Today we’re going to analyze the HubSpot blogging strategy.
Prior to this we’ve analyzed the strategies of other popular companies and sites:
- Kissmetrics Blogging Strategy
- Stacy Adams Blogging Strategy
- Wayne DeFrancesco Blogging Strategy
- Woot Blogging Strategy
- Lady Antebellum Blogging Strategy
This series is popular here on GBW so I thought it was important to continue.
HubSpot, like Kissmetrics, is a blog often referenced to me by prospective clients. People view the HubSpot blog in high regard and use it as an example of what they aspire to be. So it makes perfect sense to look at what HubSpot is doing so you might be able to use the same or similar strategies with your own business blog.
HubSpot Blogging Strategy
HubSpot is a marketing software company. Their entire focus is on inbound marketing, a term I believe they coined or at least helped build into a very meaningful phrase. The company’s solutions help business managers get found with online content. The focus is to bring people to a company instead of the other way around. The only pushing done in this strategy is when a person creates content and publishes it online. The inbound strategy begins as this content is shared and found on various Web channels.
HubSpot’s marketing software allows business managers to save time and be more efficient in their inbound marketing pursuits. It’s a company that appears very successful.
HubSpot also has one of the most success business blogs (Inbound Marketing Blog) and that’s what we will analyze today.
Frequency
From my quick analysis, HubSpot publishes a new post twice each business day. This works out to approximately 10 posts per week and about 40 posts per month. Relative to other businesses, that’s quite a few posts. One thing to note is these posts are not short and sweet. They offer substance. That doesn’t mean they always long in word length (sometimes they are), but they always offer something meaningful and can’t be that easy to put together.
It doesn’t surprise me that HubSpot blogs quite often. They were the ones that cited that blogging increases leads.
I’m a big advocate of high blog frequency too. The blogs that post more often get more traffic, leads, and sales. If you’re looking to really take over your industry with a blog then you need to consider a blog that posts about 20 times or more each month. It takes quite a bit of work, but in the long run it’s worth it. The more content you can provide to your target audience the more likely they are to discover you, contact you, and share your content with their peers.
Lists Are Still Popular
HubSpot has been using a tried and true blogging format (or formula) since they began publishing posts. Today, their most recent posts are list posts:
Looking back a few years you can see that this has been a strategy for some time. These posts are from 2007:
- 3 Hot Marketing Tips from Heat Map Analysis (images)
- 5 Free Magazines Every Small Business Should Receive
List posts are popular with readers. They are easy to scan and review quickly, but in order for list posts to really do well they need to have some explanation and substance.
Lists posts also make for great headlines. They are eye-catching when shared on social channels. They stand out in an email inbox.
Lists posts are typically a part of every successful blogging strategy. Maybe I should change the title of this post to 4 Blogging Secrets from HubSpot. It’s catchy isnt’ it?
Interviews & Stories
It seems like this used to be more of a focus for HubSpot with their blogging, but in their archives there are wonderful interviews and feature stories.
Here are a couple of examples:
- Interview With Copyblogger Founder, Brian Clark
- 5 Lessons of Enchantment from @GuyKawasaki [Interview]
- The Power of Long Tail Keywords: an Interview with HubSpot’s Favorite 80’s Hair Metal Guitarist
These are great posts. I find that interviews or profiles of successful people do really well.
People connect to other people. Stories and interviews are great for bringing your readers closer to you and the people you profile and highlight with your posts. This connection is what leads to opt-ins and leads. People want to trust your brand. There is something about a good interview or a good story that makes your blog more personal. People really respond.
Interviews and feature stories take a lot of work. You have to chase down information and do a lot of formatting. If you can pull it off, though, you’ll have an advantage over your blogging competition. Most bloggers aren’t willing to do this work and that’s where opportunity is for someone like you.
I’m sure HubSpot still does this often. I just didn’t look far enough back in the recent archives.
Timely Insight & Perspective
If you look at some of HubSpot’s most recent posts and pretty much their history of posts all the way back to 2007, something they are really good at is providing up-to-date perspective on the latest trends in online marketing. HubSpot understands that their customers are tuned in with all the latest news.
Online marketer are plugged in with all the latest info, which right now might be Google+ or a change with Google or a new interface on Facebook. HubSpot understands this, but they actually provide an added benefit beyond just reporting the news.
HubSpot takes the latest news that their customers care about and provides insight, perspective, and recommendations. This is incredibly valuable. When news breaks, people wonder how they should react.
When Facebook makes a change, marketers wonder how they should react. A person might think about how they should change. Then they will look to trusted sources for further insight.
HubSpot has become one of those trusted sources and that’s really powerful.
We’ll stop there for now.
Is there anything else you would add to the discussion about HubSpot?
What are some things you like (or dislike) about their business blog?
Also, do you have any requests for more blog analysis topics?