MAM
HubSpot free CRM users get access to more marketing tools
MUMBAI: HubSpot, a leading growth platform, announced that it now offers free email creation, sending, and analytics as part of the free HubSpot CRM. In doing so, HubSpot gives users the tools they need to see the full view of the customer journey and ultimately provide a more cohesive front-end experience for their customers.
Growing businesses often suffer from app overload – according to a report from HubSpot Research, 82 per cent of respondents indicated that they lose up to an hour a day logging into and managing disparate systems. That lost time can be particularly damaging to a growing business that’s working with small teams and limited budgets. By bringing email and advertising tools into the free CRM, HubSpot is giving users the ability to manage those essential features in one connected system, saving them precious time and providing insight into the entire customer experience.
“Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of email marketing tools that are targeted to the needs of small or growing businesses. Unfortunately, those free or low-cost solutions are often standalone and don’t provide a full view of the customer experience,” said HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar.
Bodnar added, “We believe that email and CRM belong together, and that every marketer, no matter the size of their budget, should be able to see how their efforts are impacting their customers and, ultimately, their bottom line. We’re offering email as part of our free CRM to enable growing businesses to finally see how their efforts impact their customers’ experience beyond just a single email or interaction.”
“As a startup, we're always looking for new tools that will help us make an impact on a smaller budget. We often end up signing up for lots of disjointed tools, which can make it tough to get a full view of the customer journey,” said Picmonic student outreach consultant Thomas Berry. “With HubSpot's new email features, we're able to combine those automation tools with the insights we gather in the CRM. We always aim to put our customers first and with the launch of these powerful (and free) tools, we can provide them with an even better experience.”
HubSpot CRM users are now able to create contact lists and send up to 2,000 emails per month, all with an email editor that is designed with efficiency and ease of use in mind. The company also announced today that it has expanded the capabilities of the free tier of its ads tools, which previously only supported Facebook lead ads. Starting today, users of HubSpot’s free marketing tools can manage and track up to $1,000 per month of ad spend across Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn ads. The tool also includes conversion-level reporting and up to two account connections. Both features feed insights back into the CRM, giving users a full view of how prospects and customers are interacting with their business.
“The free tools offered by HubSpot enable an agency like us to introduce the concept, capabilities, and fit of HubSpot to a prospect or client early in the sales process,” said Indian HubSpot Diamond Partner Transfunnel CEO and founder Kapil Arora.
He added, “They’re able to see the power of the products firsthand, which enables us to build trust and demonstrate the value of the platform. By offering email and ads as part of the free CRM, HubSpot has created another touchpoint for us to showcase the early value and attract new clients.”
TAGS: HubSpot, HubSpot CRM, Kipp Bodnar, Thomas Berry, Kapil Arora
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
