Content Marketing Framework: Measurement
For content marketing, it’s a long season. There are, and should be, many chances to fail — as long as we fail quickly, learn, and adapt to the new surroundings.
Measurement comes at the end of this framework, but for many, it’s the beginning, middle, end (and everything in between) of your content marketing process… and it’s not easy.
Our 2023 B2B research showed that only half (49%) of marketers surveyed feel their organization measures content performance accurately. The top challenge they face with measuring content performance is difficulty integrating/correlating data across multiple platforms (48%).
But even for those who do track performance, there’s little consensus across the industry about which metrics to focus on. For example, in his video show on How to Demystify the Process of Measuring Content Marketing ROI, The Content Advisory’s founder and chief strategy officer Robert Rose says marketers often look at some arbitrary metric – like page views or downloads – and try to link it to return-on-investment.
If you want a breakdown on what you should measure, plus helpful checklists and templates, check out How to Measure Content Marketing: The (Updated) Essentials Guide.
Just because you can measure just about anything these days, doesn’t mean that you should. Metrics can be all-consuming and confusing. Your first step should be to make sure you understand what all those different data points mean and what insights they can – and can’t – reveal about your content. Our guide, 23 Measurement Definitions Every Content Marketer Should Know, can help with that.
Then, you can sharpen your focus on some of the other measurement fundamentals:
- Why You Struggle To Prove Content ROI – and How To Settle Up (or Down)
- How To Set Up a Content Scoring Process for Better Decisions
- Your Content Analytics Are Meaningless Unless You Have This [Rose-Colored Glasses]
- 101+ Key Performance Indicators – and Tips for Making the Best Choices
Next, understand how other companies are measuring content marketing:
Lastly, follow some expert advice on measuring performance against specific goals, on certain platforms, or for dedicated purposes:
- 7 Social Media Metrics That Should Really Matter to Your Brand
- Forget Views and Shares: Choose Metrics More Relevant to Your Content Marketing Goals
- Why Learning GA4 Is So Hard – And What To Do About It
- How to Measure the Value of Your Subscribers
- How to Make a Better Content Marketing Case With ROI
Accurate, effective measurement is just one essential component of a successful content marketing program. Check out our e-book, The CMI Content Marketing Framework: 5 Building Blocks for Profitable, Scalable Operations, for an overview of how the right strategic support can help you increase the ROI of your content marketing investments. You can also learn about the other components with our how-to guides on the right-hand side of the page.