OVERVIEW

Industry: Media & Publishing
Company Size: Multi-Market Publisher (4 Markets, 25–40 Publications)
Services: HubSpot CRM Onboarding, Custom CRM Setup, Inbound Strategy, Sales Enablement, Cross-Market Alignment

About Hagadone Media Group

Hagadone Media Group is a leading regional publisher and media company with a multi-market footprint across the United States. Operating 25–40 niche publications, including local news, business, culture, and community lifestyle products, Hagadone delivers targeted advertising solutions that help local businesses reach highly engaged audiences.

As the organization evolves, leadership is focused on strengthening sales performance, proving advertiser ROI, and modernizing processes through CRM adoption, inbound marketing, and unified sales enablement.

Industry Context

The media and publishing landscape is undergoing rapid transformation as advertisers demand clearer performance attribution, stronger reporting, and measurable value for both print and digital investments.
For multi-market publishers like Hagadone, inconsistent CRM usage and fragmented sales workflows create major risks: lack of visibility, lost revenue, slow onboarding, and inaccurate forecasting.

Sales leaders across the industry face similar challenges—making effective CRM adoption and inbound strategy essential for long-term growth, rep accountability, and advertiser trust.

THE CHALLENGE

Hagadone’s sales organization had been operating without a consistent CRM system for years. Across its four markets, teams relied on spreadsheets, isolated systems, and fragmented processes, causing major inefficiencies and visibility issues.

Key challenges included:

• Inconsistent or nonexistent CRM usage across markets.

• Sales reps relying on spreadsheets and manual tracking, leading to inaccuracies and duplicated data.

• Leadership lacking visibility into pipeline, revenue categories, deal stages, and lead sources.

• Legacy systems scattered across markets including Goldmine, Pipedrive, and Salesforce—with no unified system.

• Decades-long frustration with disconnected data and missed opportunities due to lack of alignment.

Why This Matters

The lack of a consistent CRM created high financial risk. Leadership estimated that losing a long-tenured rep without a CRM could result in ~$200,000 in lost revenue due to undocumented relationships and incomplete sales histories.

With multiple markets and sales structures in place, Hagadone needed a unified solution that would standardize workflows, create cross-market visibility, and build trust in sales data.

THE PROBLEM

Before partnering with LeadG2, Hagadone faced long-standing, systemic issues across its sales organization:

No Standardized CRM or Sales Process

Each market operated differently, often using incompatible systems—or none at all. This prevented leadership from accessing accurate sales activity or forecasting data.

Inadequate Visibility into Revenue Categories

Complex revenue structures (print, digital, niche, non-niche) made pipeline tracking nearly impossible without a modern CRM built for the organization’s needs.

Fragmented Lead Management and Handoff Gaps

Marketing-generated leads lacked a clear process or unified tracking system, creating inconsistencies between lead flow and sales follow-up.

Longstanding Organizational Frustration

Sales leaders noted that misalignment and duplicate data entry had been a “stumbling block for decades,” and teams had been “wishing and hoping for a CRM and lead generation” for years.

THE SOLUTION

LeadG2 delivered a comprehensive CRM transformation and inbound enablement strategy across all four markets:

Full HubSpot CRM Onboarding & Optimization

• Implemented HubSpot as the unified CRM across markets.
• Built standardized workflows, deal stages, and activity tracking systems.
• Provided onboarding support tailored to leaders and reps.

Custom CRM Configuration for Complex Media Revenue Models

• Created custom properties for print, digital, niche, and non-niche revenue categories.
• Designed tracking systems aligned with Hagadone’s unique sales structure.

Reporting Dashboards & Cross-Market Visibility

• Built dashboards for sales reps, managers, and executives to track deals, sales activity, goals, and revenue by publication.

• Enabled real-time visibility into performance, coaching opportunities, and bottlenecks.

Inbound Strategy & Marketing Alignment

• Supported inbound campaign creation to generate new lead flow.

• Integrated HubSpot’s new Loop Marketing Playbook to create consistency across markets.

• Strengthened the marketing-to-sales handoff process.

Sales Enablement, Training & Leadership Support

• Delivered HubSpot feature deep-dives, sales content workshops, and ongoing adoption training.

• Facilitated collaboration between sales and marketing to drive adoption and accountability.

• Provided continuous consulting to help Hagadone embrace HubSpot as a single source of truth. 

THE RESULTS

Key Outcomes

• HubSpot adoption increased across all four markets.
• Leadership gained reliable visibility into booked revenue by publication and timeframe, improving 1:1 coaching effectiveness.
• Multi-market inbound campaigns launched, generating a new pipeline of marketing-driven leads.
• Clear attribution of marketing initiatives to revenue became possible—strengthening advertiser value stories.

Qualitative Wins

• Stronger trust in sales and marketing data.
• Improved collaboration between sales reps and leaders.
• A modern, transparent system that aligns marketing and sales strategies.
• Lead flow gaps solved, improving follow-up consistency and accountability.