Smart Content: Using Personalization to Increase Conversions

I N T R O D U C T I O N S : K N O X V I L L E H U G L E A D E R & C O - L E A D E R
HOLLY YALOVE
/HOLLYYALOVE
MITCH TRANSUE
/MITCHELL-TRANSUE
W W W . V I E O D E S I G N . C O M
AGENCY CERTIFICATIONS:
• HubSpot Certified Trainer
• HubSpot Agency Partner
• HubSpot Growth Driven Design Agency
• HubSpot Design & Development
• HubSpot Inbound Marketing & Marketing Software
• HubSpot Inbound Sales & Sales Software
• HubSpot Partner Sales & Delivery
• HubSpot Client Management
• HubSpot Contextual & Content Marketing
• HubSpot Social Media & Email Marketing
• HubSpot Beta Testers
• Certified Google Partner
• Certified Yext Partner

#KnoxHUG
CONNECT:
H U G N E W S
@knoxvillehug
@knoxvillehug
@KnoxvilleHUG
HubSpot User
Group Knoxville
knoxvillehug.slack.com

#KnoxHUG
HUBSPOT PRODUCT UPDATES
T H E H I G H L I G H T S
#KnoxHUG

#KnoxHUG
HUBSPOT Q4 PRODUCT UPDATE HIGHLIGHTS
Lead Gen Ads for LinkedIn
• You can now create, target, and
publish Lead Gen Ads without
leaving HubSpot!
• All conversion data and contacts
automatically sync back to your
HubSpot reporting and contact
database.
• Pre-filled details from LinkedIn =
more detailed and accurate data for
each lead!
Live for all
HubSpot
users!

#KnoxHUG
Create Custom Sidebars for Your CRM
Records
• You can now customize the whole
left-hand sidebar with up to five
custom sections
• Once the default sidebar has been
updated, any new cards will appear
for all the users in your
HubSpot account

#KnoxHUG
Create Custom Sidebars for Your CRM
Records
• Enterprise users can also create
team views to show different
sidebars to different team types and
conditional views that change what
shows up on records based on
something about the record itself

#KnoxHUG
Attach Static Lists to Campaigns
• You can now add any static list to a campaign.
• This change makes it easier to track offline efforts in
context (including targeted ABM campaigns) and it'll
enable additional reporting updates in the coming
months.
• To add a list to a campaign:
• Navigate to a new HubSpot campaign or any
existing campaign.
• Click "Add Assets" at the top right, and you'll now
see "Static Lists" as an option.

#KnoxHUG
Free Facebook Messenger Integration
• Enables you to create a Messenger
bot welcome experience on your
Facebook Business page
• Lets you manage all of your
Messenger conversations from your
HubSpot Conversations inbox
Now available to all relevant HubSpot customers

#KnoxHUG
• Messages sent to your Facebook
Business Page are visible within the
inbox where you can assign the chat
to other sales or support reps,
create tickets, etc.
• When you connect with a new lead
for the first time, the integration will
automatically create a new contact
record within your HubSpot CRM
with the lead’s name and profile
picture from FB

#KnoxHUG
• Sales Hub and Service Hub
Professional and Enterprise users
are also able to automatically
connect customers/prospects to
the right members of your team
Now available to all relevant HubSpot customers

#KnoxHUG
Improved Merging In Duplicate
Management
• Previously showed only 3 properties
but now you can choose which fields
to compare (up to 5) when merging
contact and company records

#KnoxHUG
Improved Merging In Duplicate
Management
• Navigate to Contacts > Actions >
Manage Duplicates
• Click to review a pair
• Then, click "select properties" and
select the properties to display

#KnoxHUG
Notifications In Duplicate Management
• You can also choose when to be
notified when new duplicates
are found
• Notifications are
automatically enabled
• To turn them off or change where
your notification arrives, each user
can do this via Profile Settings
under the “Status” section

#KnoxHUG
More Accurate Chatbot Reporting with
Improved Bot Session Timeouts
Three improvements to chatbot session
timeouts:
1. Default open time for a conversation has
changed from “indefinite” to 24 hours
2. Abandoned bot sessions older than 24
hours will automatically be classified
as “abandoned”
3. The options for “indefinite” lifetime has
been removed Live for all HubSpot users

#KnoxHUG
Email Signatures in Conversations
• You can now create an email
signature for each team email you
have connected to Conversations.
• Set this up using your Conversations
inbox settings:
• Select Email as your channel
• Choose the email account you want
to add an email signature for
• Click “configuration” and add the
signature!
Live for all HubSpot users!

#KnoxHUG
S M A R T C O N T E N T :
USING PERSONALIZATION
TO INCREASE CONVERSIONS
# K N O X H U G
PRESENTED BY:
HOLLY YALOVE
PRINCIPAL & CHIEF STRATEGIST, VIEO DESIGN

#KnoxHUG
• WHY PERSONALIZATION MATTERS
• INTRODUCTION TO SMART CONTENT
• EXAMPLES OF SMART CONTENT IN HUBSPOT
• NEXT STEPS: HOW TO INCORPORATE PERSONALIZATION INTO YOUR WEBSITE
• NEXT STEPS: HOW TO INCORPORATE PERSONALIZATION IN YOUR EMAILS
Questions welcome throughout!
W H A T W E ’ L L C O V E R

P R E S E N T A T I O N C O N T E N T C R E D I T S

W H Y P E R S O N A L I Z A T I O N M A T T E R S
#KnoxHUG

W H A T D O T H E N E X T T H R E E S L I D E S
HAVE IN COMMON?
#KnoxHUG

Smart Content: Using Personalization to Increase Conversions

#KnoxHUG
T H E Y A L L U S E D A T A T H E Y ’ V E G A T H E R E D A B O U T M E T O S E R V E
M E
PERSONALIZED CONTENT!

● Uses data about people to create
targeted experiences
● Engages with people on a
personal level
● Is more likely to attract and
retain attention
● Helps you stand out from the crowd
P E R S O N A L I Z E D C O N T E N T :

#KnoxHUG
WHAT PERCENT OF DIGITAL CONSUMERS SAY IT’S IMPORTANT
FOR A BRAND TO AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST CONTENT BASED ON
THEIR CURRENT CONTEXT?
P O P Q U I Z
A. 47%
B. 57%
C. 67%
Source: Adobe

#KnoxHUG
67%
P O P Q U I Z
A recent survey by Adobe revealed that digital
consumers are more interested in personalized content
than ever.
67% those those surveyed said: “It’s important for
brands to automatically adjust content based on [my]
current context.”
Source: Adobe

#KnoxHUG
WHAT PERCENT OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS SAID THEY GET
ANNOYED WHEN THEIR CONTENT ISN’T PERSONALIZED?
P O P Q U I Z
A. 22%
B. 42%
C. 52%
Source: Adobe

#KnoxHUG
42%
P O P Q U I Z
The consequences for neglecting personalization
can be extreme.
42% of survey respondents said they get annoyed
when their content isn’t personalized!
Source: Adobe

#KnoxHUG
WHAT PERCENT OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS SAID THEY ENGAGE
WITH DIGITAL CONTENT ON THEIR SMARTPHONES?
P O P Q U I Z
A. 32%
B. 52%
C. 82%
Source: Adobe

#KnoxHUG
82%
P O P Q U I Z
And 29% said they feel frustrated when
content isn’t optimized for their device.
Source: Adobe

Of marketers believe
real-time personalization
is crucial.
77%
Struggle to
personalize content in
real-time.
60%
Source: Adobe
BUT IT’S HARD TO DO.

#KnoxHUG
W H A T I S S M A R T C O N T E N T I N H U B S P O T ?
#KnoxHUG

#KnoxHUG
SMART CONTENT (WEBSITE)
Smart content changes the content displayed on your
website based on specific viewer characteristics:
● Device type
● Referral source
● Country
● Preferred language
● Lifecycle stage
● List membership

SMART CONTENT - ANONYMOUS WEBSITE VISITORS
For people visiting your website for the first time, you
can customize what content they see based on their:
● Device type
● Referral source
● Country
● Preferred language
Let’s dive into each of these!

#KnoxHUG
DEVICE TYPE
● Mobile?
● Tablet?
● Desktop?
HubSpot looks at what’s called the “user agent” of your visitor’s
browser to determine their device type.

REFERRAL SOURCE
How did this visitor find your site?
● Social media?
● Paid search?
● Email marketing?
● Etc.
HubSpot determines these and let’s you serve different
content based on referral source!

#KnoxHUG
COUNTRY
Smart content by country uses the visitor's IP
address as the basis for their location.

#KnoxHUG
PREFERRED LANGUAGE
Smart content by preferred language uses their preferred
browser language.
NOTE: Smart content by preferred language will generally be
more accurate than country at determining the language that
content should be served in.

#KnoxHUG
SMART CONTENT - KNOWN WEBSITE VISITORS
For known visitors (i.e. visitors who’ve visited your website before and
filled out a form), you can also personalize content based on their:
● Lifecycle stage
● List membership
This provides big opportunities but is also more labor-intensive.

#KnoxHUG
IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY USE LIST
MEMBERSHIP AND LIFECYCLE
STAGE SMART RULES, YOU NEED
TO HAVE:
1. A well-managed CRM with
segmented lists
2. A good understanding of
your buyer personas
3. Content mapped to each
stage of the buyer’s journey

#KnoxHUG
TYPES OF SMART CONTENT:
● Rich text
● Call-to-Action (CTA)
● Form

You can use Smart Rules to alter the contents of rich
text modules on HubSpot-powered:
• Website pages
• Landing pages
• Blog posts
• Forms
• Emails
• CTAs* *Smart CTAs can be used outside HubSpot
TYPES OF SMART CONTENT: RICH TEXT

TYPES OF SMART
CONTENT: RICH TEXT
If a contact meets one of your
Smart Rules, they’ll see the specific
text you’ve created for that rule.

TYPES OF SMART CONTENT: CTA
If a contact meets one of your Smart
Rules, they’ll see the CTA you’ve
created for that rule.
Smart CTAs are an option for Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise accounts & HubSpot CMS accounts.

TYPES OF SMART CONTENT: FORM
Creating a smart form allows you to
change an entire form depending on
your website visitor and their
particular viewer characteristics.

HOW TO CREATE SMART CONTENT (WEBSITE)
SELECT YOUR
SMART RULE
CREATE YOUR
SMART CONTENT
CLICK THE “MAKE
SMART” ICON ON
YOUR MODULE

A NOTE ABOUT
DEFAULT CONTENT
For any smart content you create in
HubSpot, you need to have a default
version. This is what will be shown to
people who don’t fit your smart rule.
Make sure your default content is
broad enough to appeal to the
majority of visitors to your website.
Smart content on website pages or LPs is an option for Marketing
Hub Professional and Enterprise accounts & HubSpot CMS accounts.

A NOTE ABOUT THANK YOU PAGES
Smart content should not be used on thank you pages
Why?
Because a contact's property values and list memberships won't
update immediately after a form submission, leaving no time to
inform the smart content on the page.
Only contacts with preexisting property values and list
memberships will see the smart content set for those conditions.

#KnoxHUG
GETTING STARTED WITH WEBSITE SMART CONTENT
Trying to personalize for every available smart rule at once is
overwhelming and counterproductive.
Instead, pick one to three characteristics to optimize your content
to start.
WE’LL COVER 3 TYPES OF SMART CONTENT FOR YOUR WEBSITE:
1. Device type
2. Lifecycle stage
3. List membership

SMART CONTENT EXAMPLE 1:
DEVICE TYPE

#KnoxHUG
ASK YOURSELF:
● How easy is it to read your content on mobile?
● How easy is it to fill out your forms on mobile?

SMART RICH TEXT FOR MOBILE
CLEAR, EASY-TO-READ
HEADER
SWAP LARGE, BUSY
IMAGES FOR SMALLER,
SIMPLER ONES
USE WHITESPACE

SMART FORM FOR MOBILE
Desktop Version Mobile Version

LIFECYCLE STAGE

The buyer’s journey is the active research process someone
goes through leading up to making a purchase. It’s a
a core element of inbound marketing, and it can play a
huge role in personalization.

Each stage presents an opportunity to personalize the user’s
experience to exactly where they are in their buyer’s journey.

Looks Like: the prospect has recognized a problem or opportunity.
Research Includes: neutral 3rd party information that verifies their concerns.
You Might Provide: material that addresses the buyer’s pain points, such as
editorial content, educational content, etc.
Looks Like: the prospect has recognized a problem or opportunity.
Research Includes: neutral 3rd party information that verifies their concerns.
You Might Provide: material that addresses the buyer’s pain points, such as
Examples: Blog posts,
pillar content
The prospect has recognized a problem
or opportunity.
Research Includes: neutral third-party
information that verifies their concerns.
You Might Provide: material that
addresses the buyer’s pain points, such
as editorial or educational content.

Looks Like: the prospect has recognized a
problem or opportunity.
Research Includes: neutral 3rd party
information that verifies their concerns.
You Might Provide: material that
addresses the buyer’s pain points, such as
The prospect has
identified or given a
name to their problem.
Research: understanding
all methods of solving
their problem
Examples: product pages, offer landing
pages, expert guides, webcasts, videos, live
interactions, etc.

The prospect has defined their solution, strategy, or approach.
Research Includes: using documents, or other data to make a final decision.
You Might Provide: brand-specific content, such as pricing & packaging
pages, vendor comparisons, case studies, trials, demos, etc.

● ANALYST REPORTS
● RESEARCH REPORTS
● EBOOKS
● EDITORIAL CONTENT
● EXPERT CONTENT
● WHITE PAPERS
● EDUCATIONAL
CONTENT
● EXPERT GUIDES
● LIVE INTERACTIONS
● WEBCAST
● PODCAST
● VIDEO
● COMPARISON
WHITE PAPERS
● VENDOR COMPARISON
● PRODUCT COMPARISON
● CASE STUDIES
● TRIAL DOWNLOAD
● PRODUCT LITERATURE
● LIVE DEMO

“Check out our blog” is the default PetBox CTA that
all unknown visitors, as well as leads and subscribers,
will see. These visitors are in the Awareness stage.
LIFECYCLE STAGE: CTA
AWARENESS

A CTA to download an ebook is a
good fit for more qualified leads who
are in the Consideration Stage.
AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION

AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION
DECISION
A free trial of the product is
perfect for contacts in the last
stage of the buyer’s journey.

REVIEW THE ANALYTICS FOR
EACH VERSION OF YOUR
SMART CTA TO SEE HOW
THEY’RE PERFORMING:
• Views
• Click rate
• Clicks
• Submission rate
• Submissions

LIST MEMBERSHIP

#KnoxHUG
LISTS IN HUBSPOT
● You can use any property or combination of
properties to create lists of contacts to segment
your database.
● For example, create a list for each of your
buyer personas.
● Then, use those lists to personalize your content
for each buyer persona.

#KnoxHUG
P E T B O X H A S T W O M A I N P E R S O N A S :
CAT OWNER CARL AND DOG OWNER DEBBIE

MEET LILA!
Let’s look at how
PetBox caters an
experience to Lila’s
owner, Rachel.

This form’s pet type choice is mapped to a persona in HubSpot!

#KnoxHUG
Based on the pet type choice on her
form submission, Rachel is added to
PetBox’s “Cat Owner Carl” list.

BY CHANGING A FEW WORDS AND AN IMAGE, PETBOX CAN CREATE PERSONALIZED
EXPERIENCES FOR THEIR CARL AND DEBBIE PERSONAS.

#KnoxHUG
A NOTE ABOUT SMART
CONTENT ON BLOG POSTS
Don’t: Use it in the body of your
blog posts, since this will
negatively impact your SEO and
confuse RSS readers.
Do: Use smart CTAs and forms
on other areas of your blog,
such as your header, footer,
or sidebar.

#KnoxHUG
SMART CONTENT IN EMAILS
You can also use Smart Content
in emails. The same general
principles apply, and the
process for creating Smart
Content is the same.

#KnoxHUG
N E X T S T E P S
HOW TO INCORPORATE PERSONALIZATION INTO YOUR
WEBSITE

#KnoxHUG
1. Define your audience: who are you personalizing for?
2. Audit your website to identify places for personalization.
3. Add smart content in at least one place on your site.
STEPS TO GET STARTED:

1. DEFINE YOUR AUDIENCE: WHO ARE YOU PERSONALIZING FOR?
Stick with one audience to start like:
● Buyer persona
● Marketing Qualified Leads
● Contacts from Canada

2. AUDIT YOUR WEBSITE TO IDENTIFY PLACES FOR PERSONALIZATION
Go through your:
● Highest performing pages
● Most popular blog posts
● Worst performing pages
● Least popular blog posts

3. ADD SMART CONTENT IN AT LEAST ONE PLACE ON YOUR SITE
Review the metrics and see how your content is performing:
○ CTA metrics
○ Form conversion rate
○ Page views
○ Etc.

GETTING STARTED WITH EMAIL PERSONALIZATION
WE’LL COVER THREE TYPES OF PERSONALIZATION FOR YOUR EMAILS:
1. Smart content in your subject lines
2. Smart content in your email body
3. Use of personalization tokens
Adding Smart Content in emails is an option for Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise accounts & HubSpot CMS accounts.

SUBJECT LINES

#KnoxHUG
ASK YOURSELF:
● Should I adjust my subject line based on specific
Contact List Membership?
● Should I adjust my subject line based on specific
Contact Lifecycle stage?
Note: Because emails are being sent to known
contacts, you can't base your smart content criteria
on anonymous information like device type or
referral source.

#KnoxHUG
N E X T S T E P S
HOW TO ADD SMART CONTENT SUBJECT LINES INTO YOUR
EMAILS

From HubSpot’s email editor, click edit details

Under Subject line,
select “Add smart rule”

Select the list(s) or lifecycle
stage(s) you want to create a
unique subject line for

Create a default subject line and add smart rules
for displaying different a subject line based on
the list(s) or lifecycle stage(s) you selected

#KnoxHUG
N E X T S T E P S
HOW TO ADD SMART CONTENT INTO YOUR EMAIL BODY

Click the Main Email
Body module, then click
the Make smart icon

#KnoxHUG
Select a smart
rule based
on Contact list
membership or
Contact
lifecycle stage

In the sidebar editor, click
the Content dropdown
menu to switch between
your default text and
your smart text

#KnoxHUG
N E X T S T E P S
USING PERSONALIZATION TOKENS IN YOUR EMAILS

PERSONALIZATION TOKEN PLACEMENT OPTIONS
1. Subject line
2. Preview text
3. Greeting
4. Email body

There are many powerful
options when using
personalization tokens for
various types of properties
(contact, company, etc.)

SETTING DEFAULT VALUES
Default values will appear
in the place of the
personalization token if
contacts don't have a
value for that property.

YOU CAN SET LOCAL DEFAULT VALUES AT THE CONTENT LEVEL, OR SET
GLOBAL DEFAULT VALUES IN YOUR ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

Use the email editor to
add personalization
tokens into your subject
lines and preview text.
SUBJECT LINE AND
PREVIEW TEXT
PERSONALIZATION
TOKENS

In the email editor, click
on the rich text
module where you want
to add personalization
and select:
EMAIL GREETING AND BODY TEXT PERSONALIZATION TOKENS
Insert > Personalization Token

#KnoxHUG
GO FORTH & PERSONALIZE!

Smart Content: Using Personalization to Increase Conversions

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