Enhancing Marketing: Creating Smart Content in HubSpot
HubSpot & Marketing Automation
HubSpot Smart Content is a personalisation feature that dynamically changes what visitors see on your website, landing pages, and emails based on their characteristics and behaviour. Rather than showing identical content to everyone, Smart Content uses cookies for known contacts and IP-based data for anonymous visitors to deliver tailored experiences.
HubSpot Smart Content: Personalisation That Converts
HubSpot Smart Content displays different website content, CTAs, and forms to visitors based on their characteristics—delivering personalised experiences that convert 202% better than generic alternatives. According to McKinsey research, companies that excel at personalisation generate 40% more revenue than average performers, whilst 71% of consumers now expect tailored interactions as standard. Whitehat, as a HubSpot Diamond Partner running the world's largest HubSpot User Group, has implemented Smart Content for dozens of B2B clients—and this guide shares what actually works in 2025.
What Is HubSpot Smart Content?
The technology works by setting rules that trigger different content variations. A returning customer might see an upsell offer, whilst a first-time visitor sees introductory content. A prospect from the healthcare industry sees case studies relevant to their sector, whilst a manufacturing company sees different proof points entirely.
Smart Content functionality is available across three content types within HubSpot:
Smart Text and Rich Text Modules — Change headings, body copy, and images on website pages and landing pages
Smart CTAs — Display different calls-to-action based on visitor characteristics (currently in beta)
Smart Forms — Show different form fields or entire forms based on what you already know about the contact
Whitehat's implementation experience confirms that Smart CTAs deliver the highest impact for most B2B organisations—HubSpot's own research, analysing over 330,000 CTAs across six months, found that personalised CTAs convert 202% better than generic versions.
Key 2025 Platform Changes You Need to Know
The HubSpot personalisation landscape has shifted significantly since late 2023. Understanding these changes is essential for planning your Smart Content strategy.
CMS Hub Is Now Content Hub
In 2024, HubSpot rebranded CMS Hub to Content Hub, incorporating new AI-enabled features whilst maintaining all existing Smart Content capabilities. Smart Content features remain available at Professional and Enterprise tiers—Starter plans do not include personalisation functionality.
Breeze AI Launch at INBOUND 2024
HubSpot introduced Breeze as a comprehensive AI platform with three components: Breeze Copilot for chat-based assistance, Breeze Agents for automated content and prospecting tasks, and Breeze Intelligence for data enrichment. The key distinction: where Smart Content displays variants based on rules you configure, Breeze AI incorporates context, intent, and automation to determine which content to surface dynamically.
New Personalisation App (Private Beta)
A significant development for 2025: HubSpot's new Personalisation App, currently in private beta, creates CTA and landing page variants based on segments—and critically, works for anonymous visitors using IP-based company and industry data. This addresses a longstanding limitation where approximately 98% of website traffic (unknown visitors) couldn't receive list-based personalisation.
Progressive Profiling Limitation
Progressive Profiling—the ability to show different form fields based on what you already know about a contact—remains unavailable in HubSpot's updated forms editor. Only the legacy forms editor supports this feature. If your personalisation strategy relies on progressive profiling, you'll need to continue using legacy forms until HubSpot migrates this capability.
Platform Changes Summary
Area
2023 State
2025 Update
Platform naming
CMS Hub
Content Hub
AI integration
Limited
Breeze AI suite
Anonymous personalisation
Not possible
New app in beta
Progressive profiling
Available
Legacy editor only
Smart Rules: The Building Blocks of Personalisation
Smart Rules are the conditions that determine which content variation displays to each visitor. HubSpot provides eight rule categories, each suited to different personalisation strategies.
Available Smart Rule Categories
Contact List Membership — The most powerful rule type. Show different content to contacts on specific lists (e.g., customers vs. prospects, industry segments, lifecycle stages). Requires cookies and known contacts.
Lifecycle Stage — Personalise based on where contacts sit in your funnel: subscriber, lead, MQL, SQL, opportunity, customer, evangelist, or other. Ideal for journey-based messaging.
Country — Uses IP address geolocation to display location-specific content. Works for both known and anonymous visitors.
Device Type — Show different content on mobile, tablet, or desktop. Useful when mobile visitors need simplified messaging or different CTAs.
Referral Source — Personalise based on where traffic originated: organic search, paid ads, social media, email, or direct.
Preferred Language — Uses browser language settings to display content in the visitor's language.
Ad Source — Show content based on UTM parameters in the page URL. Connect paid campaign messaging through to on-site experience.
Query Parameter — Use any URL parameter to trigger content variations. Highly flexible for campaign-specific personalisation.
Whitehat Implementation Note
Start with Contact List Membership and Lifecycle Stage rules—they deliver the highest impact for B2B organisations because they leverage your existing CRM data. Country and Device rules work for anonymous visitors but offer less precision.
Implementation Best Practices
Whitehat's experience implementing Smart Content across dozens of HubSpot portals has identified clear patterns that separate successful personalisation from wasted effort.
Start Small and Focused
Limit initial implementation to one or two smart elements per page. Adding too many personalisation layers creates complexity that makes measuring effectiveness impossible. The goal is demonstrable lift, not maximum personalisation.
Clean Your Data First
Smart Content is only as good as the CRM data powering it. Before implementation, merge duplicate contacts, standardise property values, and ensure lifecycle stages are accurately assigned. Messy data triggers wrong content and undermines your personalisation efforts entirely.
Make Default Content Strong
Keep default content broad and generic—it should work effectively for visitors who don't meet any smart rules. This includes anonymous visitors, contacts with incomplete data, and anyone viewing your site with cookies blocked. Never assume everyone will see your personalised variation.
A/B Test Before Personalising
Rather than A/B testing smart content variations directly, test content first to identify winners, then personalise that winning content with smart modules. This approach ensures you're personalising content that already performs.
Map Content to the Buyer Journey
Effective Smart Content aligns with lifecycle stages:
Lifecycle Stage
Content Approach
Example CTA
Subscriber/Browser
Educational content
"See the Results"
Lead
Product comparisons, demos
"Request Demo"
MQL
Whitepapers, webinars
"Download Guide"
SQL/Opportunity
Sales meetings, pricing
"Talk to Sales"
Customer
Loyalty, upsells, referrals
"Upgrade" or "Refer a Friend"
Personalisation Statistics That Matter for B2B
The business case for Smart Content is supported by extensive research. These statistics help justify investment and set realistic expectations.
Revenue Impact
Companies that excel at personalisation generate 40% more revenue from those activities than average performers (McKinsey)
Typical revenue lifts from personalisation range from 10-15%, with high performers seeing up to 25%
Personalisation reduces customer acquisition costs by up to 50% and improves marketing ROI by 10-30%
Consumer Expectations
71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions
76% express frustration when personalisation doesn't happen
82% of B2B decision-makers expect tailored sales and marketing experiences (Forrester)
CTA and Email Performance
HubSpot's analysis of 330,000+ CTAs found personalised CTAs convert 202% better than basic CTAs
Personalised emails generate 6x higher transaction rates than non-personalised
Segmented, personalised automated messages achieve 46% higher open rates
Segmented email campaigns drive 760% more revenue than generic campaigns
Form and Progressive Profiling Impact
Progressive profiling increases form completion rates by an average of 35%
Reduces form abandonment by up to 45%
Conversion rate decreases by 7% per additional required field in B2B forms
78% of B2B decision-makers hesitate to share complete information during first interaction
Case Study: Smart Content in Email
A Whitehat client migrated from MailChimp to HubSpot, implementing two Smart Content modules in their newsletter—personalised opening and closing sections based on lifecycle stage. Results: 43% increase in open rates and 89% increase in click-through rates. Leads received eBook CTAs; MQLs saw event registrations; SQLs got consultation offers; customers received appreciation invites.
Breeze AI: The Next Evolution Beyond Smart Content
HubSpot's Breeze AI, launched at INBOUND 2024, represents the platform's shift toward AI-driven personalisation. Understanding where Breeze fits alongside traditional Smart Content helps you plan for the future whilst maximising current capabilities.
How Breeze Differs from Smart Content
Smart Content is rule-based: you define specific conditions and corresponding content variations. Breeze AI is context-aware: it uses machine learning to determine what content to surface based on broader signals including intent, behaviour patterns, and real-time context.
Nielsen's 2025 Global Marketing Survey found that 59% of marketers identify AI for campaign personalisation as the most impactful industry trend. McKinsey's 2025 research notes that AI-powered personalisation enables content creation 50 times faster than manual approaches, with engagement increasing by 10% compared to non-personalised content.
The Hybrid Approach Wins
Research indicates companies implementing hybrid personalisation strategies—combining rules and AI—see 19% higher revenue growth compared to single-method approaches. Smart Content remains valuable for simple, high-impact triggers where you want predictable outcomes: cart abandonment, geographic promotions, lifecycle-based messaging. AI personalisation excels when scaling across large customer bases, handling complex multi-channel journeys, and adapting in real-time.
HubSpot's official position: "Smart Content remains a useful fallback strategy for lower-volume pages or simpler use cases. But for dynamic, data-driven personalisation that grows with your business, Breeze AI offers a more intelligent framework."
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Where NOT to Use Smart Content
HubSpot's official documentation identifies specific exclusions that many marketers overlook:
Thank you pages — The redirect happens too quickly for HubSpot to match rules properly
Blog posts — Smart Content harms SEO because Google indexes only the default content. It also misleads RSS readers who receive different content than what appears on the page
Nested smart content — Smart content modules should never be placed inside other smart content
Marketing emails (for Smart CTAs) — Smart CTAs embedded in marketing emails are not currently supported
Over-Personalisation Pitfalls
Avoid displaying contact names on websites—save name personalisation for emails. The example of "creepy" personalisation: "Madison, thank you for viewing our product page yesterday at 10:51 a.m. on your iPhone 13 Pro"—this crosses privacy comfort boundaries and damages trust.
Technical Errors to Prevent
Over-reliance on cookies — Cookies expire, clear, or get blocked. Always configure solid fallback content.
Overlapping smart rules — Keep rules mutually exclusive to prevent conflicts where contacts qualify for multiple variations
Skipping the preview process — Use HubSpot's "Preview As" feature for each variation before publishing
Over-personalising minor content — Apply smart rules only to high-impact areas: CTAs, key headers, and offers. Personalising body copy rarely justifies the complexity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What HubSpot subscription tier do I need for Smart Content?
Smart Content requires Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise (for email personalisation) or Content Hub Professional or Enterprise (for website personalisation). Starter tiers do not include Smart Content features. Current 2025 pricing: Content Hub Professional starts at £500/month; Marketing Hub Professional at £890/month.
How many smart rules can I create per module?
HubSpot allows up to 256 smart rules per module. However, Whitehat recommends limiting to 5-10 rules maximum for manageability. More rules create more content variations to maintain, test, and update—complexity that rarely justifies the incremental personalisation benefit.
Does Smart Content affect my SEO rankings?
Google indexes only the default content version, not personalised variations. This means Smart Content won't hurt your SEO as long as your default content is optimised. However, avoid using Smart Content on blog posts—the SEO impact combined with RSS inconsistency makes it unsuitable for blog content.
Can I personalise content for anonymous visitors?
Traditional Smart Content has limited options for anonymous visitors: Country (IP-based), Device Type, Referral Source, Preferred Language, Ad Source, and Query Parameter. Contact List and Lifecycle Stage rules require known contacts with cookies. HubSpot's new Personalisation App (currently in private beta) addresses this limitation by using IP-based company and industry data for anonymous visitors.
How long does Smart Content implementation take?
Basic Smart CTA implementation takes 2-4 hours. A comprehensive Smart Content strategy—including data cleanup, rule design, content creation, and testing—typically requires 2-4 weeks. Most Whitehat clients see measurable results within 30 days of launch.
Getting Started with Smart Content
Smart Content delivers measurable results when implemented strategically. Start with Smart CTAs on your highest-traffic pages, focus on lifecycle-stage personalisation, and expand based on proven performance.
As a HubSpot Diamond Partner, Whitehat helps B2B companies implement Smart Content as part of comprehensive HubSpot onboarding and optimisation. Our approach prioritises rapid time-to-value whilst building toward long-term personalisation maturity.
