How to Measure Content Marketing Performance
Stop measuring vanity metrics like 'likes' and 'shares'. Learn how to measure content marketing performance for real success.
When you’re posting content it’s easy to get caught in the vanity metrics around likes, comments and shares. And when you start looking at these to measure your content marketing performance it’s equally easy to wear yourself out trying to create more and more content, as you continue to chase more likes, comments, and shares. Neil Patel, an expert on content marketing, has written extensively on measuring content marketing performance… but when he mentions likes, comments and shares, it’s only as a small metric among a much larger analytic strategy. And that’s because while social metrics are valuable, they’re certainly not the be all end all.
I have a client who’s been in business for over 30 years. She specialises in leadership communications and has written three books, has great IP and a large, engaged database. But when we spoke she the first thing she mentioned in terms of her content marketing strategy was how she wanted to do Facebook ads.
I was surprised. Facebook ads, Google ads, LinkedIn ads, and the like are great for the early days of your practice, or for when you are launching a new product or offering. But when you have great positioning you don’t need ads. My client had written three books, yet she never sent them out. She had great positioning, yet she wasn’t using it for her marketing. Instead, she believed she needed to pay for ads in order to see any return.
There’s a better way.
How to Measure Content Marketing Performance
Using Positioning in Your Content Marketing
Instead of paying for an expensive price per click ad (and, for example, LinkedIn ads can be as much as $5.26 per click), it’s a much better investment to utilise your own positioning. For example, set yourself a KPI of posting 10 books per week to your current leads. Why pay for ads, when people pay for people? They want to hear from you directly – either via a newsletter, by a sales call or through your book or other collateral. And when you have great positioning, you can do this. You don’t need to pay for ads.
So, why did my client, with such excellent positioning, and boasting a successful and established business, feel that she needed ads? It’s because she was measuring the success of her content marketing with the wrong metrics.
Two Types of Content
When it comes to measuring your content marketing performance, it’s important to remember that there are two types of content.
The first is content that builds relationships.
The second is content that drives revenue.
Too often we get caught up in measuring the second type of content, without giving proper consideration to the first type. Yet both are equally important.
Andrew Davis, best-selling author and marketing thought leader, says, ‘Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.’
When it comes to how to measure your content marketing performance, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself whether that piece of content is building your tribe or connections. If it is, then it doesn’t matter if you’re not driving revenue directly from that content. Because over time, you will.
Relationship Building Content is Like Your Support Team
You can think of relationship-building content like your support team. Professional athletes might be rightly concerned about running faster, winning games or breaking records. But to get there they need coaches, nutritionists, dieticians, sleep, strength and conditioning and a myriad of other ‘supporting’ elements that drive their success.
In the same way, you can’t have revenue-driving content in isolation. It works together with all your other content marketing elements to drive your success.
Steps for Content Marketing Success
Identify the brand you’re trying to build, your positioning and what you’re trying to ultimately sell.
Integrate your sales and marketing tactics so they work together and don’t operate in isolation. For example, if you’re just sending out a newsletter, but aren’t proactively reaching out to clients through sales calls, you miss the opportunity to leverage that content creation for greater benefit.
When you do sell, ensure you track where the sells came from. Was it a referral? Was it from speaking at a conference? Pay attention to what’s working and incorporate more of that into your strategy.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how to measure content marketing performance...
Jane Anderson is a strategic communications expert, speaker, business coach and the author of 11 books including Catalyst Content.
With over 20 years of experience helping people to communicate confidently, she is obsessed with authentic influence and human connection to drive business growth in a world of disruption and automation.
Jane delivers Content Creation Bootcamps (virtual and face to face), coaching and keynotes. To inquire about her working with you or your organisation please contact us here.