HubSpot conducted two studies to determine the optimal editorial strategy for generating traffic and leads. The first study found that publishing many posts per week (34.5) generated similar traffic as publishing fewer (11.5), but required significantly more effort. The second study analyzed 2,000 posts and found that top-of-funnel, deep tactical, and infographic/slideshare posts performed best for views, while promotional and tactical posts performed best for leads. Based on the results, HubSpot updated their editorial plan to focus on these high-performing post types.

1. INBOUND15
Quality vs. Quantity: How
HubSpot Used Data to
Settle the Age-Old
Debate
Ginny Soskey
Section Editor, HubSpot

2. INBOUND15
THIS ALL STARTED
WITH A TWEET.

3. INBOUND15
BUT LOTS OF THINGS
HAD CHANGED.

4. INBOUND15
SO WE NEEDED TO
CHANGE, TOO.

5. INBOUND15
1 INSIDE OUR PREVIOUS
EDITORIAL STRATEGY

6. INBOUND15
OUR METRICS
Views Subscribers Leads
Icons designed by Freepik

7. INBOUND15
OUR DIFFERENT POST TYPES

8. INBOUND15
TACTICAL

9. INBOUND15
DEEP TACTICAL

10. INBOUND15
INFOGRAPHIC/
SLIDESHARE

11. INBOUND15
EDITORIAL

12. INBOUND15
PROMO

13. INBOUND15
TOFU
(TOP-OF-THE-
FUNNEL)

14. INBOUND15
SYNDICATIONS

15. INBOUND15
MISC

16. INBOUND15
OUR TYPICAL
EDITORIAL
DISTRIBUTION

17. INBOUND15
2 STUDY #1: OUR OPTIMAL
SHORT-TERM STRATEGY

18. INBOUND15
METHODOLOGY

19. INBOUND15
METHODOLOGY
BENCHMARK
23
POSTS PER
WORKWEEK

20. INBOUND15
METHODOLOGY
LVHC
11.5
POSTS PER
WORKWEEK

21. INBOUND15
METHODOLOGY
HVLC
34.5
POSTS PER
WORKWEEK

22. INBOUND15
ONLY NEW POSTS’ TRAFFIC & LEADS
75%
25%
Old Posts
New Posts
MONTHLY TRAFFIC
92%
8%
Old Posts
New Posts
MONTHLY LEADS

23. INBOUND15
RESULTS

24. INBOUND15
THE BENCHMARK & HVLC PHASES RECEIVED
ALMOST THE SAME AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC.

25. INBOUND15
THE HVLC PHASE RECEIVED THE LARGEST
NUMBER OF LEADS.

26. INBOUND15
INSTANT SUBSCRIBER CHURN SPIKED
DURING HVLC.

27. INBOUND15
BENCHMARK & HVLC
GOT SIMILAR RESULTS

28. INBOUND15
… BUT HVLC REQUIRED
WAY MORE EFFORT.

29. INBOUND15
SOLUTION: MAINTAIN
FREQUENCY, TWEAK
EDITORIAL DISTRIBUTION.

30. INBOUND15
3 STUDY #2: FINDING “HIGH-
RETURN” TYPES OF POSTS

31. INBOUND15
METHODOLOGY

32. INBOUND15
METHODOLOGY
Icons designed by Freepik
CATEGORIZED
2,000 POSTS
USED
HUBSPOT’S
ANALYTICS
ESTIMATED
LEADS

33. INBOUND15
RESULTS

34. INBOUND15
SUCCESS IN MONTH 1 = SUCCESS OVER TIME

35. INBOUND15
THE TOP TRAFFIC GENERATORS: TOFU, DEEP
TACTICAL & INFOGRAPHIC/SLIDESHARE

36. INBOUND15
THE TOP LEAD GENERATORS: PROMO &
TACTICAL

37. INBOUND15
THE “HIGH-RETURN” POSTS

38. INBOUND15
THE TRAFFIC SOURCES OF A TYPICAL POST

39. INBOUND15
TOP POST TYPES ON EPHEMERAL
PLATFORMS
SOCIAL EMAIL DIRECT REFERRAL
1. TOFU
2. Promo
3. IG/SS
4. Deep
Tactical
1. TOFU
2. Deep
Tactical
3. IG/SS
4. Editorial
1. Deep
Tactical
2. TOFU
1. IG/SS
2. Deep
Tactical

40. INBOUND15
TOP POST TYPES IN ORGANIC

41. INBOUND15
THERE IS NO SILVER
BULLET.

42. INBOUND15
TOFU, DEEP TACTICAL & IG/SS
ARE BEST FOR VIEWS.

43. INBOUND15
PROMO & TACTICAL ARE
BEST FOR LEADS.

44. INBOUND15
4 WHAT WE PLAN TO DO
ABOUT THIS

45. INBOUND15
“WE ALL HAVE THE
SAME AMOUNT OF
TIME IN THE DAY AS
BEYONCE.”

46. INBOUND15
OUR OLD PLAN
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
S T T T T T S
DT DT DT ED ED
T T T T P
P IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS S

47. INBOUND15
OUR NEW PLAN
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
S T T S
DT DT DT ED ED
T T T T P
P IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS S

48. INBOUND15
OUR NEW PLAN
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
S T T S
DT DT DT ED
T T T T P
P IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS S

49. INBOUND15
OUR NEW PLAN
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
S T T S
DT DT DT ED
T T T T P
P IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS

50. INBOUND15
OUR NEW PLAN
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
S T T DT DT S
DT DT DT ED
T T T T P
P IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS

51. INBOUND15
OUR NEW PLAN
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
S T T TOFU DT DT S
DT DT DT ED TOFU
T T T T P
P IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS

52. INBOUND15
OUR NEW PLAN
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
S T T TOFU DT DT S
DT DT DT ED TOFU
T T T T P
P IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS IG/SS

53. INBOUND15
5 WANT TO RUN THIS ON YOUR
OWN BLOG?

54. INBOUND15
1. Start assigning post types now.
2. If you can’t do #1, ask your team for help.
3. Get a dev on board.
4. Get down with Excel early and often.
5. Get okay with “good enough.”
5 Quick Tips for Running This Experiment

55. #INBOUND15
WANT MORE
DATA?
http://bit.ly/
GSinbound15

56. #INBOUND15
QUESTIONS?
COMMENTS?
http://bit.ly/
GSquestions