wiki/knowledge/crm-automation/aviary-sendgrid-hubspot-integration.md · 508 words · 2026-04-05

Aviary SendGrid + HubSpot Integration

Overview

For Aviary's outbound email workstream, the team aligned on SendGrid as the email delivery platform, connected to HubSpot for engagement tracking. Apollo serves as the prospecting and list-building layer, with lists imported into HubSpot as the CRM of record. This setup avoids the cost of HubSpot Marketing Pro while preserving full engagement visibility.

Architecture

Apollo (prospect data)
    └─→ HubSpot (CRM / contact records)
            ↑
SendGrid (email delivery) ─→ HubSpot connector (engagement events)

Apollo is used for prospecting and list-building at small scale. Admin access requested so the team can review existing lists, align targeting, and export for HubSpot import.
SendGrid handles email creation and delivery. Engagement events (opens, clicks) are piped back to HubSpot via the SendGrid→HubSpot connector.
HubSpot is the system of record for contacts, activities, and engagement history. Emails are not created in HubSpot — they originate in SendGrid — but all downstream data flows back.

SendGrid Plan Details

Aviary is expected to be on the Essentials plan (~$19.95/mo):

Plan	Price	Volume	Teammates
Essentials	$19.95/mo	50,000 emails/mo	1 additional
Pro	$90/mo	100,000+ emails/mo	Multiple

Recommendation: Essentials is sufficient for current volume. If multiple Asymmetric team members (e.g., Mark + Raphael) need simultaneous access, either upgrade to Pro or provision a shared team login (e.g., team@asymmetric.pro) as an admin user on the Aviary account.

Key friction point: Logging in as Aaron triggers OTP/2FA, which creates operational friction. A dedicated admin user for Asymmetric avoids this entirely.

Access Requirements

Tool	Access Needed	Owner	Status
SendGrid	Admin/team user for Mark	Sebastian to request from Aaron	⏳ Pending
Apollo	Admin access	Sebastian to request from Aaron	⏳ Pending
HubSpot	Existing access assumed	Mark	✅

Setup Tasks (Mark)

Once admin access to SendGrid is granted:

Configure SendGrid → HubSpot connector — enable engagement event sync (opens, clicks, bounces)
Add tracking to outbound emails (UTM parameters, pixel tracking as applicable)
Create initial email sequences in SendGrid aligned to ABM target list
Validate data flow — confirm events appear correctly on HubSpot contact timelines

Apollo Usage Notes

Aviary currently uses Apollo at small scale (possibly for client onboarding communications — exact use case to confirm). The immediate goal is:

Get admin access to review existing account/contact data
Align Apollo lists with the Tier 1 ABM target account list
Export and import enriched contacts into HubSpot

Apollo functions similarly to ZoomInfo in this stack — primarily a data source, not a sending platform.

^[4] — parallel outreach channel for Aviary ABM
^[5] — general connector setup notes
^[6] — sales tool being built in parallel
^[3] — source meeting where stack was finalized