Content planning, creation, and distribution can be fun but your content marketing strategy should be based on more than just fun and interest.
You need to create content that can engage your audience and, perhaps, get them to perform desired actions like buying a product.
Is your content able to do that?
The only way to find out is by measuring the right KPIs.
You should track these 3 types of content marketing KPIs that can come in handy during evaluation.
1. SEO Metrics
SEO metrics can help you discover how your website is performing.
Some of the SEO-related KPIs you can track are:
- Site traffic: This is one of the most important KPIs to track as it is necessary to know how many people are visiting your website, where they’re hailing from, and what posts are appealing the most to them.
In addition, you can also look at the amount of time they’re spending with your content.
- Inbound links: Inbound links can help you generate more traffic and climb up the SERPs, to say the least. They give Google the idea that your content is top-notch and that more people should view it.
2. Social Engagement Metrics
Social media is where people hang out and often make important buying decisions.
Here are some KPIs that can help you evaluate the quality of your social media content:
- Social shares: Social media users share what they like. They share content that is relatable, unique, humorous, or informative.
Your social shares will help you gauge the quality of your content. If a particular type of content gets shared more than the rest, find out why.
- Audience engagement: If your content is good, chances are that your audience will want to let you know that. In addition to liking your posts, they will go the extra mile to stop by and leave a comment. In result, it increases audience engagement.
This can help you start a conversation online and the resulting interactions can tell you how your audience feels about your brand and content.
3. Conversion Metrics
In the end, your content marketing strategy is all about driving more business and sales.
You can track the metrics below to see if your content is generating a good ROI:
- Cost per lead: Generating traffic is great, but you need to push your audience down the sales funnel. Your cost per lead will disclose the rate at which your content is generating leads.
Is it worth it or is it far too expensive?
- Conversion rates: The final goal is to push your leads to the end of the sales funnel. Your conversion rate will tell you how good your content is at generating revenue.
If you want to give your content marketing efforts a push, use a content marketing platform. To discover the best ones out there, check out this review post on my blog, ShaneBarker.com.
To discover more content marketing KPIs that you can track, check out the infographic below.
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is the co-founder of Attrock, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.