Content marketing goes hand-in-hand with analytics. One should inform the other, in a feedback loop that serves to improve both.
Thanks to the amount of data that the internet currently provides to us, we can easily gather a ton of data about a content marketing program. But what data is relevant?
It would be impossible for an agency to track every single metric, how it changes and how those changes impact their content marketing plan. Here, 13 associates of Forbes Agency Council narrow down the list of relevant metrics into a subset that an agency can use to track the success (or failure) of their content marketing program.
Members explain which metrics are best for measuring your content marketing efforts.
Photos courtesy of the individual members
1. On-Site Time
One of the most important metrics to track is on-site time. It’s probably not a good sign if your visitors reach your website and then abandon it two seconds later. This metric will indicate if your visitors are being delighted by your content. Otherwise, you have failed to impress them. There are probably other factors that could be relevant here, such as having a slow website. – JC Hite, Hite Digital
2. Actual Costs
Content is an investment. It’s also more resource-intensive than many assume, once time for writing, editing and approvals are factored in. For a true picture of what you’re spending, create benchmarks for the expenses associated with white papers, case studies, etc. Whatever conversion metric you settle on, you’ll also need realistic cost figures to calculate the ROI of your content marketing. – Kim Charlton, PMG (Pinnacle Marketing Group)
3. Contribution To Influenced Revenue
For all-up measurements, measure each individual program’s contribution to influenced revenue. Make sure this number is bigger than the cost of each marketing program. For an interesting quick scan, look at “number of leads influenced per day” and “number of leads influenced per media dollar” (in the case you’re spending lots of media money on some programs). – Edward Unthank, Etumos
4. Click-Through Rate
When looking at a content marketing program, I like to look at the click-through rate for each email in the campaign to assess engagement. Does it drop off toward the end of a campaign? Is it consistent? Does it get higher? These questions can help you determine how engaged your audience is and where you might need to make adjustments in your campaign. – Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications
5. Subscription And Conversion Rates
Some of the most important metrics to track when it comes to content and marketing are the following: subscription rate and conversion rate. The subscription rate is the number of people who are willing to sign up to receive your updates on a regular basis. Conversion rate are the number of people who are willing to buy your product or your service based on the effectiveness of your content. – Jon James, Ignited Results
6. Email Acquisition And Attrition
Content marketing on social is typically tracked through vanity metrics. But those can be misleading in understanding KPIs like acquisition cost and conversions. Because social platforms are borrowed spaces, transfer activity to permission-based marketing tactics, where most conversions take place. Email acquisition and attrition are markers that effectively measure how your content is performing. – Carey Kirkpatrick, CKP
7. Audience Engagement
Tracking audience engagement is the most critical metric because it measures interaction with your brand. Developing an informed set of engagement component metrics that you can synthesize into one measurable metric is the goal. – Lon Otremba, Bidtellect
8. Number Of New Leads And Re-Engagement
An important metric to track is whether or not your content is driving new leads and re-engagement. You can do this by determining which content is not only contributing to website traffic, but also new contacts who are interested in learning about your company. By getting new leads from your content marketing, you can start to prove ROI based on sales and revenue data from those new contacts. – Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
9. Search Impression Share
The key to making a high-impact content strategy is building a strategy that reaches the most qualified people. With the keywords you’re targeting, what is your search impression share? It’s important to make sure you’re actually getting in front of the right people to give your content a chance to succeed. – Jim Huffman, Growthhit
10. Meaningful Change
While it’s easy to measure views, impressions or reach, measuring meaningful change can be more difficult — yet more rewarding. For campaigns focused on social good or sustainability, measuring the social impact of the program — alongside the business and brand impact — can help showcase the difference you made in the world and will be a win-win for both marketing and CSR teams. – Theresa Schieber, Givewith
11. Size Of Addressable Audience
In the 1950s, soap companies created soap operas to build an engaged audience who would want to buy their products. Today, we have so many tools other than broadcast to engage audiences. Measuring the size of your “addressable audience” is vital. An addressable audience is the people whose emails and mailing addresses you have so you can share content with them and then sell your products to them. – Nancy Marshall, Marshall Communications
12. Share Volume
The most effective content encourages sharing. More than impressions, likes or site views, shares show that your message is resonating with your audience. They are in turn sharing it with their audiences — which you may not have had access to beforehand, leading to an expanded audience that will help spread your message further. – David Harrison, EVINS
13. Number Of Downloads
Downloads are an important metric because they imply you’ve created something that will keep one’s attention. By knowing when individuals have taken this additional action, you can optimize your content strategy with confidence. Be sure to repurpose this content further down the buyer journey and reinforce important messages that sparked their interest in the first place. – Keri Witman, Cleriti
