author
Matt Edens
Content marketing is becoming more and more relevant as it is the easiest way to publish content that your audience will want to read. But how do you know its working and are their certain KPI's that you need to identify for measuring content marketing success?
Views
A part of the deciding factor is the number of views you receive. Nowadays, it's easy to determine this no matter which platform you use to market because the site or app lets you know how many visitors your blog, video or other copy received. Google Analytics or YouTube Insights act as a counter to help you measure and compare. Once you have this useful information, you can know decide your next course of action.
Lead Generation
One true way to get a sense of how much success you're earning is to figure out the number of leads generated from your content marketing. This is why it is handy to use a service like, HubSpot, which will keep track of these leads and will even help you segment them in order to map out which types of leads get which content pieces later down the line.
Users
Sometimes, finding out the number of users is a more accurate measurement than looking at the number of page views. When people revisit a page by accident, or other factors that alter the number of page views, you're not getting an accurate look at how successful particular pieces of content are or the marketing in general.
Average Time on Page
Looking at the average time users spend on the page helps you to know if people are actually looking at the content you're displaying. You might have a ton of views, but people might not be spending a ton of time on your site because you aren't producing content that's engaging to them. If they aren't reading the content, you wouldn't consider it successful, would you?
Visitors Viewing Multiple Pages
When a visitor is on your website, they might find one or two of your articles interesting, sometimes more. What this can tell you though, is that your visitors are either looking at additional content on your site or they aren't. If they are only viewing one page, that means you're losing the chance to have prospective clients click through multiple pages. If they're stopping, that means your content isn't being viewed and you may have missed opportunities to sell your products or services. Not to mention, if you're using your website views to leverage hosting ads on your website, you'd be missing out there as well.
New and Returning User Count
Its always good to measure how much of your traffic is someone new or if they have already visited and are returning. If all of your traffic is returning visitors, how are you supposed to get new business? This is an area that Knowmad specializes in.
Shares
If people are sharing your content, you know it's working. This means people like your content so much that they want their friends/families/co-workers to not only know it, but they want them to have the opportunity to read it and become a customer as well. These people are the ones who are your true supporters, and their shares have the ability to draw in many new customers for you. Tracking these shares will allow you to measure how successful the circulation of your content piece was.
Content Length Shares
The views for different content lengths can help you determine if the short posts are working or if your longer posts do better. You may find that your lengthier content pieces just aren't working for your customers, or you may find that short posts are doing better, and it's what you need to craft more of.
Number of Comments
If your page allows comments, it's good to see people are talking about what you posted. It shows that people are interested in your content, and it's meaningful enough that it warrants them spending some extra time on your page to let you know or to at least discuss the piece.
Brand Lift
Your brand lift has the ability to determine if your brand name is actually being recognized. It informs you if your content marketing is benefiting your brand. Never heard of Brand Lift? Check it out here.
Do you use any other metrics to measure your content marketing success? If so, leave us a comment. We'd love to hear what you think! Click the link for more information about how you can use your content marketing for lead generation!