How to Measure the Value of Your Content Marketing

In the crowded digital marketplace, how can you make sure your business cuts through the noise? Content marketing allows a business to stand out and connect meaningfully with its customers. But, without a clear strategy and a way of measuring impact, its power may remain untapped, leading to disappointing results.

Armed with insights into the mechanics of effective content marketing, you can pave the way for greater online visibility, and ultimately, increased business value. Let's delve deeper into content marketing, and explore how to accurately gauge its impact on your business.

What is content marketing?

This type of marketing focuses on serving the customer (whether you’re B2B or B2C) and engaging them through content (written, video, audio, etc.). The goal is to provide this information for free to show customers the value of your business and what you do, while also positioning you as the expert in your industry.

This creates a relationship based on trust, which means they’re more likely to consider buying from you in the future. As well as building trust with your customers, content marketing can help you build a strong online presence that influences buying decisions.

The problem is, content marketing has been historically difficult to measure, which has lead to many deciding it can’t be all that valuable. Unfortunately, those people are wrong and content marketing will continue to play a large part in any successful B2B marketing strategy.

How do you show the value of content marketing?

The success of content might be notoriously difficult to quantify, but here at Jet Social, we ensure we’re tracking the impact of the work we do from day one. Content marketing KPIs (key performance indicators) vary from conversions to referrals – and beyond. To establish which are most effective for a business, we look at the different ways content marketing can bring value.

Whether you’re looking to promote a new ride-sharing service to consumers or are targeting organisations with your software offering, content is a powerful tool. Here’s what it could do and how to measure its impact.

Build trust

When you consistently create high-quality content that is relevant, accurate, and engaging, it establishes you as a reliable source of information. This helps build trust with your audience over time, which can lead to increased sales as people both return to your business and refer it to others.

A content marketing KPI used to measure the level of trust built between you and your audience could be the number of returning visitors to your website or blog. A high percentage of returning visitors with a low bounce rate indicates that users find your content valuable and trustworthy, and are more willing to spend time and money with you than your competitors.

Typical SEO metrics can also be a good marker of trust, as can sales figures such as average customer value.

*How impressions and clicks have risen over a specific time frame.*

Education

Educational content, such as how-to guides, tutorials, or insightful blog posts, can help customers better understand your products or services, as well as help them navigate challenges related to your core offering.

The number of views or downloads of your educational content can serve as KPIs to measure the effectiveness of your efforts. You could also measure customer service metrics as educational content can improve the success of self-service options for customers (FAQs, chatbots, etc.) and help reduce the number of calls you receive, or your content could improve your first call resolution rate as your CX team will have additional resources they can guide people to.

Show expertise

Content marketing allows you to demonstrate expertise in your field. While harder to measure, KPIs could include the number of industry shares, guest post invites, or interview requests. You may also see more people mentioning your thought leadership article at conferences or during meetings, this is a good way to see if your content is reaching the right people.

Broadly speaking, you might also track enquiries and conversions from this content, especially if it’s more bottom-of-funnel and designed to encourage people to get in touch.

Social media engagement

Sharing your content on your social channels helps you increase brand awareness and engage your audience in new ways. KPIs for social media engagement are easily accessible and include likes, shares, comments, and followers. These indicators show how much your audience is interacting with your content, giving you an idea of its effectiveness. You can also look at referrals that come from your social channels and the sales conversion rates from those sources.

Organic traffic

*Stats from one of our e-mobility clients*

Content marketing can significantly improve your website's search rankings, leading to increased traffic. The number of organic visitors to your website is a strong KPI that shows the impact of your content marketing efforts on your site's visibility and ranking. You can also track specific keywords to monitor how you rank for each in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Working your content marketing into your SEO strategy means you’ll be able to track the two in tandem, increasing your search rankings while building trust and converting new customers.

New leads

Content marketing can help attract new leads for your business. KPIs for new leads can include the number of newsletter signups, downloads of your whitepapers or e-books, or direct inquiries about your services.

Improve conversions

High-quality B2B content can help persuade potential customers to take action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. Tracking your conversion rates can help you gauge the impact of your content marketing on your bottom line.

*Look at which of your pages have the highest conversion rates to find out which are the most impactful.*

Importantly, this will tell you what’s working and what isn’t. As a result, you focus your efforts on only the most effective content types for your audience. This ensures you’re only spending money on the really impactful stuff.

Build backlinks

Quality content can encourage other websites to link back to your site, which will no bout be part of your SEO strategy. The number of backlinks to your content is a key KPI indicating the influence and authority of your content.

The potency of content marketing lies not just in its ability to increase visibility but also in fostering trust, educating your audience, and demonstrating your expertise. Leveraging key performance indicators can provide insights into your strategy's effectiveness and areas for refinement. A well-executed content marketing strategy doesn't just add value to your business – it creates a solid foundation for sustainable growth.

If you’re ready to see results from content marketing, Jet Social is here to guide you every step of the way, from content strategy to creation and measurement. We understand the intricacies of creating compelling content that resonates with your audience and meets your business objectives.

Why not start with a discovery call? This is an excellent opportunity to discuss your goals, your audience, and how a robust content marketing strategy can drive your business forward. Book yours here.

Frequently asked questions

At Jet Social, we have more than 10 years of experience working with clients on technology and automotive content projects. We’re here to answer any questions you might have on the power of content marketing, as well as our process.

What qualifies as content?

This is any form of communication used to engage your audience. This includes written content such as blogs, articles, and whitepapers, as well as videos, podcasts, infographics, and social media posts.

What are the steps to develop a content marketing strategy?

A successful content marketing strategy begins with defining your goals and understanding your audience. Next, you need a plan for how you’ll create and distribute high-quality, relevant content that will engage your audience. You’ll also need to establish content KPIs and a process to measure your results.

Do I need an editorial calendar?

Yes, an editorial calendar is a crucial part of your content marketing strategy. It helps you plan and schedule your content in a strategic way, ensuring that you consistently publish high-quality content within your niche.

How important are keywords in content marketing?

Keywords are essential in content marketing as they improve search engine optimisation and help your content reach the right audience. It's important to include relevant keywords in your content, but they should be used naturally and sparingly to avoid keyword stuffing. First and foremost, though, you need to think about the reader. While the keywords are important, your content still needs to have value to your audience.