Content marketing is simple. Wrong assumption! Ask any executive or entrepreneur about their digital marketing frustrations, and you’ll hear that they need help in content marketing metrics and strategies. But why, really? You know your business well enough to talk about it to your customers in the form of content. Or do you? Maybe that’s exactly the problem. Make sure you have an 80-page outline when you want to discuss your business!

Now let’s look at how to simplify your content creation process and what metrics you can use to evaluate whether you are doing it right.

Whether you have a team of content producers or are a solo entrepreneur, at some point content marketing gets complicated. “What should I write?” You may be asking yourself.

Whenever you feel pressured to answer that question, keep these four principles in mind. They will guarantee your success and your content marketing strategies.

 

To whom Are We Talking?: It’s easy to forget your target audience. Especially as businesses evolve and more and more people become involved in the process. But customers always come first. Get a clear picture of who you’re writing for.

The questions may seem trivial, but when business people get caught up in business processes, it’s shocking how they forget these simple questions. Then they easily get lost in the content marketing metrics. They look at trends, try to keep up with trends or look at a lot of data. Ultimately, however, it’s best to return to a simple thought process.

What Are We Trying To Say?: Suppose you run a technical business. Are you writing about anything technical? Should you use all the technical jargon in your content marketing strategy? No. Because that will drive customers away and make what you say ineffective.

Users get bored when you always include technical topics in your content. Change your voice now and then and write about content that speaks to the heart, not just the business.

When Are We Going To Say It?: Sometimes when you want to share an idea, you’ll sit on it so long that you miss the opportunity. And to avoid missing an opportunity, you might say something half-baked. The right time is when you have added enough value. When your customers trust and follow you for more valuable information. Quantity and quality are key here.

How Are We Going To Say it?: Here’s where most content marketing strategies fail: the right message in inappropriate media. Another mistake you can make is to use a few media or platforms: for example, only email marketing and blog posts or relying only on social media platforms.

Your social content should be engaging and enjoyable, not technical. It’s wrong to ignore all offline marketing and only have an online presence. If Google is still doing offline marketing, you should be too!

Top Content Marketing Metrics You Need To Know About

Metrics may seem daunting at first glance. But it is not. Remember that anything you can measure can be improved. Metrics and KPIs are essential. However, they need to be positive and effortless so you can enjoy your business and what you do. The most important tool you can use to evaluate your metrics is Google analytics. Here’s the list of content marketing metrics you’ll need

Search Engine Result Page (SERP)

You need to consider search engine ranking when creating content. You are not alone in this world. Millions of users are creating content every second. So to properly share your valuable messages, you need to rank high.

The good news is that any content format you create can show up in search engines. Are you writing blog posts? That’s good. That gets ranked. Do you have an excellent podcast? Great. It ranks. Do you make great videos on YouTube? Perfect, that will be ranked. Even the images and forums you have can rank. Remember the golden rule: you need quantity and quality at the same time!

Do not forget about the language or the search engines. They rank your content according to the SEO rules they have. You must follow these rules, otherwise what you create will not rank well. Search Engine Optimization and growth should be a main focus of your Content Marketing Metrics.

Quality Of The Traffic

How can you make sure you have the right content marketing metrics? One factor is your ranking in the SERPs (search engine results pages). The second factor is the traffic you receive. Here you need to pay attention to three factors:

• Number of users: Compared to a business, this is the number of people who come to you. In the digital world, it’s the total number of people who visited your website or content page.
• Page views: This is the number of people who enter your shop and visit multiple sections. In other words, how many people visited your pages directly or indirectly?
• Unique page views: You do not count customers going up a flight of stairs and down in your shop twice. Or do you? The same rule applies here. Unique page views eliminate repeat visits or when a user refreshes a page. It is an indicator of how valuable your content is. How many people have stayed to read your message or hear your voice is one of the deciding factors you need.

Sharing On Social Media

This is one of the major content marketing metrics you should consider. When people find something valuable or entertaining, they share it with friends and family. They comment or interact with your content on various social media platforms. So considering the numbers you get from content management sites and tools is critical here. In his book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Jonah Burger mentions that your content, whether in written, audio or visual form, must follow six basic principles to go viral: “social currency, triggers, emotions, public, practical value, and story.” 

Strongly consider your social media marketing strategy when evaluating your Content Marketing Metrics and reporting.

Time On Page

Time on page is one of the impressive content marketing metrics you should focus on, as it shows how valuable or engaging you are. The longer this parameter, the better. Scroll rate is another metric you should keep an eye on. When it comes to social media, you want users to watch a video to the end or scroll through all the slides you offer. Let’s say they stay on your website for 6 seconds or watch 30 seconds of your 40-minute video: What does that tell you?

Conversion Rate

If all the content marketing metrics are right, you should be able to convert your visitors into customers. In our shop analogy, the conversion rate is the number of people who eventually buy from your shop. In the digital world, it’s the number of people who responded to your digital campaign. Your target result may vary, but it shows if you are on the right or wrong track. It also tells you if you are a thought leader in the marketplace or just another me-too brand. Did you build trust and authority, or were you seen as not the right person for the job?

There are tons of Content Marketing Metrics available with online tools. The more parameters you monitor, the better decisions you can make. However, if things are complicated, reviewing the core metrics above will help you. Want to get detailed and technical content marketing metrics? Contact us for more help and support.

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