The Client

We're passionate about helping organizations leverage technology to create meaningful connections with their audiences. When the Houston Zoo asked for our help with a complex marketing technology situation, we saw a chance to change how they interact with the millions who visit, become members, and donate.

Located in Houston's Hermann Park, the Houston Zoo is a big operation, spanning 55 acres. It is home to over 6,000 animals, representing more than 900 species. The zoo welcomes around 2 million visitors each year, ranking it as the second most visited zoo in the United States. Behind these impressive numbers is a sophisticated organization that handles many different types of people — from school groups and first-time visitors to annual members and big donors. Each group needs its communication plan to strengthen its bond with the zoo's conservation goals.

The Challenge

When we started working with the Houston Zoo, their marketing team struggled with technological limits. These limits stopped them from reaching their ambitious goals for engaging people. Despite having rich data about their visitors, members, and other contacts in Microsoft Dynamics, they could not effectively utilize this information for marketing.

Our exploration exposed some significant problems:

• Limited Segmentation: The zoo's email platform, MyEmma, lacked the tools to properly group and target its different audiences. The marketing teams could not make detailed audience groups to send personalized messages to various kinds of visitors, membership levels, or donor types. This generic strategy missed chances for engagement at all stages.
• Manual, Non-Automated Processes: The team's routine had a time-consuming process that showed their struggles: staff had to export lists of ticket buyers from Dynamics daily, then copy these lists into their email platform to send follow-up messages and other communication — from pre-visit details to welcome emails to thank you emails and beyond. This manual data work wasted employee time and caused delays, preventing timely messages.
• Siloed Data: The zoo's valuable data, such as ticket purchases, membership details, donation history, and event attendance, was in Microsoft Dynamics but separate from their marketing. Their email platform could not access this collection of data, leaving the marketing team unable to understand their audience's connection with the zoo fully.
• Lost Opportunities: These technical problems hurt the zoo's ability to meet its primary goals: raising visitor lifetime value, increasing donation income, and keeping members. The zoo's leaders knew they needed to send the right message at the right time to each audience, but their tech setup made this nearly impossible.

The Solutions

Phase 1: Building the Foundation

Our first step was to create a strong, connected marketing tech system to support complex engagement plans.

Platform Migration to Marketing Hub

We provided the Houston Zoo with expert advice to help them switch from myEmma to HubSpot’s Marketing Hub. Because we’ve helped other groups move from older systems to HubSpot, we knew how to guide the Zoo through the move and avoid common mistakes. 

While the Zoo’s team did the actual work of switching over, we made sure they were set up for success. After the move, we also gave them complete HubSpot training (more on this later), so they could take advantage of all the new platform offers beyond just email.

Custom Microsoft Dynamics to HubSpot Integration

The centerpiece of our technical solution was a custom integration that finally connected the zoo's CRM with its marketing automation system. This sync created a continuous flow of fresh data from Dynamics into HubSpot:

• Contacts → Contacts: Both Dynamics Contacts and Leads were mapped to HubSpot Contacts, creating a unified database of all individuals
• Accounts → Companies: Organizational records were synchronized as Companies, enabling B2B engagement for corporate partnerships and group sales
• Usage → Custom Object: We created a custom Usage object to track how visitors use their tickets—which exhibits they visit, programs they attend, and experiences they enjoy
• Purchases → Deals (Purchase Pipeline): Every ticket purchase became a Deal in a dedicated pipeline, providing real-time visibility into transaction patterns and revenue
• Memberships → Custom Object: Membership data synchronized as a custom object, capturing membership levels, renewal dates, and benefit utilization
• Events → Custom Object: Special events, educational programs, and camps were tracked as custom objects, enabling targeted promotion and follow-up
• Gateway Orders → Deals (Gateway Transactions Pipeline): Online store and donation transactions flowed into a separate pipeline for comprehensive e-commerce tracking
• Opt Out Status ↔ Opt Out Status: This bidirectional sync ensured compliance preferences were honored across both systems

Historical Data Synchronization

Knowing that old data was necessary for personalization, we performed a full historical sync of all their deals. This meant the zoo did not have to start over, as years of interaction history were available for work in their new integrated systems.

Comprehensive Training and Enablement

We provided extensive onboarding and platform training, but went beyond generic HubSpot education to deliver role-specific sessions:

• The marketing team learned advanced segmentation and campaign creation.
• Development staff learned how to create automated donor communication and accurate segmentation.
• Membership staff learned about renewal campaigns.
• Guest experience teams learned how to collect and monitor feedback.

Phase 2: Automating the Zoo

Following the successful integration implementation, the Houston Zoo extended our partnership to leverage their newly connected data for sophisticated marketing automation — outlining what we called their "automation blueprint."

While we have not fully implemented every live workflow yet inside of HubSpot, we are actively working on these and always recommending new ideas. 

Strategic Audience Journey Mapping

As part of understanding the zoo's audience, we made clear journey maps for each of the zoo's main audience groups, including:

• Leads: Individuals who had shown interest but hadn't yet visited, requiring nurture campaigns to convert interest into attendance
• Visitors/Attendees: From one-time guests to frequent visitors, each requiring different messaging to deepen their connection
• Members: Annual pass holders at various tiers, needing retention strategies, upgrade prompts, and exclusive content
• Donors: Supporters ranging from small-dollar contributors to major philanthropists, each requiring appropriate stewardship
• Education Contacts: Teachers, schools, and camp participants with seasonal engagement patterns and specific program interests

For each group, we noted:

• Entry points into the communication
• Triggers that would start campaigns
• Required marketing assets and content
• HubSpot lists and segmentation criteria
• Success metrics

Automated Workflow Implementation

Working alongside the zoo's teams, we are currently in the process of building and recommending dozens of automated workflows to help their marketing operations: 

Visitor Experience Workflows

• Pre-visit ticket reminders sent 24 hours before arrival, including parking information, weather updates, and must-see attractions
• Post-visit surveys deployed within 48 hours of attendance, capturing feedback while experiences were fresh
• Seasonal campaigns promoting special events based on past attendance patterns

Membership Lifecycle Automation

• Pre-visit ticket reminders sent 24 hours before arrival, including parking information, weather updates, and must-see attractions
• Post-visit surveys deployed within 48 hours of attendance, capturing feedback while experiences were fresh
• Seasonal campaigns promoting special events based on past attendance patterns

Donor Stewardship Journeys

• Immediate acknowledgment emails with tax receipts for online donations
• Multi-step stewardship series based on giving levels
• Impact reports showing how donations support conservation efforts
• Personalized appeals based on giving history and interest areas
• Monthly donor newsletters with exclusive behind-the-scenes content

Education and Camp Engagement:

• Seasonal camp promotion campaigns timed to school calendar patterns
• Teacher newsletters with curriculum-aligned resources
• Field trip follow-up sequences with educational materials
• Early-bird registration campaigns for returning camp families

Content Subscription Nurtures

• Welcome series for newsletter subscribers with popular content
• Preference centers allowing subscribers to choose interest areas
• Re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers
• Content recommendation engines based on engagement history

Future Innovations and Continuous Improvement

Our work with the Houston Zoo continues to grow, with some great ideas in progress:

• AI-Powered Customer Service Chatbot: We're implementing an AI-powered HubSpot chatbot on the website that can instantly answer frequently asked questions about hours, directions, ticket prices, and special events. This will improve visitor experience while reducing strain on customer service teams.
• SMS Marketing via HubSpot: Text messaging capabilities will enable real-time communication for weather-related closures, flash promotions, updates during visits ("The elephant feeding starts in 10 minutes!"), quick donation appeals, and multi-channel campaign integration with existing email workflows.
• Dynamic Event Landing Pages: We're creating smart landing pages for special events that adapt content based on visitor history and content modules rearrange based on user preferences.
• WiFi Marketing Through BeamBox Integration: By integrating with BeamBox WiFi services, the zoo will capture opt-ins from on-site visitors, enabling location-based messaging about nearby exhibits, real-time promotional offers, post-visit follow-up campaigns, and visitor movement pattern analysis for optimized marketing.
• New Donation Platform Integration: We're working to move from manual donation data imports to real-time synchronization with their giving platform, enabling instant donor acknowledgment, live campaign progress updates, triggered upgrade appeals based on giving patterns, and sophisticated major donor cultivation strategies.