How to Measure the ROI of Your B2B Content Marketing Campaigns
Many
companies these days see the benefits of content marketing.
But, although content marketing's
popularity (and necessity) continue to increase in the eyes of B2B marketers,
47% of them say they do not measure their content marketing ROI.
Of those who don't measure the
returns of their content marketing efforts, 38% reported that "there is no
formal justification required" to do so, 38% said they needed an easier
way to measure ROI, 27% admitted to not knowing how to do so, and 21% found the
process too time-consuming.
Here, we'll touch on why
measuring ROI is integral to B2B content marketing campaigns, what the most
important measurement factors are, and how to go about measuring content
marketing ROI.
Why
You Need to Measure ROI
With the
rapid, continual developments in digital marketing, it's easy to see why
marketers can often get too caught up with implementing new tactics and trends,
while sacrificing the crucial element of measuring ROI. But tracking and
measuring content marketing ROI justifies why you're asking for all those
marketing dollars, and it will show exactly how that money is being spent.
Measuring ROI also helps you...
·
Understand
what's working and what isn't. If you don't measure the
ROI of your efforts, it is doubly difficult to determine which priorities or
campaigns are working. If you spent cash optimizing your website but aren't
generating enough traffic, what's the point? You could pay top dollar for the
most engaging content, but if nobody's seeing it (or if it's not your target
audience that sees it), then it won't lead to the results you want.
·
Calculate
client acquisition. Another benefit of measuring data
related to ROI is that you can take seemingly abstract concepts and turn them
into evidence-based information. By tracking ROI, you'll be able to get a clear
idea of how much you spent on content marketing and how many new clients were
generated as result. There are various insights to be gleaned from tracking
ROI-related data, such as which channels are resulting in new leads and whether
you're spending enough on a particular marketing strategy. But how much you're
making on a per-client basis is one of the more straightforward ones for
assessing the bottom line.
·
Prepare
for the future. When you set out to track marketing ROI, you come across
an ocean of data that, if used correctly, can help you make informed decisions
in the future based on personalized marketing trends. Making mistakes is part
of the game, but with the availability of ample data, making them time and time
again is inexcusable.
A
Simple Guide to Measuring ROI
Determine
the costs
Depending on the scale of your content marketing campaign, there
can be numerous factors involved in determining the cost, including...
·
Production
costs: for writers, artists, and photos
·
Distribution
costs: for PPC advertising, paid social
·
Cost
of special tools: for producing or distributing content
Set
the metrics
To effectively measure your
content marketing's ROI, you need to determine what your specific goals and
objectives are. Are you looking to increase brand awareness or generate
qualified leads? Or are you trying to establish your brand as an expert by
providing in-depth 10x content?
Once you've determined those goals or objectives, you need to
set the metrics that you're going to be measuring. Here are some key metrics
you can focus on if you're just starting to measure your ROI.
Demographics
and Behavior
Ask yourself the following questions:
Who are the members of your audience? What channels to do they use? How often
do they engage with your content? As noted by Search Engine People, Google Analytics is an excellent
base for measuring demographic and behavior metrics, including...
·
Demographics
·
Pageviews
·
Unique visitors
·
Average time on page
·
Bounce rate
You should track the progression of each metric over time, which
will also allow you to get insights on which types of content resonate with
your audience.
Social
and Sharing
The most basic elements to monitor for social media content are
the following:
·
Shares. Share
counts indicate how much your audience thinks your content is valuable.
Platforms such as Hootsuite enable
you to track social shares, schedule posts, and find relevant followers.
·
Comments. Don't
be too affected by negative comments (although you have to obviously address
what might be causing them). The important thing is that your post evokes
emotion. So whether it elicits disagreements or compliments, as is the case
with publicity... any kind of comment is usually a good thing (unless it comes
from a bot).
·
Follower
growth. Because content marketing ROI progresses over time,
follower growth rate is often more important than simply the number of
followers. If you find that your followers increased during a period when you
published more content, that's a good indicator of your content's
effectiveness.
Those metrics give you an idea of which content pieces are being
shared, who is sharing them, how they are being shared, and how often.
Lead
Generation and Nurturing
Marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) consist of those who have
expressed interest in what you're selling by engaging with your content in some
form (downloading e-books, consuming product demo videos, filling out contact
forms, etc.).
Once you've identified your MQLs, you can then move on to
measuring subcategories, such as...
·
MQLs
per channel. This can give you a better idea of where to focus your
content marketing efforts (e.g., email,
paid social, and website materials).
·
Email
open rates. Tools such as MailChimp and Pardot allow you to monitor
email open rates. If you find that your open rates are low, you can make the
copy more appealing, change the subject line, or adjust frequency.
·
Clickthrough
rate (CTR). CTR shows whether your content captured your audience's
attention and whether it was compelling enough that they positively responded
to your CTA.
The
Math
The simplest way to measure what really matters to businesses (revenue)
is with this basic formula:
If the ratio is greater than one, your content was profitable
from a sales perspective. The formula can be scaled for an entire campaign or
for all content marketing activities.
But it's not always that simple. Depending on your parameters,
it can also be tweaked to:
Example:
ROI = ($5,000 worth of MQLs - $1,000 content production and distribution costs)
/ $1,000
You can measure various factors (traffic, conversions, brand
awareness, etc.), which require attaching a dollar value to the respective
element you want to measure. Determining your parameters from the onset allows
you to focus on which ones to measure.
How
Often Should You Should Measure Content Marketing ROI
Although measuring your content marketing ROI may be
overwhelming at first, it is imperative to integrate the process within your
company's or your team's routine.
According to Shopify, incorporating data into your company's routine
can directly impact your team performance. So, if possible, have weekly
checkups to identify your bottlenecks at the start of the week and prioritize
your actions for the following days, and then have another checkup the
following week to point out whether your numbers have improved.
Revenue is every company's ultimate goal, but there are other
vital elements that may not be as easy to quantify financially. It's important
to view content marketing as a long-term game.
Finding that you have a negative ROI at the onset of a campaign
is natural. Trust the progress, and continually tweak your content as the data
suggests, and you'll put yourself in a position to have an enduring and
effective content marketing campaign.
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