Hi HubSpot Community!
We have contacts that include a medical specialty. Some contacts have one, some have multiple, and some have none.
We want to build out workflows for each specialty.
The issue is how to avoid overwhelming someone with more than one medical specialty.
Any ideas?
We have Marketing Hub Pro.
Hi @abencan,
This depends on the exact planned setup of these journeys. Generally, there is this setting on the Enterprise tier: Set up an email frequency safeguard
If you don’t want to skip but delay emails, you need to develop a logic that either queues other workflows or delays individual emails.
Queuing workflows can work by setting a property at the beginning of the workflow, e.g. “Currently in email workflow” and clearing it at the end. Workflow enrollment would only be allowed for contacts where this property is empty.
Delaying emails could be solved by creating a custom date property “Last email send date”, which you set after each email send. Before each email send, you check whether this is at least 1 day ago, for example, only then you proceed. If not, you delay for more days, before checking again - this can get quickly out of hand though.
I recommend the above option which blocks workflow enrollment entirely if someone is already within an email series.
Best regards
@karstenkoehler thanks for your reply!
1. We do not have enterprise level so while that sounds great, it seems we would not have access
2. Could you lay out a bit more detail for your recommended option, I would agree that does seem the better option
@abencan sure, could you let me know which part about that is unclear so I know what to focus on?
@karstenkoehler how does the queueing actually work? How will the system know to go to the next specialty?
@abencan I would need a bit more context as to how you’re planning to set up these specialties and what you want delivery to look like. How are you documenting which speciality someone is signed up for? Is there a priority which one should be sent first?
If you have specialties A, B and C, you could also set up workflows that work as follows:
If specialty A is selected, then enroll in workflow for A
At the end of this workflow check if B is selected, if so, send them to workflow for B
If specialty B is selected and if A is not selected, enroll in workflow for B
At the end of this workflow check if C is selected, if so, send them to workflow for C
If specialty C is selected and if A and B are not selected, enroll in workflow for C
This would assume a hierarchy and would have built-in queueing through the “Go to workflow” at the end of workflows. Nuances can still depend on your exact setup but that’s how I’d approach it.
Hi @abencan - great question, this is a very common challenge when contacts can qualify for multiple journeys.
You’re already getting solid advice above. Just to simplify and make it actionable, there are two practical approaches you can use in Marketing Hub Pro:
Option 1: Queue via a control property (recommended)
Create a property like “In Email Flow” (Yes/No)
How it works:
- At the start of each workflow → check if In Email Flow = No
- If yes → set it to Yes and continue
- At the end → set it back to No
This ensures a contact can only be in one email flow at a time
To handle multiple specialties:
- Use enrollment triggers + re-enrollment
- Once the contact exits one workflow, they can enter the next eligible one
Option 2: Single master workflow with branching
If you prefer one place to manage everything:
- Use a multi-checkbox property (your specialties)
- Build a workflow with if/then branches
- Add delays + internal logic to process specialties in a defined order
This avoids overlap but can get complex as you scale
When you don’t have Enterprise
Since email frequency safeguards aren’t available on Pro, you basically have to build this control layer yourself (like the approaches above).
Another option is to use tools that help orchestrate enrollments into sequences with built-in logic (delays, conditions, prioritization), so you don’t have to manage multiple workflows manually.
For example, FlowNer (HubSpot marketpalce app overview page) lets you enroll contacts into sequences based on workflow triggers with more control over timing and logic — which can help avoid overlaps when multiple conditions are true.
I used AI-assisted to help format this post
Best
John
Hi @abencan,
If email safeguarding is not an option for you, then see if these are
1. You can determine the priority for your email flows based on specialty and can add a trigger like “Contacts that are not enrolled in Workflow Email flow - Cardiology” and Specialty=Neurology, send the email flow for Neurology.
* the same exclusion would work with surpression rules
2. My recommendation: You can obtain that with a single, master workflow, with multiple branches (if you have up to 20) - and you don’t stress about a contact being in multiple workflows.
List your specialties in each branch, from left to right.
Left would be check first, right would checked last.
On the left most branch you can have your most important specialty and after its email flow is done, add a step to check if the contact has other specialties so you can send it to other branches after.
Thank you very much @CosminExplore
We have at least 10 or so specialties, so I think the single, master workflow idea sounds right.
Are you saying in that single master workflow each specialty would have an email workflow below it? All in one workflow? How would you set up that specialty check for a multi-checkbox property?