Hupspot Guide to Cultural Competence
Modern marketing teams using Hubspot or similar platforms must master cultural competence to create campaigns that resonate across borders, identities, and experiences. Cultural competence is no longer optional; it is a core skill for any brand that wants to reach diverse audiences ethically and effectively.
This guide, inspired by the cultural competence framework explained on the HubSpot Marketing Blog, walks you through practical steps to understand and apply culturally aware practices in your marketing, content, and customer communication.
What Cultural Competence Means for Hubspot Marketers
Cultural competence is the ongoing process of learning about different cultures, identities, and experiences, then using that knowledge to interact with people respectfully and effectively. For Hubspot users, this shows up everywhere in the customer journey—from email copy and landing pages to workflows and customer support scripts.
Key elements of cultural competence include:
- Self-awareness about your own background and biases
- Knowledge of other cultures, identities, and lived experiences
- Skills for respectful communication across differences
- Continuous learning and improvement over time
When you build these skills into your Hubspot-driven campaigns, you reduce the risk of insensitive messaging and increase trust with diverse segments of your audience.
Why Cultural Competence Matters in Hubspot Campaigns
Culturally competent marketing is not just about avoiding mistakes; it is about building stronger relationships with people you want to serve. Inside Hubspot, this directly impacts how you plan, segment, and measure your campaigns.
Cultural competence helps you:
- Create inclusive content that speaks to real experiences
- Segment audiences more thoughtfully using Hubspot lists and properties
- Prevent stereotypes and harmful assumptions in your messaging
- Increase engagement, trust, and long-term loyalty
Every email workflow, blog series, or ad campaign you launch from Hubspot is an opportunity to either invite people in or unintentionally push them away.
Four Stages of Cultural Competence for Hubspot Teams
The source article outlines cultural competence as a developmental process. You can apply these stages directly to how your team uses Hubspot to design and deliver marketing experiences.
1. Unconscious Incompetence in Hubspot Messaging
At this stage, teams are largely unaware of gaps in their cultural knowledge. They may not realize their Hubspot content reflects only one dominant perspective or that some audience groups are being excluded.
Common signs include:
- Using generic personas that overlook race, gender identity, disability, or socioeconomic context
- Relying on stock imagery that reflects only one type of person
- No internal review for cultural sensitivity before launching campaigns
The goal is to move from not knowing there is a gap to recognizing that change is needed.
2. Conscious Incompetence in Hubspot Campaign Planning
Here, marketers begin to see the limits of their own perspective. They realize that their Hubspot campaigns may not fully reflect or respect the diversity of their audience.
Key behaviors include:
- Asking questions about representation in visuals and stories
- Noticing when language might be exclusionary or biased
- Seeking feedback from colleagues, customers, or community groups
This stage is uncomfortable but essential. It is where Hubspot teams commit to learning before acting.
3. Conscious Competence in Hubspot Content Creation
At this stage, teams actively and deliberately apply cultural knowledge to their Hubspot workflows and assets. Inclusive practices are intentional and visible.
Examples of conscious competence:
- Using inclusive language guidelines while drafting emails and landing pages
- Testing subject lines and CTAs across different segments for tone and impact
- Building audience segments in Hubspot that reflect real variables like language, region, and accessibility needs
Because the skills are still new, the team must think carefully about every choice, but the output is already more respectful and effective.
4. Unconscious Competence in Hubspot Operations
Eventually, inclusive thinking becomes part of your team’s reflexes. Cultural competence is “baked in” to how you plan and execute work in Hubspot, rather than treated as a last-minute check.
Indicators of this stage:
- Consistently seeing diverse stories and perspectives in campaigns
- Automatically flagging potentially harmful phrasing before it goes live
- Embedding cultural review steps in your Hubspot workflows and playbooks
Even at this stage, constant learning is necessary. Cultures, language, and social contexts evolve, so your Hubspot strategies must evolve as well.
How to Build Cultural Competence Into Hubspot Workflows
To operationalize cultural competence, structure it into your day-to-day Hubspot activity rather than treating it as a one-off initiative.
Step 1: Audit Your Existing Hubspot Assets
Begin with a quick but honest assessment of what you already have in your portal.
- Review email templates, landing pages, and blog posts for representation and language.
- Look at your personas and segments: who is included, and who is missing?
- Check imagery, examples, and stories for diversity and potential stereotypes.
Document any patterns you see—both positive and negative—so you can track improvement over time.
Step 2: Set Inclusive Content Standards for Hubspot
Create clear guidelines your team can follow whenever they build something in Hubspot.
Your standards might cover:
- Inclusive language and terminology
- Representation goals for visuals and stories
- Accessibility practices for email and web content
- Review steps before publishing any high-impact campaign
Store these standards where everyone can access them and link to them from your internal Hubspot playbooks or campaign briefs.
Step 3: Use Hubspot Segmentation Thoughtfully
Hubspot offers powerful segmentation options, but they must be used responsibly. Align segments with respectful, non-exploitative practices.
For example, you can:
- Segment by preferred language for more relevant messaging
- Adjust send times and holidays by region or country
- Tailor content topics to local context without stereotyping
Avoid building segments that rely on harmful assumptions or that target vulnerable groups in ways that prioritize profit over well-being.
Step 4: Build Feedback Loops Into Hubspot Campaigns
Cultural competence improves when you listen to the people you want to reach. Design feedback mechanisms into your Hubspot experiences.
Ideas include:
- Short feedback forms on key landing pages
- Surveys sent through Hubspot email asking if content feels inclusive and respectful
- Open fields where respondents can share how your content could better reflect their experience
Use this feedback to refine your messages, images, and offers on a regular basis.
Step 5: Train Your Hubspot Team Continuously
Tools do not create cultural competence—people do. Make training part of your marketing culture, not a one-time event.
Helpful approaches:
- Host internal sessions on bias, identity, and inclusive language
- Invite guest speakers or partner organizations with lived experience
- Encourage your team to read widely and bring back insights for future Hubspot campaigns
Document lessons learned in your process docs so new team members can ramp up quickly.
Ethical and Strategic Benefits for Hubspot Users
Cultural competence is both a moral responsibility and a strategic advantage for any brand operating with Hubspot. Inclusive, culturally aware marketing leads to:
- Greater trust and credibility with diverse audiences
- More accurate and empathetic customer personas
- Higher engagement metrics and better conversion quality
- Reduced risk of backlash or reputational damage
By treating cultural competence as a continuous journey, your team can use Hubspot not only to grow revenue but also to support the dignity and experiences of the communities you serve.
Next Steps and Additional Resources
To deepen your understanding of cultural competence in marketing, revisit the full explanation and examples on the original HubSpot cultural competence article. Use it alongside your internal guidelines to shape every stage of your campaigns.
If you need strategic support implementing culturally competent workflows, segmentation, and content operations across your marketing stack, you can explore consulting services from partners such as Consultevo, who specialize in optimizing customer experiences and digital strategy.
Over time, integrating cultural competence into your Hubspot processes will help your organization create marketing that is not only effective, but genuinely respectful, inclusive, and aligned with the diverse realities of your customers.
Need Help With Hubspot?
If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your Hubspot , work with ConsultEvo, a team who has a decade of Hubspot experience.
“`
