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HubSpotRebrandData Cleanup

The HubSpot Rebrand Checklist: How to Update 10,000+ Records Without Losing Your Mind

Nathan··8 min read

A rebrand sounds exciting until you're staring at 15,000 contact records, 3,000 company records, a CMS with 200 blog posts, and the realization that your old company name is buried in every single one of them.

This is the checklist we wish existed before we had to figure it out the hard way. Follow it in order, and you'll get through a HubSpot rebrand without a data disaster.

Before You Touch Anything: The Pre-Rebrand Audit

Don't start replacing until you know exactly what you're dealing with. Rushing this step is how teams end up with partial updates that are harder to clean up than the original mess.

Run a full search before the cutover date:

  • Search your old company name across all contact records (first name, last name, company name, job title, notes)
  • Search your old domain across email addresses, website URLs, and company domain fields
  • Search your old brand name in deal names and deal descriptions
  • Search all CMS content: blog posts, site pages, landing pages
  • Check custom properties for brand-specific values
  • Look at email templates and sequences that reference the old name

Write down the total record count for each. You'll want this as a baseline to verify your replacements landed correctly.

Identify your blast radius:

Some updates are cosmetic (a logo in a template). Others are functional (a company domain field that drives automations). Know the difference before you start.

  • Company domain field: touches email deliverability, deduplication logic, and potentially integrations
  • Contact email addresses: don't change these unless the domain itself changed
  • URLs in CMS content: broken links hurt SEO and user experience immediately
  • Deal and contact names: mostly cosmetic, but customers might see them

What to Update (In Order)

1. Company Records

Start here. Your company records anchor everything else in the CRM.

  • Update the Company Name field (exact match on old name)
  • Update the Company Domain Name field if the domain changed
  • Update website URL fields
  • Check the "About Us" or description property if you use one
  • Update any custom properties that store brand-specific values

How many records: Run a search filtered to your old company name before replacing. Preview the list. If you see records that shouldn't match, adjust your search pattern.

2. Contact Records

Contacts are usually the largest volume, but most updates here are lower risk.

  • Update company name field on associated contacts (if you store it separately)
  • Update email addresses if the domain changed (example: @oldcompany.com to @newcompany.com)
  • Check job title fields for old company name references
  • Update any notes or description fields with brand mentions
  • Review contact owner email addresses if they changed with the rebrand

Important: Changing email addresses affects sending and automation matching. Test a small batch first and make sure your email workflows don't break.

3. Deal Records

Deals often have brand names in their titles and descriptions.

  • Search deal names for old company/product name
  • Search deal descriptions and notes
  • Check any custom deal properties that reference brand names
  • Update line item product names if they include the old brand

4. URLs and Domain References

This is the most technically risky category. A wrong URL breaks things immediately.

  • Update website URL fields across company records
  • Update LinkedIn, Twitter, and social URL properties
  • Check for old domain references in notes and descriptions
  • Verify that redirects are in place before removing old URLs from records

Don't just do a find-and-replace on URLs without verifying the new ones work. Preview the replacement values in a small batch first.

5. CMS Content

Blog posts, site pages, and landing pages need their own pass.

  • Search all blog posts for old company name and old domain
  • Update internal links that use the old domain
  • Check image alt text and caption fields
  • Update author names if they changed
  • Review page meta descriptions for brand mentions
  • Check CTA button text and linked URLs

CMS content is high-visibility. Anything on a published page will be seen immediately. Preview these changes carefully before applying.

The Preview Step: Don't Skip It

Every operation in SearchReplace shows you the exact before-and-after for every record before anything changes. Use this step every time, without exception.

What to check in the preview:

  • Is the count reasonable? If you expected 500 matches and you're seeing 5,000, your search pattern is too broad
  • Are there false positives? A search for "Acme" might catch "Acme Medical" if that's a different company you work with
  • Do the replacement values look right? Check 10-20 records across different object types before committing
  • Are there edge cases? Look for records where the replacement creates something nonsensical

Take a screenshot of the preview before you apply. You'll want it if questions come up later.

Rollback as Your Safety Net

Rebrands happen under deadline pressure. Someone's going to push you to move faster than is comfortable. Rollback is what makes speed safe.

Every operation in SearchReplace snapshots the affected records before changing them. If you catch a problem after applying, you can restore every affected record to its previous state with one click.

The rollback window depends on your plan, but the principle is the same: don't treat apply as irreversible. It's not.

When to use rollback:

  • You applied a change and found false positives in the data
  • A downstream automation started behaving unexpectedly after a field changed
  • A team member reviews the updated records and flags something wrong
  • You hit an edge case you didn't anticipate in the preview

Keep the rollback option in mind throughout the project. It means you can move faster without betting everything on getting it perfect the first time.

The Full Checklist

Here's the complete list in order. Check each off as you complete it.

Pre-rebrand:

  • Run full audit of old name/domain across all object types
  • Document record counts by category
  • Identify which fields drive automations or integrations
  • Set cutover date and communicate to team
  • Back up current state (export CSVs or confirm rollback is available)

Day of rebrand:

  • Update company records first
  • Update contact records (email last if domain changed)
  • Update deal records
  • Update URLs and domain references
  • Update CMS content
  • Update email templates and sequences

Post-rebrand verification:

  • Spot-check 20-30 records across each object type
  • Verify automations that reference company name are still triggering
  • Test key email sequences to confirm sends are landing
  • Check that CMS pages are loading correctly
  • Search for any remaining instances of old brand name
  • Export audit report for records

One week later:

  • Run a fresh search for old brand name to catch anything missed
  • Check for any support tickets or form submissions referencing old name
  • Review email deliverability metrics for domain changes
  • Confirm rollback window hasn't expired if issues surface

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Doing it all at once with no preview. The volume is tempting to just run through fast. Don't. Even 30 seconds reviewing the preview catches most problems.

Forgetting CMS content. CRM operations get all the attention, but a blog post with your old company name in the title ranks in Google. It's visible to prospects. Include it in the audit.

Changing email addresses without testing automations first. If your lead nurture sequence targets @oldcompany.com contacts, updating those addresses will break the enrollment criteria. Check automation filters before updating email fields.

Not keeping the audit trail. Screenshot the before state. Export the operation logs after. A month from now, someone will ask what changed, and you'll be glad you kept records.

A rebrand doesn't have to be chaotic. With the right tool and this checklist, it's just a project with a clear list of steps. Start with the audit, preview before you apply, and keep rollback ready. You'll get through it.