How to Prove Content Marketing ROI for Your Business

Over the years, content marketing has created quite a hype. In addition, platforms used to create and generate content to the right channels have grown and matured. Despite the high volume of content being published by companies all around the world, however, businesses are still unable to gain profits from their content and boost brand awareness. Accountability and revenue attribution are just some of the major goals companies are trying to achieve with their content marketing strategy.

In a report compiled by Marketing Score, 6 out of 10 marketing tools from an accountability perspective have been adopted by companies as their key elements to content marketing. So where’s the gap and what is stopping these companies from succeeding? And how can you effectively measure content marketing ROI?

Attribute Revenue to Content Marketing

The first step towards making your content more accountable is to attribute revenues. Revenue attribution is the first step towards assessing how your content asset performs. Identify the best performing campaigns of you company from a conversion perspective. It is important that you assess which sale came from which white paper or blog post.

This attribution works for all sorts of content you create, be it emails, landing pages, articles, blogs, even video content. You must keep track of revenue attribution. Content attribution is an integral element of enterprise CRM platforms.  To make the best use of it, you need to synch your CRM platform with your campaigns on web analytics, be it your email, or marketing automation tools. This will help you track down direct revenue driven by each campaign including each individual piece of content.

There are mainly 3 types of attributions:

First-touch Attribution

This is when the credit for a closed sale is given to the first content asset which the consumer had interacted with.

Last Touch Attribution

This is when the credit for a closed sale is given to the last content asset, which the consumer had interacted with.

Multi Touch Attribution

This is when credit for a sale is even distributed among all content assets a consumer had interacted with.

Multi-touch attribution model is the ideal way to go about things as the impact of each piece of content comes out clearly. Place custom weights for each content asset.

Let data dictate the content you create

Setting up a content tracking system is not enough; you need to know what conversion goals your content has to hit, this will allow you to prioritize channels and so on. The next step is developing content that meets these parameters. It is important that you focus on creating content that people would enjoy, something they would like to share with others; this is easier said than done.

One way of doing so is by planning ahead. Dig up your analytics tools and track the number of visits for each piece of content and the time people spent on each piece.  Note down topics that have been popular among your readers and set the conversions going among your audience. It is important that you know what topics interest your readers that is the only way you will be able to create more content along similar lines.

Many markers feel like they have accomplished something just by measuring and showcasing the number of subscribers they have managed to get through content marketing campaigns, however, measuring metrics is simply not enough as it is missing the ROI point all together. Here’s what matters and needs your attention to judge content asset:

  • Revenue per subscriber
  • Revenue per post

Such insight will give you better idea about which platform works best for your business.

Optimize your Content Assets

Even some of the most brilliant content marketing programs fail to produce concrete results when the content assets are not optimized. Here are some pointers you need to keep in mind:

  • The core objective of your page should be loud and clear
  • The call to action should be front and center
  • Product trial form should be elegant
  • Use ample amount of white spaces and appealing images
  • Use testimonials to endorse your products

Follow these guidelines so that you can join the small successful group of content marketers. Measure the impact of each content so that you can upgrade your content marketing strategy to suit your consumers.

Source: www.jeffbullas.com/2015/12/30/prove-content-marketing-roi-business/