3 simple ways to measure content marketing success
Possibly the greatest aspect of content marketing is the ability to track success, views and engagement on almost platform. Metrics tell us exactly what content is most engaging to each audience, which in turn can help us develop a more effective strategy. At the most basic level, metrics indicate what posts get the most likes on social media, which email headings receive the most open rates for your company newsletter and which blog posts got the most people to visit your website.
However, trying to measure content marketing success through analytics, social media management and metrics means sifting through a lot of information. Then, trying to translate it into meaningful data can get really complicated. But because the road map to tracking your most effective content is right there, we figure, why not take advantage of it? The key is to simplify the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
Website
Start by measuring organic traffic from search engines and social media to your website. This will give you a good idea as to what content is resonating with your audience, so you can recreate similar material and get better at producing it. Look at your Google Analytics to get an idea as to how long people are staying on your page and what information they seem to be seeking. If a monthly blog installment is getting a lot of hits, then perhaps consider making that a weekly segment to increase reach.
Social Media
On social media, there are various metrics to reveal what type of content worked best on what channel, from shares to likes. Measuring consumption metrics, such as reach, will tell you how many people interacted with your content, from Facebook page likes to Twitter mentions, Instagram comments and more. Looking at engagement is useful as well, from link clicks, shares, mentions and comments. Finally, conversion metrics will show you how many people took action from your content, furthering themselves deeper into the lead generation funnel. Look at what is producing the most engagement, and reproduce similar content from there.
Newsletter
E-newsletters provide various metrics such as open rates, bounces, growth and subscriber information. We love them because you can easily tweak a newsletter to find the perfect combination of content and information based on open rates and link click-throughs. Many e-newsletter platforms, such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, Eloqua and Marketo, easily provide these insights and analytics so businesses can measure, test and repeat. Try doing a little bit of A/B testing with different headlines to find the one with a higher open rate. Additionally, studying landing page views and click-through rates will help your business understand if the content included in the e-newsletter is worthwhile enough for your audience to get engaged.
To measure content marketing success, combine your research and suddenly your metrics will tell a story worth repeating, without having to do too much data analysis. The formula is simple: go with what is working, abandon what isn't. From there, your content marketing will only thrive.
Yakkety Yak LLC is a full-service content marketing company that produces custom written content for businesses, including company blogs and newsletters, social media marketing, case studies, white papers, press releases, copywriting services and more. Yakkety Yak works as an extension of your marketing team to improve engagement, increase exposure and send the right message to your customers. Our goal is to help your business connect with the right target audience, using a voice and tone specifically designed to reach your end users. Ready to get started? Let's Yak.