Automate HubSpot Contact Enrichment with Clearbit & n8n

Opening Problem Statement

Meet Sarah, a busy sales manager handling hundreds of HubSpot contacts daily. As her pipeline grows, she spends valuable hours manually researching each contact’s details like job title, company name, and location. This tedious process not only wastes time but also creates inconsistencies and data gaps in her CRM, leading to missed opportunities and less personalized outreach. Updating contact profiles with accurate, fresh data is critical but daunting when done manually.

This specific challenge is exactly where this powerful n8n automation comes into play. It streamlines Sarah’s workflow by automatically enriching HubSpot contact information using the Clearbit API — no more manual lookup or copy-pasting required.

What This Automation Does

When triggered by a new or updated contact in HubSpot, here’s what this workflow does:

• Automatically fetches the contact’s current details from HubSpot using the contact ID.
• Uses that contact’s email to query Clearbit’s Person API for enriched data like job title, current company, and city.
• Updates the contact in HubSpot with fresh information on their company name, job title, and geographic city.
• Saves hours of manual research across multiple tools, reducing human error.
• Keeps the CRM data consistently accurate, empowering better segmentation and personalized communication.
• Operates entirely automatically whenever contacts are added or modified, maintaining up-to-date profiles effortlessly.

Overall, it frees up crucial time for sales teams to focus on relationships rather than data entry — a true productivity win.

Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n account for workflow automation 🔌
• HubSpot account with Developer API access & OAuth2 credentials 🔑
• Clearbit API key with access to Person API 🔑
• Basic familiarity with HubSpot contacts and Clearbit data

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Set Up the HubSpot Trigger node

Navigate to n8n Editor, click + Add Node, search for HubSpot Trigger, and select it.

In the credentials dropdown, link your HubSpot Developer API account.

Set the trigger to fire on contact events—this will automatically capture when contacts are created or updated.

You should see the webhook URL generated inside the node. This URL will listen for HubSpot contact events.

Common mistake: Forgetting to properly configure the appropriate HubSpot event in the trigger settings can cause the workflow not to activate.

Step 2: Configure the Get Contact node

Add a new node: HubSpot. Select the resource Contact and operation Get.

Use n8n expression to dynamically pull the contact ID from the trigger:
{{$json["contactId"]}}

Attach your HubSpot OAuth2 credentials.

This node fetches full contact details for the triggered contact for further enrichment.

Common mistake: Using static contact IDs rather than dynamic expressions will break the flow on real inputs.

Step 3: Add and Configure the Clearbit node

Add the Clearbit node from the node list.

Set the resource to Person.

For the email parameter, provide the expression:
{{$json["properties"]["email"]["value"]}}

Attach your Clearbit API credentials to authenticate requests.

This node uses the email from the HubSpot contact to retrieve enriched data like job title, company, and city.

Common mistake: Passing incorrect email paths or empty emails will cause API request failures.

Step 4: Update HubSpot contact with enriched data

Add another HubSpot node for updating the contact.

Select resource Contact and operation Update.

Map the fields as follows using expressions:

• email: {{$json[“email”]}}
• city: {{$json[“geo”][“city”]}}
• jobTitle: {{$json[“employment”][“title”]}}
• companyName: {{$json[“employment”][“name”]}}

Connect your HubSpot OAuth2 credentials again.

This updates the contact in HubSpot with fresh enriched details from Clearbit.

Common mistake: Not mapping fields correctly will lead to empty or incorrect contact updates.

Customizations ✏️

• Add More Fields: In the Clearbit node, toggle additional fields like LinkedIn URL or Twitter handle in additionalFields and update mapping accordingly in the Update Contact node.
• Filter Contacts: Use a IF node after the Get Contact node to update only contacts missing data, optimizing API calls and credit consumption.
• Trigger on Specific Properties: Customize the HubSpot Trigger node to fire only on changes to specific contact properties like email or company.

Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: “Clearbit API returns 400 Bad Request”
Cause: Invalid or missing email address passed to Clearbit.
Solution: Check your HubSpot contact property mapping and ensure emails are correctly extracted via expression {{$json["properties"]["email"]["value"]}}.

Problem: “HubSpot OAuth2 Authentication Failure”
Cause: Expired or invalid OAuth2 token.
Solution: Re-authenticate your HubSpot OAuth2 credentials in n8n and test connection before triggering workflow.

Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Test HubSpot trigger by adding a new contact and monitoring the webhook response.
• Verify that the Get Contact node correctly fetches contact details using dynamic IDs.
• Confirm Clearbit node returns enrichment data given valid emails.
• Ensure the Update Contact node properly writes back data into HubSpot fields.
• Backup existing HubSpot contacts or test in a staging environment before production rollout.

Deployment Guide

Activate the workflow by enabling it in n8n. Make sure the webhook URL from HubSpot Trigger node is properly integrated in HubSpot’s webhook settings so events can be received.

Monitor the first few runs in n8n’s execution logs to catch and fix any issues early.

This workflow runs entirely in the cloud or your self-hosted n8n instance—both options supported. For self-hosting guidance, consider services like Hostinger for easy setup.

FAQs

Can I use another enrichment API instead of Clearbit?
Yes, you can replace the Clearbit node with APIs like Hunter.io or FullContact as long as you adjust parameters accordingly.

Does this workflow consume Clearbit API credits?
Yes, each contact enrichment triggers a Clearbit API call, so monitor your usage to avoid overages.

Is sensitive contact data secure?
n8n workflows run in controlled environments; however, ensure your credentials are safely stored, and use HTTPS for all requests.

Conclusion

By the end of this tutorial, you’ve automated the tedious task of enriching HubSpot contacts with valuable details like job title, location, and company info sourced automatically from Clearbit.

This saves countless hours and increases data accuracy, empowering sales and marketing teams to engage contacts more effectively and close deals faster.

Next steps could include expanding the fields enriched, adding automated notifications for new data, or integrating with email tools to send personalized messages.

Take charge of your CRM data quality with this practical n8n workflow and watch your productivity soar!