How We Saved an Education Client $40,000 in HubSpot Costs in 14 Days

Most teams overpay for HubSpot. Not by a little. By a lot. One education client was paying for 400,000+ marketing contacts. But fewer than 80,000 had engaged in the last two years. That gap was burning through about $40,000 every year.

We fixed it fast. In 14 days, we cut their paid marketing contacts from 400,000 to under 80,000. Their bill dropped. Their database got clean. Their reporting made sense again. And yes, this is repeatable.

If you want help right now, grab a Free Strategy Session with our team. We’ll map your savings and build a safe plan.

The “marketing contacts trap,” in plain English

In HubSpot, you choose which contacts are marketing (you plan to engage them with emails or ads) and which are non-marketing (stored, but you don’t market to them). Only marketing contacts count toward your paid tier. If you mark too many as marketing—especially old, cold, or bounced ones—you pay for people you never reach. That’s the trap.

A key detail is the update date. When you change a contact’s status, the billing change takes effect on the next update date for your account. In short: if you flip thousands of contacts the day after that date, you’ll wait until the next cycle to see the savings. Timing matters.

You can set a contact to marketing or non-marketing in bulk with views, segments, imports, or workflows. Forms can also mark contacts as marketing by default (watch those defaults).

What we walked into

Our client is a fast-growing education brand. Their HubSpot portal showed 400,000+ contacts marked as marketing. But a usage check showed that fewer than 80,000 had opened or clicked anything in about two years. The rest were quiet.

That led to three problems:

• Cost: the contact tier was far above the true audience, which pushed them into a higher bill.
• Deliverability risk: sending to unengaged people hurts the sender's reputation and inbox placement. See our practical guide on Gmail clipping and email health for a taste of how small issues pile up.
• Messy reporting: engagement rates looked worse than they were. It was hard to trust the numbers.

They needed a clean reset, fast—before renewal.

Our 5-step fix (ruthless, safe, and fast)

We didn’t reinvent the wheel. We followed a simple playbook and executed without drama.

1. Audit The Database

   First, we pulled engagement history on every contact. We looked at “last email open,” “last click,” “last reply,” “last activity,” and any recent form submissions or purchases. That gave us a clear picture of who was still alive and who was a “zombie.” HubSpot’s own guidance is to use these properties for list cleanup, so the audit aligns with best practice.
   
   We also checked which tools were auto-creating marketing contacts (like forms). It’s easy to turn the default on and forget it—then every submission becomes a paid contact. We adjusted settings so only the right people become marketing going forward.
   
   

2. Segment The Inactives

   Next, we built segments for people who hadn’t engaged in a long time. We kept it simple: “no opens or clicks in X months,” no recent form fills, no active deals. We also added safety nets for VIPs, customers, or anyone with ongoing sales activities. Segmenting first protects deliverability and lets you test with care. 
   
   

3. Re-Engage With A “Last-Chance” Email

   We sent a polite, plain note:
   “Do you still want to hear from us? Click here to stay. If not, we’ll stop marketing to you.”
   
   You don’t need a fancy sequence. One clean message often does the job. Give people 7–14 days to act. If they click or reply, great—they stay. If they don’t, they’re probably not worth paying for. That timing window lines up with common guidance for re-engagement campaigns.
   
   

4. Reclassify Contacts
   

   After the window closed, we moved non-responders to non-marketing. We did it in bulk via segments and (where needed) workflows. This is how you stop paying for those records while keeping the data for sales or service teams. The change takes effect on the next update date, so plan your timing with billing in mind. 
   
   

5. Negotiate The Plan

   Finally, we sat with the client and aligned the contract to the real engaged audience. With a smaller, cleaner base, the conversation is simple: you’re paying for the people you actually market to, not ghosts. If you expect growth later, you can adjust tiers then. For official plan details, always check the current HubSpot product and services catalog and pricing pages (pricing shifts over time).
   
   

The results

In 14 days, paid marketing contacts dropped from 400,000 to under 80,000. The next bill reflected the smaller tier. The team saved about $40,000 per year and got a database they could trust. Deliverability improved. Reporting made sense. Everyone breathed again.

If you want to see how this kind of cleanup fits into your broader marketing engine, skim these quick reads from our blog next:

• Fix Gmail Clipping Issues (good inbox hygiene helps everything) 
• 10 Ways To Boost Quality Leads Using HubSpot (turn a clean list into better pipeline) 
• 10 Lesser-Known HubSpot Features To Grow Business (power tools you may have missed) 
  
  

Want to run this yourself? Start here this month.

You can do a lite version in a couple of working days.

1. Pull engagement data. Use properties like last open, last click, last reply, last activity. Tag obvious VIPs so they don’t get caught in the net. 
2. Build an “inactive” segment. Use a clear cut-off (e.g., no opens/clicks in 12–24 months, no recent form fills, no active deals).
3. Send one “keep me” email. Make it short. Give 7–14 days. Track clicks and replies. 
4. Flip non-responders to non-marketing. Do it before your update date if you can, so the next bill reflects the change. 
5. Watch defaults. Review forms and workflows that may auto-mark new contacts as marketing so you don’t creep back up. 

If you’d like a second set of hands, we can audit the portal for you and build the segments, emails, and workflows. Book a Free Strategy Session to get moving. 

Quick savings math (reader-friendly)

Here’s a simple way to estimate savings without spreadsheets:

1. Count your paid marketing contacts today.
2. Estimate your truly engaged audience (e.g., people who have opened/clicked in the last year and are still relevant).
3. Subtract: Paid − Engaged = Extra you probably shouldn’t be paying for.
4. Check your plan’s contact bands and price per band to estimate the new bill. (This varies by tier and changes over time; always verify with HubSpot’s current pricing.) 

Example (numbers for illustration):

If you pay for 400,000 contacts but only 80,000 are active, you might be paying for 320,000 you don’t need. Drop those to non-marketing and align your plan to ~80,000. That gap is where the savings live.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Waiting until after your update date. If you miss it, savings won’t hit until the next cycle. Mark your calendar. 
• Letting tools mark everyone as marketing. Many forms do this by default. Review and adjust. 
• Mailing the whole list to “wake it up.” A big blast to cold contacts can harm deliverability. Segment first, keep the re-engagement note simple, and stop sending to non-responders. 
  
  

Bonus wins you can stack next

A smaller, fresher audience does more than cut costs. It improves inbox placement and email performance. You’ll see fewer clipped emails, better click-through, and a clearer read on what content works. For a quick primer on one deliverability gotcha (Gmail clipping) and how to solve it, this walkthrough helps.

A clean database also makes attribution and forecasting easier. You’ll stop second-guessing dashboards because they reflect people who actually engage.

Why work with us (vs. a typical partner)

A lot of teams get “advice” and then get left to wrestle settings, segments, and renewals on their own. We don’t do that. We’re operators. We roll up our sleeves, audit the data, build the segments, write the emails, flip the statuses, and sit with you for the renewal so your contract matches reality.

If you want broader help, like tightening campaigns, improving SEO, or building a full email system that converts, this is our day job. Take a look at how we approach marketing and email work, and how we think about Ss as part of your growth stack.

What this means for Education and Healthcare teams

If you sell into schools, districts, or health systems, your cycles are long and your lists can be complex. Compliance matters. Stakeholder sign-off matters. Your contacts often include alumni, parents, or retired staff—people you want to keep in CRM but not market to every month.

This playbook respects that. You keep the records. You stop paying for the ones you aren’t marketing to. Sales can still see them. Service can still support them. You only pay for the people you actually plan to email or target. That’s the point of marketing contacts.

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