed to be included in HubSpot. HubSpot also lacks integrations with Google My Business, another data source included in the existing Looker dashboard that would need to be migrated to HubSpot.
To remedy this, Leaders would need to purchase a Databox subscription and build their GSC and GMB reports there then embed them into the HubSpot dashboard. Databox is a well-integrated platform that can be natively embedded into HubSpot dashboards and supports both GSC and GMB data sources.
3. Implement Advanced MeridianLink Tracking
The existing Looker dashboard gathered data around the total users metric in GA4. While HubSpot does track anonymous visitors, the web activities for those visitors are not available for building the custom reports necessary to migrate from Looker. HubSpot’s equivalent metric is contacts. However, the volume of contacts did not match the volume of total users reported in Looker – which mattered since they were visualizing started and completed online applications.
This is when we suggested our advanced MeridianLink tracking package. Then, Leaders would be able to access field-level tracking on applications, giving them insight into the applications themselves rather than just users or contacts.
Feedback and Iterations
Once we communicated these potential solutions, it became clear that the project would benefit from an extended timeline. This led to a new, phased approach. In addition, the client did not want to move forward with our advanced tracking solution until the new board report was finalized in HubSpot. As a result, our team would need to come up with a compromise that would allow us to complete the project effectively without field-level application tracking.
However, the Leaders team was more receptive to purchasing Databox, since the cost matched up with what they were currently paying. We also worked with our client to find a compromise on certain visual elements and segmenting capabilities.
The End Result
In moving forward with the project, Operations Hub allowed us to deliver reports that required custom calculations, while Databox reports were embedded into the HubSpot dashboards to visualize data that could not be visualized natively. We also reduced the number of dashboards Leaders needed to maintain from 18 in Looker to 7 in HubSpot. Since the majority of data being visualized exists in HubSpot, reports now load much faster and will not experience connectivity issues.
In addition, we leveraged the HubSpot tracking code API to improve their contact tracking. A simplified MeridianLink tracking solution allowed for more consistent visibility into all stages of the application. While not as robust as our full MeridianLink tracking solution, this custom implementation would still provide more detail than their original tracking. Plus, we were able to simplify the process needed to report on account application survey responses from MeridianLink.
What We Learned
Though we were faced with some difficulties when it came to migrating Leaders’ reports, we learned multiple valuable lessons to help shape future projects. To start, most of our clients and prospects would not be able to create more complex reports to visualize their online application journeys without Operations Hub. Moving forward, we will recommend an upgrade or set expectations accordingly if that is not an option.
Since HubSpot does not support Google My Business as a data source, we will require a Databox subscription in cases where this is a requirement. We also learned that board reports have much stricter requirements for visualizations. While HubSpot’s reporting is continuously improving, Databox provides a more complete data source availability and more repeatable reporting designs. For future reporting projects, we will offer board reports through Databox and the remaining marketing dashboards through HubSpot.
Finally, the MeridianLink aspect created an opportunity for our team to discover and build another tier option for our tracking solution – which we can now offer to prospects. We’re excited that we were able to create an end result that satisfied client needs and allowed us to refine our process. If you’re ready for your own digital transformation, reach out to our team today!
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