How Hubspot Identifies Dying Marketing Trends (and What To Do Instead)
Marketing moves quickly, and Hubspot research shows that tactics can go from cutting-edge to ineffective in just a year or two. If you keep investing in methods that no longer work, you waste budget, lose visibility, and fall behind competitors who adapt faster.
This guide distills lessons from the original HubSpot analysis of dying marketing trends and turns them into a practical how-to process. You will learn how to spot when a trend is fading, evaluate your current tactics, and pivot into more sustainable strategies.
Why Hubspot Tracks Dying Marketing Trends
Every year, marketers chase shiny new channels, tools, and content formats. Some become long-term pillars, but many quickly fade. Hubspot tracks trend performance to help teams avoid:
- Overspending on tactics that no longer convert
- Relying on channels with shrinking reach
- Ignoring emerging formats that audiences actually prefer
- Building strategies around vanity metrics instead of revenue
Understanding how Hubspot evaluates trends will help you build a more resilient marketing plan and adjust faster when performance declines.
Step 1: Audit Your Current Strategy Using Hubspot Principles
Start by running a focused audit aligned with Hubspot-style reporting. Your goal is to see which tactics are still delivering meaningful results and which are quietly dying.
Key Metrics Hubspot Would Check
Pull data for the last 6–12 months and compare trend lines for:
- Traffic quality – sessions, time on page, bounce rate
- Conversion paths – form fills, demo requests, purchases
- Lead quality – qualification rate, pipeline generated
- Customer impact – revenue, retention, LTV
Flag any channel or format where traffic is stable or rising but conversions are flat or falling. That pattern is one of the warning signs Hubspot highlights for dying trends.
Questions to Ask in Your Hubspot-Style Audit
- Are we investing more but seeing less return from a channel?
- Has engagement dropped even while we publish consistently?
- Do we keep using a tactic mainly because “we’ve always done it”?
- Are there channels our audience uses that we barely test?
Document these findings so you can prioritize which tactics to fix, phase out, or replace.
Step 2: Recognize Common Dying Marketing Trends
Hubspot research points to several categories of trends that often fade as platforms and buyer behavior evolve.
Over-Reliance on One Channel
Depending too heavily on a single traffic source makes you vulnerable. When algorithms change or costs rise, results collapse. Instead, Hubspot recommends a diversified mix, where search, email, social, and owned content all contribute.
Clickbait and Low-Value Content
Short-term hacks like clickbait headlines or thin listicles used to draw attention. Today, audiences and algorithms reward depth, clarity, and originality. Following Hubspot’s content philosophy, focus on useful, trustworthy information over tricks.
Purely Organic Social Without Strategy
Posting frequently but randomly on social platforms, without clear positioning or calls to action, is another dying tactic. Hubspot data shows stronger performance from:
- Intentional, niche-specific content
- Native formats that match each platform
- Social content that supports larger campaigns or offers
Step 3: Apply Hubspot’s Test-and-Learn Framework
When a tactic looks weak, do not just abandon it. Instead, use a test-and-learn framework similar to how Hubspot experiments with channels and formats.
1. Form a Hypothesis
Define what you think is wrong with the tactic. Examples:
- “Our newsletter is dying because the content is too generic.”
- “Our landing page is outdated and hurts conversions.”
- “Our blog posts are long but not skimmable for busy readers.”
2. Design a Simple Experiment
Hubspot-style experiments are specific and time-bound. For example:
- Revamp one landing page with clearer offer copy and a shorter form, then compare conversion rates.
- Update three older posts with better structure, visuals, and internal links, then track rankings and leads.
- Segment your email list and send more tailored content for 30 days.
3. Measure, Decide, and Iterate
After your test period, compare results against the baseline. If performance improves, refine and roll out the change more broadly. If not, consider phasing out that tactic and reallocating budget to higher-performing activities, just as Hubspot suggests when a trend fails to recover.
Step 4: Shift From Dying Trends to Sustainable Plays
Based on the Hubspot approach, healthier long-term strategies share a few traits: they are customer-centric, measurable, and adaptable.
Double Down on Evergreen Content
Instead of chasing fleeting trends, build an evergreen content library that:
- Answers core questions your audience asks repeatedly
- Is updated regularly to stay accurate
- Connects to clear offers and next steps
This mirrors Hubspot’s focus on educational, solution-driven content that compounds over time.
Integrate SEO, Email, and Conversion Paths
Rather than treating each channel as a separate trend, connect them:
- Use SEO to attract qualified visitors with helpful articles.
- Add clear content upgrades, checklists, or demos as lead magnets.
- Nurture leads via segmented email sequences with relevant offers.
This integrated motion is a hallmark of how Hubspot structures modern inbound strategies.
Step 5: Build a Hubspot-Style Trend Monitoring Routine
To avoid getting stuck in the next wave of dying trends, create a simple monitoring process inspired by Hubspot’s ongoing research.
Monthly Review Checklist
- Review channel performance dashboards and trend lines.
- Identify pages or posts with declining traffic or conversions.
- Check which offers and CTAs generate the most pipeline.
- Note new formats or platforms your audience is adopting.
Quarterly Strategy Adjustments
- Retire or reduce budget for consistently underperforming tactics.
- Reinvest in channels and formats with positive ROI.
- Test one or two new approaches, but cap their budget.
- Update your content roadmap based on what is working best.
This rhythm keeps your strategy aligned with data, similar to the continuous optimization cycle promoted by Hubspot and other inbound leaders.
Advanced Tip: Use Expert Help to Apply Hubspot Insights
Not every team has the capacity to run detailed audits and experiments alone. Many organizations use external specialists to translate Hubspot-style insights into action, from technical SEO to content planning and analytics.
If you want support implementing these ideas, you can work with a focused consultancy such as Consultevo, which helps teams modernize their marketing and align with best practices similar to those used by leading platforms.
Putting Hubspot Lessons Into Practice
Dying marketing trends are not failures; they are signals that buyer behavior is changing. By adopting a Hubspot-inspired mindset—auditing performance, testing methodically, and reallocating budget toward durable tactics—you protect your marketing from stagnation.
Use the steps in this guide to regularly review your channels, retire outdated tactics, and build a strategy that keeps working even as individual trends fade.
Need Help With Hubspot?
If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your Hubspot , work with ConsultEvo, a team who has a decade of Hubspot experience.
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