10:11am
By: Colin Bish, Director of Marketing Services
Every marketing team has that one recurring task that eats up hours each month. It’s repetitive, manual, and it feels like there has to be a better way. For one client, that task was managing content submissions from dozens of external partners for a twice-monthly email bulletin.
What seemed simple, collecting article titles, links, descriptions, and categories, had become a massive time sink. Each cycle required manually gathering entries in a shared spreadsheet, building the email from scratch, formatting every article by hand, and testing and scheduling the send. By the time the email went out, the process had already started again.
The result? Tens of hours spent on repetitive work that didn’t scale.
The client’s team was spending between 30 and 40 hours every month on what should have been an automated workflow. Partner-submitted articles were stored in a spreadsheet that couldn’t be copied cleanly into an email builder. Each bulletin featured 15 to 20 articles, requiring the team to rebuild every section manually twice a month. The process worked, but barely.
The team needed a system that:
We built an end-to-end automation in HubSpot that eliminated most of the manual steps while expanding what the client could do with the content.
Our approach started by designing custom properties to store all relevant article details such as title, author, company, description, category, link, and status. From there, we built submission forms that fed those properties directly, making it easy for sponsors to upload content accurately and consistently.
Next, we created tiered landing pages that aligned with each partner level. Lower-tier partners could submit one article per issue, while higher tiers could submit two. These pages also outlined deadlines, publish dates, and submission guidelines, turning a once-confusing process into a clear, self-service experience.
When new submissions come in, the team can now export them as a CSV file and upload directly into HubSpot’s HubDB, where the data automatically populates a centralized content table. Once proofed, changing the status to “Published” instantly makes that content live across their system.
Then came the most powerful part.
We developed custom programmable email modules that automatically pull in only “Published” content from HubDB. Each category has its own dynamic section, giving the team full control over which articles appear and in what order, all without touching a line of code.
The modules also include date range filters and drag-and-drop ordering, allowing flexibility from one bulletin to the next. With this system, what used to take days now takes minutes.
Finally, we extended that same HubDB-powered content to the client’s new website. Published articles are now automatically available in relevant sections and linked directly to sponsor pages, turning what was once a one-time email into a lasting piece of online visibility.
What used to be an entirely manual operation is now almost fully automated. The process is faster, cleaner, and infinitely more scalable.
Most importantly, the client’s marketing team can now focus on higher-value work such as strategy, creativity, and growth rather than repetitive administrative labor.
At Brasco ///, we believe marketing technology should simplify, not complicate. Automation is not just about saving time; it’s about unlocking potential.
When systems are built thoughtfully, they don’t just make work faster; they make it better. This project is proof that with the right strategy, platforms like HubSpot can transform complex, manual processes into streamlined, scalable systems that extend the reach and value of your content.
The payoff is clear: more efficiency, more consistency, and more room for creativity.