Is Your Content Marketing On Track?
To ensure that your content marketing achieves its business goals, you must measure your progress and results. Content marketing metrics incorporate a combination of traditional tracking analysis and more specific questions related to content creation.
Creation-related content marketing metrics
Start by tracking the soft elements of your content marketing program that aren’t traditional marketing metrics. These factors aim to examine your program’s content to ensure that it’s meeting its business objectives based on your goals and target market’s needs. Here are seven content marketing metrics to assess the amount and quality of your content marketing.
- What type of content is created? Think in terms information categories and track content by type. How frequently is content created and/or updated? What do these updates depend on?
- What format of content is created? For example, blog posts, photographs, videos, etc.
- Who creates the content? Specifically who is responsible for content development? This includes internal resources by department, outside agencies and/or customers and/or the public. Do customers and/or the public contribute content? If so, what kind of content, how much and with what frequency? Don’t overlook comments, ratings, reviews, votes and survey results.
- Where is content placed? Owned media, third party media or social media. Include offline content such as communications, product packaging and store information as well as the full breadth of online content and social media.
- Is your brand integrated into your content? How do you track this brand impact? Does this branding require additional creative work to ensure that it’s identified as your company’s information?
- How is your content marketing connected to your product and/or online presence? This can be links to your website or blog or QR codes. Is additional content needed?
- Is related marketing required to drive prospects to your content marketing? If so, is this marketing incorporated into your overall marketing plan? Are the costs included in your budget?
On-going tracking content marketing metrics
These are the content marketing metrics that can be monitored using existing tracking systems. They fall into five basic metrics categories.
Regardless of where you start, it’s important to track both the soft and hard metrics of your content marketing program to ensure that it’s meeting its goals. Even if your metrics are less than perfect, it’s better to start measuring content marketing results and refine them as you go.
Do you have any other content marketing metrics to add to this list? If so, please include your input in the comment section below.
Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen
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