One of our favourite things about content marketing (aside from the fact that it works) is that it is totally measurable.
But, content marketing research has shown that less than 60% of B2B and B2C businesses are actually measuring their content's performance. This is shocking because understanding the performance value of your content is integral to demonstrating RIO.
Read on for a more tuned in look at why you should be tracking your content marketing's performance and exactly how we recommend that you do that.
Why you should track performance
You’ve created a strategy, built the content and set a goal for that content. Measuring its performance should be a no-brainer. Some content will succeed better than others, tracking the effectiveness of your content will tell you a number of things but mainly, where your audiences interests lie and what content is actually contributing to revenue.
By being able to look at monthly and yearly successes, it will allow you to improve and reframe your content strategy for the next month and year.
How to track your content's performance
We can look at a number of types of content marketing metrics namely, view/reads, shares, leads and finally sales. Number of views and likes or data on popularity of your content on one side and then customer behaviour, closure and ROI on the other. It is important that all are tracked as they are key to understanding your audience's behaviour and wants/needs.
Your content marketing strategy should be based upon predetermined KPI’s (key performance indicators) and your measurement focus should demonstrate how your content contributed to being able to reach those business objectives.
There are a number of tools available that help you effectively track content performance.
Content Marketing Performance Tools
HubSpot
At Hughes and Co. we use HubSpot analytics to measure our (and our clients) content performance; it’s our ultimate source for tracking ROI. HubSpot compiles all of your marketing metrics into one easy to understand spot. The software is integrated, allowing us to connect website traffic, contacts and marketing content into one analytics funnel. We can track one piece of content, the contacts who converted on that content and how that content fits into the success of an all over campaign. In the end, it allows us to connect content to revenue generation.
Your measurement process should finish with a focus on improvement. Take what you have learned from your data and start improving upon your content and your strategy. Check out this blog on metrics, for some insight on what metrics we recommend focusing on in order to improve your marketing performance. Ready to see where your business's marketing strategies are failing and succeeding? Our marketing strategists can run a comprehensive assessment of your current marketing efforts and offer recommendations for better web traffic, lead conversion and more. Let's get started.