How to Brainstorm Blog Topics with Hubspot Methods

If you want a steady stream of strong blog post ideas, Hubspot style brainstorming gives you a simple, repeatable process you can use every week.

The framework below is adapted from proven content ideation methods so you never have to stare at a blank page again. You will learn how to turn audience questions, keyword research, and everyday conversations into a backlog of strategic topics.

Why Use a Hubspot-Inspired Blog Topic Framework

Random ideas rarely build results. A structured system, like the one popularized on the Hubspot marketing blog, helps you create topics tied directly to traffic, leads, and revenue.

Using this framework, you can:

• Brainstorm ideas that map to each stage of the buyer journey
• Align posts with products, services, and campaigns
• Make brainstorming faster with repeatable prompts
• Reduce creative blocks across your content team

This is not about copying any specific brand. It is about using a clear, practical process that takes you from broad themes to specific, publish-ready titles.

Step 1: Define Core Themes with Hubspot-Style Pillars

The first step is deciding what your blog should be known for. In a Hubspot-style content strategy, these are your pillar topics or core themes.

To define them:

1. List your primary products or services. Group them into 3–6 broad categories.
2. Match each category to a major problem or goal. For example, “generate more leads” or “improve onboarding.”
3. Name each pillar clearly. Use simple labels like “Email Marketing,” “Customer Success,” or “Sales Enablement.”

These pillars will anchor all future brainstorming, much like the core topic clusters promoted on leading SaaS marketing blogs.

Step 2: Turn Pillars into Hubspot-Style Question Lists

Next, expand each pillar into a list of real questions your audience asks. This mirrors a common Hubspot brainstorming method that starts with customer challenges.

For each pillar, ask:

• What does a beginner not understand yet?
• What mistakes do advanced users keep repeating?
• What tools, templates, or examples do they need?
• What is changing in this area right now?

Then capture the exact phrases you hear from real people:

• From sales and support calls
• From customer emails and chats
• From social media comments
• From community groups and forums

Write down questions in their words, not yours. Each question can become its own post or part of a broader series.

Step 3: Use Hubspot-Style Blog Title Formulas

Now turn your raw questions into polished titles. Popular Hubspot blog posts often use clear, benefit-driven formulas that set strong expectations for readers.

Here are reliable title formulas you can adapt:

• How-to guide: “How to [Achieve Result] with [Method]”
• List post: “[Number] Ways to [Solve Problem] in [Time Frame]”
• Template post: “[Number] Free Templates to [Reach Goal Faster]”
• Mistake post: “[Number] [Topic] Mistakes You Must Avoid in [Year]”
• Step-by-step post: “The [Number]-Step Guide to [Outcome]”

Take one question from your list and plug it into 2–3 of these frameworks. Keep the version that is specific, clear, and easy to scan in a search result.

Step 4: Build a Hubspot-Style Topic Cluster

Instead of isolated ideas, group related topics into clusters. This is a core element of the Hubspot approach to blogging and SEO, because it builds topical authority.

Create a simple cluster in four steps:

1. Choose a pillar. For example, “Email Marketing.”
2. Draft one comprehensive pillar page. This is a deep guide that links to all subtopics.
3. List 10–20 supporting articles. Each one dives into a narrow question, tactic, or use case.
4. Interlink posts inside the cluster. Link from the pillar to every subtopic and back.

Over time, this cluster structure helps search engines understand that your site covers a subject in depth, increasing your chances of ranking for competitive terms.

Step 5: Run a 10-Minute Hubspot Brainstorm Sprint

When you need quick ideas, use a short brainstorming sprint modeled after efficient editorial planning methods used by leading content teams.

Set a 10-minute timer and follow this flow:

1. Minutes 1–2: Choose one pillar and one audience segment.
2. Minutes 3–5: Rapidly list their questions without editing.
3. Minutes 6–8: Turn each question into 1–2 title ideas.
4. Minutes 9–10: Pick your top five titles and tag them by funnel stage (awareness, consideration, decision).

Do this once per week and you will quickly build a backlog of qualified topics for your calendar.

Step 6: Prioritize Ideas with a Simple Scorecard

Not every idea should be written immediately. Borrow the data-informed mindset you see on platforms like the Hubspot marketing blog by scoring each idea before it moves into production.

For each potential article, assign a 1–5 score for:

• Strategic fit: Does it match a current campaign or core offer?
• Search potential: Are there keywords with realistic difficulty?
• Audience urgency: Is this a painful or expensive problem?
• Content gap: Do you have anything similar live already?

Add the numbers and sort topics from highest to lowest. This stack ranking keeps your editorial calendar focused on articles that support both audience needs and business goals.

Step 7: Turn Ideas into a Consistent Publishing Plan

Brainstorming is only valuable if it leads to published content. To ship consistently, convert your list of ideas into a simple schedule.

Use this lightweight process:

1. Decide your cadence. For example, one or two posts per week.
2. Create a monthly calendar. Map each post to a date and pillar.
3. Assign owners. Note who drafts, edits, and publishes.
4. Document the brief. Include target reader, search intent, angle, and internal links.

Reference high-performing SaaS marketing blogs when designing your brief structure so every writer knows exactly what success looks like.

Step 8: Review and Refresh Topical Performance

After a few months, review analytics to refine your brainstorming process. Look at which topics drive the most traffic, leads, or assisted revenue.

Key actions to take:

• Identify winning themes and create follow-up posts
• Update older articles with new data, visuals, or examples
• Fill internal linking gaps across your clusters
• Retire or merge thin or overlapping content

This review loop turns your blog from a collection of ideas into a long-term content asset that compounds in value.

Tools and Resources for a Hubspot-Style Workflow

To make this process efficient, combine brainstorming with a small stack of tools:

• Spreadsheet or project board for organizing pillars, titles, and scores
• Keyword research tool to confirm search potential
• Analytics platform to measure performance by topic cluster
• Editorial calendar app to assign tasks and track deadlines

If you need help translating this system into a complete strategy, you can work with a specialist agency such as Consultevo to implement content operations and SEO at scale.

Learn More from the Original Hubspot Topic Framework

For additional inspiration, you can read the original brainstorming walkthrough that informed this approach on the Hubspot marketing site. It shows how a single seed idea can produce dozens of article angles.

Explore that guide here: Hubspot blog topic brainstorming process.

By combining this type of structured method with your unique expertise and audience insights, you can maintain a full pipeline of relevant, high-impact blog post ideas month after month.