How To Use Smart Content in HubSpot to Create Personalized Experiences
Discover how one of HubSpot's hidden features could book you more meetings.
👋 Hey, I'm Stuart – welcome to the 89 new readers who joined since the last ConnectedGTM newsletter. Today's playbook was created with and made available for free by Kamil Rextin, founder of 42 Agency.
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Picture this: You're selling to airlines (there are only ~200 of them in the US), but they won't take your meeting. They think they know what your product does, and no number of “touch points” are getting through.
So what do you do?
If you're Kamil, you map the route to their HQ and put up billboards that say "You think we are X, but we're not X."
Two days later, the prospect emails…
"We saw your billboard. It was hilarious. You're right - let's talk."
That's the power of showing prospects you know them. Not just their {{ first_name }} or {{ job_title }} - you know their actual misconceptions, challenges, and context.
Which brings us to the powerful HubSpot feature hiding in plain sight.
Smart content in HubSpot lets you dynamically personalize your website, landing pages, and emails based on what you know about your visitors - whether they're a brand new lead or a target account deep in your sales process.
But here's the thing - most teams either:
Don't know this capability exists
Aren't sure how to implement it effectively, or
Get caught up trying to personalize everything (and end up personalizing nothing)
Today, we're covering how you can use smart content in HubSpot to create more relevant experiences for your named accounts and contacts without needing to clone dozens of pages manually.
A framework to go beyond { personalization } and become relevant to your buyers
There's a critical difference between personalization and relevance. As Kamil puts it:
"Sometimes it's very obvious that you just put a personalization token in there... it's kind of gimmicky and doesn't really add value."
Let's break down how to use smart content effectively to build relevance that cuts through the noise. First let’s get clear on our options for personalizing content in HubSpot:
Token Based Personalization → Using property values directly like name or company.
Contextual Relevance → Matching custom content sections to industry, role, or pain points dynamically using smart content.
Account-Specific Messaging → Delivering custom experiences for target accounts based on specific account research using smart content.
The goal is moving up this spectrum.
Here’s how to approach using smart content to build relevance in 4 steps:
1. Identify your visitors - Before you can show relevant content, you need to know who's viewing it. We’ll focus on 2 primary ways to identify who’s viewing your content.
→ Use first-party cookies for HubSpot based campaigns
→ Use UTM parameters for ads or external campaigns.
2. Understand the intent - Layer in context about why someone is on your site and what they're trying to accomplish.
Where they came from (Ad group, previous page, etc)
What campaign brought them
3. Add Business Context - Pull in everything you know about their situation from your HubSpot CRM:
→ Ad Source (using UTM parameters), Country, Device Type, Referral Source, Preferred Language, Contact List Membership,
Industry challenges
Company details
Technology stack
Current buying stage
4. Create Relevant Experiences - Use HubSpot's section-level smart rules to show the right content to each visitor:
Show industry-specific case studies
Reference relevant pain points
Display proper technical specs
Present appropriate next steps
The power of HubSpot's smart content isn't just the ability to swap content based on rules. It's that all your contact, company, and engagement data lives in one place - enabling you to create truly relevant experiences based on everything you know about a visitor.
Like that billboard for the airline - the goal isn't showing different content to everyone. It's showing the right content to the right person at the right time.
For smart content to be most effective you need a strong foundation in your HubSpot account. Try Kamil’s 100+ point HubSpot Audit Checklist to identify what’s missing.
Step-by-step: Create the most relevant landing page experience possible with smart content
The power of smart content in HubSpot lies in its flexibility - you can start personalizing content without complex integrations or developer resources using HubSpot’s landing page builder.
Let's see how to implement smart content personalization by building a simple landing page in HubSpot step-by-step:
Step 1: Design your content structure
Before adding any smart rules, plan your page layout with personalization in mind.
Kamil recommends using a “resources hub” approach that includes educational content to build relevance and trust with prospects making them more likely to engage via email and phone rather than taking a direct response approach.
Here's a few ideas for what to include in each personalized variation of your HubSpot landing page that can take advantage of smart content:
1. Show Recognition - Acknowledge what you know about the visitor to build relevance immediately. When a telecommunications company lands on your page, reference their industry challenges explicitly - "We know telecommunications companies like yours struggle with high-volume data processing."
2. Present Clear Context - Frame your solution in terms of their specific situation. This isn't about generic benefits - it's about showing you understand their unique challenges and how you solve them in their context.
3. Demonstrate Value - Show exactly how you help similar companies succeed. Use customer stories, metrics, and examples that match their industry and use case. The closer the example matches their situation, the more compelling it becomes.
4. Build Confidence - Use social proof that resonates with their context. Don't just show any customer logos - show ones from their industry. Feature testimonials from similar roles. Share case study snippets that mirror their challenges.
5. Highlight Key Features - Focus on capabilities that matter most to the visitors role. A technical buyer needs different information than a business user. Show the details relevant to their situation.
6. Remove Friction - Address common objections before they arise. Be specific about implementation timeline, resource requirements, and success metrics for companies like theirs. Make it easy to envision success.
7. Guide Next Steps - Present a clear path forward based on what you know about them. Show the right call-to-action, connect them with the proper contact person, and offer additional resources that match their interests.
💡 Smart content works at the section level in HubSpot. Design your page with modular sections that can be swapped out dynamically while maintaining the layout.
Step 2: Set up smart rules using HubSpot CRM data
One way to leverage smart rules to display dynamic content is using the data already in your CRM. For example if you want to personalize your content for specific target accounts, you could create rules based on company data:
Create an active list of contacts in buying roles at target accounts (or whichever segments you’d like to personalize content for):
→ Buying role “Is Known”
→ Target Account is "Yes"Create smart rules for each content section in your landing page
For each section you want to personalize:
→ Select "Contact List Membership" as the targeting type
→ Choose your target account list
→ Create variations for each industry or account segmentAdd dynamic content elements
📝 For each variation:
→ Customize headlines using industry-specific language
→ Feature relevant case studies and social proof
→ Display account-specific pain points
→ Show the assigned account owner's meeting link
Step 3: Configure ad campaign specific smart rules
To match your landing page content to the content and messaging displayed in your digital advertising you can use UTM parameters to target the ad group level or a specific ad campaign in a HubSpot connected ad account:
Connect your ad accounts to HubSpot
→ Connect Google Ads and/or LinkedIn Ads
→ Enable auto-tracking parameter insertionCreate smart rules based on UTM parameters
For each ad group or campaign:
→ Select "URL Parameter" as your smart content targeting type
→ Enter your UTM parameter (e.g., utm_campaign)
→ Create variations matching your ad groupsCustomize content for each variation
→ Match headlines to ad keywords
→ Show industry-specific benefits
→ Customize CTAs based on intent
→ Display relevant testimonials
💡 Pro tip: Test your smart rules by previewing the page using different UTM parameters. This lets you verify each variation before going live.
Remember, don’t over personalize and focus on relevance of novelty.
Start small with one or two key sections or segments, measure the impact, and expand based on what resonates with your audience and translates into downstream revenue impact.
I hope this playbook gives you the foundation for creating more relevant experiences with the smart content tools already available in your in HubSpot account.
Check out more of Kamil's playbooks on his YouTube channel or if you’re looking for more hands on help with B2B demand gen and revops I’d personally recommend talking to Kamil and 42 Agency.
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