I’m gonna level with you. I’m an English major who went on to get a Master’s in English. In other words… math is not my strong suit.
In college, I got through my math requirement by taking “math for non-majors” or something like that. Truth be told, I blocked it out. So, if you’d told me 15 years ago that I’d be spending a pretty chunk of my time looking at numbers, running calculations, and driving many of my professional decisions based on metrics, I would have laughed. So hard.
Try as I might to avoid math, it’s utterly unavoidable in the world of content marketing.
Content marketing metrics are the backbone of every content marketing decision you make for your company—whether that’s a single social media post or a full scale marketing campaign.
Keep reading to dive deep into the world of content marketing metrics. I’ll help you understand the most important factors to measure, how you can effectively measure them, and most importantly, how they translate into real-world action for your business.
The 4 pillars of effective content marketing measurement
Knowing what to measure is crucial—and don’t worry, we’ll get to that shortly. But tracking a bunch of numbers without understanding the pillars that form the foundation of effective measurement leads to shooting in the dark.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in a meeting with a client, where they were trying to understand what metrics to track for their videos on YouTube, and how best to do that. After a bunch of stakeholders tossed around different ideas, I chimed in and reminded everyone that just tracking video views (the metric being focused on the most in this discussion) without understanding the how and why wouldn’t do much good.
So, we reviewed these pillars of content marketing metric tracking:
1. Clear objectives and goals
Many, many companies are operating without a clear understanding of their own objectives and goals, so if you’re in this camp, you’re definitely not alone.
You may put a lot of effort into running a robust marketing campaign, but without knowing why you’re running it to begin with (beyond just getting more customers), there’s no way to track what success looks like.
Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, generate leads, or foster customer engagement? How does the goal for this particular campaign or piece of content tie into overarching company goals?
Defining your goals clearly and succinctly helps you align your content strategies with your desired outcomes—and see if you’re making progress toward those goals.
2. Data collection and analysis tools
One of the biggest pitfalls when it comes to tracking metrics is not having the right tools set up to track things properly, or using them incorrectly. Just having Google Analytics hooked up to your website isn’t enough to make sure you’re tracking things correctly or running the most effective reports to match your goals.
It’s also essential to be looking beyond Google Analytics at native social media insights, analytics through your email marketing platforms, and SEO data through a platform like SEMrush.
Bringing all these tools together helps you get a complete picture of what’s working and what’s not.
3. Relevant key performance indicators (KPIs)
It can seem like a tedious task, but identifying the right KPIs is essential for measuring progress toward your goals. Your KPIs should always link back to your larger company goals. Depending on your objectives, KPIs might include metrics like website traffic, social media engagement, lead generation, conversion rates, and customer retention.
4. Regular tracking and reporting
Finally, even if you set goals and KPIs, and you’ve got the best analytics tools in place, all of that does you no good if you set it and forget it.
Metrics need consistent monitoring and reporting to be useful. With consistent efforts, you can track progress over time, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your content marketing strategies.
Measuring what matters most: key content marketing metrics
“Just tell me what to measure already!”
Alright, alright, I gotchu!
It can sometimes feel overwhelming thinking about all the possible things you could measure, but remember: If you’ve got those four pillars in mind, it makes it a lot easier to narrow things down to the things that will help you measure success toward your goals.
Here’s a look at the key content marketing metrics you should prioritize:
Website traffic
The cornerstone of online success, website traffic tells you how many people are coming to your site. It’s important to analyze both the volume of traffic and where that traffic is coming from—organic search, direct, referral, and social—to gauge the effectiveness of your content distribution channels.
Engagement metrics
Engagement metrics, such as bounce rate, time on page, and pages per session, tell you how visitors interact with your content when they land on your site. Bounce rate—how quickly someone leaves (or, bounces from) your site—tells you a lot about how engaging and relevant your content is to your audience.
Conversion rate
Ultimately, your content should lead to conversions—meaning, your audience is taking the action you want them to take. That could mean signing up for your newsletter, downloading a resource, filling out a form, or making a purchase. Tracking conversion rates helps you see how effective your content is at guiding your visitors toward desired actions.
Lead generation metrics
While there are exceptions, most businesses need to bring in (and nurture) qualified leads before they become paying customers. This is a type of conversion tracking, but it’s a bit more specific to lead generation. Metrics like form submissions, gated content downloads, and email sign-ups give you a clear picture of your content’s success at capturing and nurturing leads.
Social media metrics
The native analytics available in social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, are constantly improving and offer a wealth of metrics, including likes, shares, comments, click-through rates, and yes, video views. These metrics reflect how well your content resonates with your audience and its potential reach.
Search engine rankings
Great content that’s properly optimized can boost your search engine rankings, leading to increased organic traffic. Tracking your content’s performance in search engine results pages (SERPs) helps you see where your efforts are boosting your goals, and where they’re falling flat.
Backlinks and referral traffic
Backlinks are links back to your site from other websites. The number and quality of backlinks to your content contribute to your site’s authority and referral traffic, which helps Google send more traffic to your site. Monitoring these metrics provides insight into your influence within your industry, and how well you can expect your content to perform.
Email engagement
Believe it or not, email isn’t dead! Email marketing is still an important part of a complete content strategy. Metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates indicate how well your content resonates with your email subscribers.
Measuring for success: how to gather and interpret data
Now that we’ve covered the essential metrics you should be tracking, let’s explore how your business can effectively gather and interpret data to assess the performance of your content marketing efforts.
Set up tracking tools
Implement tracking tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and social media insights. Make sure your website is properly tagged with relevant UTM parameters to accurately attribute traffic sources.
Segment your data
Segment your data to gain deeper insights. Analyze the performance of different types of content, target audience segments, and distribution channels to understand what resonates most.
Monitor audience behavior
Pay attention to how your audience interacts with your content. Are they spending time on your pages, sharing your posts, and taking desired actions? If not, consider revising your content strategy.
Do A/B testing
Experiment with different content formats, headlines, calls-to-action, and distribution schedules. A/B testing allows you to identify what works best for your audience and refine your content strategy accordingly.
Benchmark against goals
Regularly compare your metrics against the goals you set. Are you meeting your objectives? If not, adjust your strategy and tactics as needed.
Do a competitive analysis
Analyze your competitors’ content marketing efforts to gain insights into their strategies and performance. This can help you identify gaps and opportunities within your own approach.
8 ways to take action on content marketing metrics
Gathering data is super important, but it doesn’t do you any good if it sits in a spreadsheet gathering dust. The true power of content marketing metrics lies in turning those insights into actionable strategies. Here’s how you can leverage the information you glean from your metrics:
1. Optimize your content
Identify high-performing content and replicate its success by creating similar pieces. On the other hand, you should be analyzing underperforming content to understand why it may not be resonating with your audience, so you can make necessary improvements.
2. Modify your audience personas
Metrics offer a window into your audience’s preferences and behaviors. Use this information to refine your audience personas and tailor your content to better align with their needs and interests.
3. Adjust your content distribution strategy
Analyze which distribution channels yield the best results. If a particular platform or channel is driving significant traffic and engagement, consider allocating more resources to it. And if a channel just isn’t landing well with your audience, don’t be afraid to nix it.
4. Refine your SEO strategy
Monitor your search engine rankings and organic traffic patterns to refine your SEO strategy. Identify keywords that are driving traffic and optimize your content accordingly.
5. Optimize for conversion rate
If your conversion rates are subpar, investigate potential roadblocks in the user journey. Are your calls-to-action clear? Is your landing page optimized for user flow? Make adjustments to improve conversion rates.
6. Personalize and segment your content
Segment your audience based on behavior and preferences, and personalize your content accordingly. Personalization enhances user experience and boosts engagement.
7. Rinse and repeat
If your metrics tell you something is working, keep doing it! You can (and should!) repurpose content in different ways, but also, don’t be afraid to re-share the same content at a later date. People’s attentions spans are short, and it’s okay to repeat things on social media—especially things that you know have landed with your audience in the past.
8. Make iterative improvements
Content marketing is an iterative process. Continuously monitor your metrics, analyze the results, and refine your strategies. The digital landscape evolves, and so should your content marketing approach.
As I’ve learned over the past nearly 15 years of being immersed in the world of content marketing, data is not just a set of numbers; it’s the compass that should guide you toward success.
Even as a recovering math hater, I know how important effective and strategic measurement is for understanding what’s working and what’s not for your business—and why. By focusing on the right metrics, implementing robust tracking tools, and using that data effectively, your content marketing efforts can drive meaningful results.
Need to get clear on your content marketing strategy? Let’s talk.