The Evolution of HubSpot's Content Offering

When Lake One® first became a HubSpot partner, CMS Hub was the one offering I struggled to champion -- not due to quality concerns, but because recommending established WordPress site migrations with additional costs for modest feature improvements seemed difficult to justify.

However, the landscape has dramatically shifted. With CMS Hub's evolution to incorporate CRM data integration in content, advanced AI tools, streamlined workflows, and its comprehensive relaunch as Content Hub, my perspective has completely transformed.

Today, HubSpot has surpassed industry giants like Adobe, Contently, and Sitecore by delivering unmatched ease of use across content strategy, planning, workflow management, and performance metrics.

In light of last year's WordPress/WPEngine debacle that left many businesses in limbo, the time has never been more opportune to reconsider your content platform strategy and explore the robust, integrated ecosystem that HubSpot's Content Hub now offers.

How HubSpot Became a Leading Content Marketing Platform

So how did HubSpot's CMS go from meh - to whoa! Simple, like everything in the HubSpot roadmap, they stayed true to their core to build a platform that's easy, fast and unified.

As CMS became more tied to your CRM data, it enabled more personalized content experiences and when the AI boom started, HubSpot emerged as a leader thinking about how AI can be part of the workflow to improve sales, marketing and customer service.

Specifically, the Gartner Magic Quadrant called this out saying "HubSpot's offering uses GenAI to help teams create and manage content and customer journeys, generate leads and track engagement. It stands out from other vendors in this market because of its access to customer data in the integrated CRM." And when it comes to its leading value, ease of use, this continues to be what stands out from user feedback. Meanwhile, ease of use is far from the leading pros based on user feedback for the competitors HubSpot leapfrogged.

Gartner's evaluation criteria looks at each product's ability to execute and completeness of vision.

Specifically, HubSpot being named a leader means: "Leaders possess capabilities across nearly all product requirements, most notably related to content strategy, editorial planning, workflow and performance metrics. These strengths allow clients to customize the platforms to support unique business processes using AI. Leaders have solidified their market position and possess recognized strengths, each with one or two differentiators that make them competitively distinct. Leaders manage vibrant, growing businesses with progressive roadmaps."

The WordPress Crisis: A Cautionary Tale

The WordPress community has been thrown into turmoil since late 2024 following a contentious legal battle between WordPress (Automattic) and WP Engine that has escalated to the point where WP Engine customers are being blocked from receiving critical updates and resources. This crisis has left many businesses questioning the stability of a platform that powers 40% of the web.

As these users search for alternatives with greater reliability, the "HubSpot vs WordPress" debate has tilted decidedly in HubSpot's favor, with its CMS emerging as a compelling option, particularly with its recently launched Content Hub and suite of AI-powered tools.

While WordPress offers extensive customization through thousands of themes and plugins, this flexibility comes with increased technical demands and now, unprecedented platform instability.

HubSpot's Content Hub provides an all-in-one solution with built-in features for content creation, management, and optimization, eliminating dependency on third-party plugins while delivering AI-powered capabilities for content generation, optimization, and personalized customer experiences -- creating exactly the kind of stable, future-proof solution that businesses need in today's digital landscape.

HubSpot's blog optimization tool & the Content Hub menu

When Migrating Your CMP Makes Sense

One of the reasons it took me a while to cheerlead content hub is because migrating CMS or CMPs is a nightmare. That said, there are a few signals that the juice might be worth the squeeze.

• The rest of your business runs on HubSpot and you have an option to unify data into your content experience.
• You're undergoing a design overhaul of your website and content experience, it can be worth building on a new CMP that provides more capabilities.
• Your organization has multiple interactive experiences it needs to manage, think website, distributor portal, membership content, etc.
• Your organization has complex content that you want to enable more than just your web team to be able to manage.

HubSpot Content Hub Technical Specs

For those evaluating Content Hub from a technical perspective, HubSpot provides several advantages worth considering:

Integration Capabilities:

• Native connections with over 1,400 apps through HubSpot's App Marketplace
• Robust API framework that supports custom integrations with proprietary systems
• Seamless data flow between Marketing, Sales, Service, and Operations Hubs
• Pre-built integrations with major enterprise systems including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and SAP

Security and Compliance:

• SOC 2 Type II certification ensuring rigorous security controls
• GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA compliance capabilities
• Enterprise-grade SSL encryption and security monitoring
• Customizable user permissions and role-based access controls
• Regular security updates without disrupting your content operation

Scalability and Performance:

• Global CDN ensuring fast page loads regardless of visitor location
• Adaptive testing for different devices and screen sizes
• Automatic scaling during traffic spikes without performance degradation
• Enterprise-tier offering supporting high-volume content operations
• No plugin management or compatibility issues during scaling

Previewing an email on multiple devices

Developer Experience:

• Modern development tools including HubSpot CLI and GitHub integration
• Local development capabilities with HubSpot's local development tools
• Support for custom modules and themes using HubL templating language
• Serverless functions for custom backend logic without infrastructure management
• Comprehensive documentation and developer community support

These technical capabilities mean your IT team spends less time maintaining infrastructure and more time innovating, while marketing gains a reliable platform that grows with your business needs.

The Future of Content Marketing Platforms

Content platforms that will lead in the future are going to continue to drive forward in enabling marketers to explore and benefit from AI while making it easy to collaborate across their organization and leverage the first-party data in their CRMs to personalize content experiences. HubSpot Content Hub is well positioned to enable this today and continue being a leader into the future, a platform that businesses can grow with.

Ready to See Content Hub in Action?

If you're reconsidering your content platform strategy in light of recent industry shifts or simply want to explore how an integrated content marketing platform could transform your digital presence, we'd love to help. As a certified HubSpot partner, Lake One can provide a personalized demonstration of Content Hub tailored to your specific business needs.

Schedule a Content Hub Demo →

Discover firsthand how this powerful platform is helping organizations like yours streamline content operations, leverage customer data for personalization, and future-proof their digital strategy.