How to Use Smart Content in HubSpot
Dave Meyer
President at BizzyWeb, a Growth Agency helping biz owners, marketers and sales teams generate leads, sales & buzz online, Speaker on Google and HubSpot topics
Personalization is key to delivering a top-notch user experience. The tougher it is for users to find what they need, and the more they feel like your content isn't?speaking to?them,?the more likely they are to bounce off your pages, posts and emails.?
Smart content is an effective way to deliver a better customer experience. You can tailor your messaging to different audiences based on their location, referral source, device type and more.?
Let's look at the best ways to optimize the user experience on your pages and emails with smart content to deliver better experiences and increase the chance of conversions.
→ Related Content:?How to Use Automation to Close Lagging Deals
What is Smart Content?
Smart content displays different versions of a piece of content based on the viewer. This can be used in email subject lines, body-text modules, blog content, page content and global modules. Within HubSpot, you can choose one of the following rules to decide what content displays to which viewers:
Why Use Smart Content?
Smart content is an extremely valuable way to personalize, segment and target content based on what's most likely to convert a visitor and/or provide the best user experience.
The best way to visualize how smart content works is by thinking about the kinds of smart content we all interact with frequently.
Websites like Amazon and other e-commerce frequently use smart content on both their site and in emails - you may notice that after you view a product, you suddenly start seeing similar products on your Amazon homepage. Likewise, emails you receive are customized to your shopping habits - often, these use smart content to generate what you see.?
Another example is Netflix: users on the same account will see very different home screens, depending on their interests and what programs they've watched before.?
Smart content has almost unlimited possibilities. How you use it will be determined by the assets you're working with, your audiences, and your end goal.
Another common example is using smart content so that different viewers see different content at the top of your homepage - you might send your customers right into your login screen to make it easy for them to get to where they're most likely to want to go, whereas login prompts aren't relevant for new visitors.?
When NOT to Use Smart Content
Like the saying goes, "too much of a good thing is a bad thing." Smart content is exciting - but you don't want to get carried away and?outsmart?yourself.
One thing that's important to know is that Google has a harder time reading smart content - which means that you might not get as much SEO value from heavily-variable page content. You have to look at usability vs. SEO ranking for any given piece of content to determine which is more valuable.
For that reason, it's generally not recommended to use smart content on blog posts - except perhaps for a CTA (call to action) link or button. Blogs are critical for SEO, and you don't want to compromise rankings by trying to be too custom.?
Another thing to watch for is over-use and over-personalization -?especially?when the viewer isn't expecting it. If you're using smart content on?everything,?it starts to feel creepy to the viewer. Smart content should exist only in places where it?improves?user experience - like in the examples above. On service pages, FAQs, contact pages, about pages, etc. smart content is over-engineering your content while not adding discernable value for your viewers.
You'll notice that a lot of examples of smart content mentioned above are designed for people who have already converted - like a regular Netflix user getting personalized show recommendations. There's a reason for that. Clients already have an established relationship with you, and they already know that you have their information. So when they see their name or other personalization markers in emails or other content from you, it's not surprising. For someone who hasn't yet converted, it's a lot more off-putting to see their name or other personal-feeling information. (Imagine going to a website you've never visited before and seeing "Hey [your name]! Great to see you!")
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Even though a viewer may have opted-in by agreeing to cookies, are using a browser with their saved information or came from an ad, that doesn't necessarily mean the viewer?realizes they've shared?that info. Reminding them by personalizing everything can backfire and upset visitors to your content.?
How to Use Smart Content in HubSpot
Now that you know the whats and whys of smart content, we'll cover the hows. First, know the limitations - smart content as a feature is only available if you have the following HubSpot subscriptions:
Marketing Hub: Professional, Enterprise
CMS Hub: Professional, Enterprise
Next, when I talk about "how," I mean "examples to follow," NOT "the exact steps to take to create a smart rule and smart content." If you want that guidance, go right to the source:
? HS Tutorial:?Create and manage smart content rules
Here are some places to use HubSpot-powered smart content:?
Smart content is an effective way to optimize the user experience on your pages and emails to deliver better experiences and increase the chance of a conversion. Like all good things, it's best done in moderation. But when it's done right, it's a win.
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