Maybe you've set up a knowledge base, but it feels like a never-ending task to keep it updated and useful. Many businesses struggle with creating and maintaining an effective resource hub for their customers and team members.

HubSpot's Knowledge Base helps you transform your knowledge base from a static collection of articles into a dynamic, self-improving resource hub with AI and analytics. AI helps you write and improve articles, while analytics show you exactly what your users need.

This blog will show you how HubSpot's Knowledge Base works, explore its AI and analytics features, and help you use them to create a knowledge base that practically runs itself.

What is HubSpot's Knowledge Base?

HubSpot's Knowledge Base is a smart online library for your business. It stores and organizes all the information your customers (or team members) might need. 

Think of it as a collection of helpful articles, guides, and answers to common questions, all neatly organized and easy to find.

The purpose of HubSpot's Knowledge Base is simple: to help people find the information they need when they need it. It's designed as a self-service tool, allowing users to quickly find answers without contacting customer support or digging through long manuals.

How It Helps Customers Find Answers Quickly

HubSpot's Knowledge Base isn't just a dumping ground for information—it's designed to make finding answers as easy as possible. 91% of customers would happily use a knowledge base if it met their needs. Here's how it helps:

1. Smart organization: You can set up categories and subcategories to group related information. This makes it easier for users to navigate and find what they want.
2. Powerful search: Users can type in their questions or keywords, and the Knowledge Base will pull up relevant articles. It's like having a super-smart assistant who knows exactly where everything is.
3. User-friendly layout: Each article is structured with a clear title, subtitle, and answer. This consistent format makes information easy to read and understand.
4. Accessibility: Depending on how you set it up, your Knowledge Base can be available 24/7. This means customers can find answers even outside of your business hours.
5. Continuous improvement: With built-in analytics, you can see what people are searching for and which articles are most helpful. This allows you to keep improving your Knowledge Base over time, making it more and more useful.

Supercharging Your Knowledge Base with AI and Analytics

Once your Knowledge Base is up and running, it's time to keep improving it. HubSpot's AI and analytics features can help you automate this process. 

Let's discuss how these tools can help you understand your users better and create helpful content quickly.

Understanding User Behavior

If you want to stay competitive, work to understand user behavior. 50% of businesses extensively using analytics are likely to have sales well above their competitors, compared to only 22% of those that don’t.

Reading your customer’s minds is helpful, and HubSpot's analytics come pretty close. Here's how you can peek into what your users are doing and thinking:

1. Viewing article performance

HubSpot gives you a front-row seat to how your articles are doing. You can see:

• Article helpfulness: HubSpot includes a feature that asks readers to rate articles after reading them. This direct feedback helps you understand which articles meet user needs and which might need improvement.
• Total views: This shows how many times an article has been read. More views mean the article is popular, well-promoted, or very relevant.
• Average Time on Article: This tells how long readers spend on your article. Longer times may mean the article is detailed and needs more reading time. Shorter times could mean the article is clear and easy to understand or readers aren’t finding it useful.

This information tells you what's working, what's not, and where you might need to make some tweaks. 

For instance, if an article has high views but low helpfulness ratings, it might attract users but fail to answer their questions adequately. You could then review and improve that article. 

Articles with high helpfulness ratings but low views might benefit from better categorization or keyword optimization to increase their visibility.

2. Analyzing search terms and results

HubSpot also shows you what people are searching for in your Knowledge Base. You'll see:

• The most popular search terms
• Search terms that didn't return any results

The most popular search terms show you what topics are top-of-mind for your users. If certain terms are consistently popular, consider creating more content around these topics or expanding existing articles.

Search terms that didn't return any results identify content gaps. For example, if users frequently search for "password reset" but find no results, that's a clear signal you should create an article on this topic.

This is like having a direct line to your users' questions. If you see searches with no results, that's your cue to create new content. And if certain terms are super popular, you might want to beef up your articles on those topics.

Improving Content with AI

AI is transforming content creation. 64% of businesses think AI will boost productivity. Plus, 83.2% of content marketers plan to use AI tools in 2024. These stats show how powerful AI can be for creating and managing content. 

With HubSpot's AI, you can effortlessly analyze, create, and improve your content!

How Can HubSpot’s AI Content Assistant Help You?

HubSpot's AI can help you generate ideas for new articles and suggest improvements to existing content. This feature is a time-saver, especially when unsure where to start or how to improve your content.

You can ask it to rewrite, expand, shorten, or change the tone of your article:

1. Rewrite

Rewriting is perfect when your knowledge base article has all the information but doesn’t capture what you want. It will regenerate your text with new wording and phrasing.

2. Expand

Expanding is ideal for when you need more detail in your instructions. This command builds on your text with more context, descriptions, and explanations.

3. Shorten

This command is great for when your article is too long, and you want to make it more concise. This condenses wordy drafts into tighter, more skimmable messaging.

4. Change Tone

This powerful edit allows you to rewrite the highlighted text in a specific tone that better suits the recipient:

• Friendly: Warm and casual for an informal rapport.
• Heartfelt: Empathetic and sincere for sensitive topics.
• Professional: Formal and polished for corporate clients.

How to Use Content Assistant

To get started with Content Assistant, you'll first need to enable the AI features for the conversations inbox area of HubSpot. Don't worry, it's a simple process:

1. Log into your HubSpot account and click the Settings icon at the top of the navigation.
2. Find and select the "AI Assistants" option in the left sidebar.
3. Read the terms of use, then check the box to accept them. You can't use AI assistants without agreeing to the terms.
4. Toggle on the "Customer analysis" option to allow AI to analyze customer data.

That's it! With those few clicks, Content Assistant is now enabled and ready to use when composing messages in your conversations inbox.

Using Content Assistant to Refine Messages

With Content Assistant activated you can leverage its AI capabilities to optimize your customer messaging. Here's how to put it into action:

1. Navigate to the "Inbox" section under the CRM tab in HubSpot.
2. Select an existing customer conversation thread from the left panel.
3. In the reply editor box, draft an initial response to the customer.
4. Highlight the text you want the Content Assistant to refine.
5. Click the "AI assistant" icon, then choose which edit command you'd like to apply (Rewrite, Expand, Shorten, or Change Tone).

1. Either "Draft a message" to generate a new version or "Insert" to place the AI content directly.

Integrating Knowledge Base with Chat

Your Knowledge Base isn't just a standalone resource—it can also be a powerful sidekick for your live chat support. 

HubSpot makes it easy to bring these two features together, creating a seamless experience for your customers and support team. Let's explore how this integration works:

How Customers Can Search With a Chatbot

Automation with HubSpot plays a big role here. When a customer starts a chat, they can ask the chatbot to search the Knowledge Base for them.

Here’s how it works: The customer starts chatting with your support bot. They ask their question directly in the chat. The chatbot searches the Knowledge Base based on the keywords in the customer's query. Then, the chatbot presents relevant Knowledge Base articles to the customer.

This feature is like having a 24/7 support agent who knows everything in your Knowledge Base. It helps customers find answers quickly and often resolve their issues without waiting for a human agent.

Using Knowledge Base Articles in Chat Responses

Your support team can also use the Knowledge Base during live chats. Agents have a search function in their chat interface when chatting with a customer.

HubSpot might suggest relevant Knowledge Base articles based on the chat content as the conversation progresses. Agents can directly search for and insert links to Knowledge Base articles in their responses.

This feature ensures that all customers get the same accurate information, whether self-serving or chatting with an agent.

Agents don't have to type out long explanations for common questions and it reduces the risk of agents giving out incorrect or outdated information.

How to Connect Knowledge Base to a Chatbot

Setting this up is pretty straightforward. Here's a simple guide:

1. Go to "Automations" > "Chatflows" in your HubSpot account.
2. Find the bot you want to change and click "Edit" or "Create chatflow" to make a new one.
3. Click the plus icon (+) to add new actions to your bot.
4. Choose "Knowledge base" as the action.
5. Pick how you want to use the Knowledge Base:
   • "Display specific article" if you want to show a particular article.
   • "Search knowledge base" if you want visitors to be able to search.
6. If you chose "Search knowledge base":
   • Write a friendly message asking the visitor to search, like "What can I help you find?"
   • Add a message for when there are no results, like "Oops, I couldn't find anything. Let's try something else!"
7. Save your changes, and you're good to go!

Transform Your Knowledge Base into a Dynamic Resource Hub

Your Knowledge Base isn't just a static collection of articles—it's a living, breathing resource that can transform your customer support and internal operations.

Leveraging HubSpot's AI-powered content assistance lets you easily create and improve articles. The robust analytics help you understand user behavior, allowing you to refine and expand your content. 

Integrating your Knowledge Base with live chat creates a seamless support experience while following best practices ensures your content stays relevant and easy to find. 

With these tools and strategies, you're well on your way to creating a Knowledge Base that answers questions and anticipates needs, learns from interactions and grows smarter over time. 

It's more than just a help center, it's a dynamic knowledge hub that empowers your customers and team.

Start Creating a HubSpot Knowledge Base with Origin 63

Ready to unlock the full potential of HubSpot's Knowledge Base for your business? Partner with Origin 63 to implement HubSpot and create a knowledge base that works for you. 

Our team of HubSpot experts will guide you through every step, from initial setup to leveraging advanced AI and analytics features.

Don't just settle for a basic knowledge base – create a dynamic resource hub that grows with your business. Contact Origin 63 today, and let's build a Knowledge Base that sets your business apart.