Content Syndication via API

[JGondolfo]

I am working with a content syndication company for our lead gen. They want to deliver the leads via API but HubSpot is telling me that I need to custom build an API for this. I can't find any technical documentation for this. 

Has anyone worked on similar external content initiatives that have had to do this before?

[johnelmer · Accepted solution]

@JGondolfo If you want this transfer of data from your content company to be fully automated, you will need a custom integration application that ingests the lead data from your content provider via their API, reformats the data so that it maps to the appropriate contact properties in HubSpot, and then injects the data via HubSpot's APIs.

I would start by asking your content company to send you a sample csv file of the lead data.  Use HubSpot's import tool to make sure you can import the data into the standard contact properties.  If that works, you should have a clear path ahead to build the automated integration. 

I would also ask if they can just send you the CSV file on a scheduled basis instead of forcing you to pull the data by APIs. It may turn out that a once per week manual import gets the job done.

(Disclosure: We build custom API integration apps like this, and also have 9 prebuilt integration apps in the HubSpot App marketplace.)

[lynton]

I agree with @dennisedson it's hard to make the best recommendation without more context. If your content syndication company is equipped to send the leads via API, it's possible they have the capability to send the leads directly to HubSpot's API. The two APIs I'd recommend as a starting point: https://legacydocs.hubspot.com/docs/methods/forms/submit_form or  https://legacydocs.hubspot.com/docs/methods/contacts/create_or_update. Either of these will create or update a contact in HubSpot by email address and will include all the fields sent by the content syndication service. The Forms API is great if they're sending one-off leads as you can easily trigger workflows from the form submissions. If they're sending the same leads on a regular basis, the non-form approach is better to avoid flooding the HubSpot Contact Timeline with form submissions. 

If the syndication company wants you to pull from their api, then you will need to write your own middleware code. Hopefully the content syndication company can give you some more direction on this, but let us know if we can answer any other questions.

[dennisedson]

Hey @JGondolfo 

Might need a bit more info on the project to accurately point in the correct direction.  Adding @lynton to this as he is a wizard 😀