We are in a time when marketing dollars are being scrutinized more than ever and all kinds of companies are leaning much more on digital outreach. So, it’s only fitting that business leaders are looking for marketing strategies that generate measurable value.
And they should be. In the age of digital marketing, it’s not hard to prove your content and campaigns are achieving something. The key to success comes down to making sure that something is aligned with what matters to the business.
Fortunately, content marketing is a strategy that — if set up and deployed correctly — can not only achieve measurable results but also provide valuable data and insights on customer preferences.
For one, it gives you the ability to retarget prospects who show interest. It also allows you to see what topics resonate with your prospects and where they prefer to engage with that content, which can be used to refine your strategies for everything from content ideation to distribution tactics and even product development.
How Can You Know Content Marketing Works?
The nature of content marketing grants some key advantages when it comes to assessing its effectiveness.
01
It’s measurable
You can know exactly how many people viewed your content, how many clicked through to engage with it, how long they were there, what they did next, and, most importantly, if it converted them into a lead.
With digital content, you can see what people respond to positively — and what they don’t. Failure isn’t always your enemy here. Truth be told, you can almost get as much insight when something you post completely flops as when you post content that performs exceedingly well.
02
It’s trackable
Since all of us are relentlessly tracked across the internet via our computers and mobile devices (thanks Google, Facebook, and Amazon), marketers can easily see if people are acting on the calls to action in our content.
Looking at user behavior flows and events in Google Analytics or using UTM codes for URL tracking, you can see if your prospects take action on what you want after consuming a piece of content. That is to say, you can clearly see if the content creates a conversion for its specific goal.
03
It provides a customer journey
While customer journeys can be circuitous, particularly when it comes to B2B, any ability to provide prospects with clear next steps at best helps shape the narrative of your product or service through their buying process — and at worst signals to your prospects that a clear next step exists, even if they don’t take it.
04
It allows follow up
When a prospect engages with your content on social media by watching a video, clicking on an article or blog post, or (ideally) giving you their contact information, you immediately gain a number of ways to get in front of them again. If they liked or commented on the social post or if they visited your site, you can use ad retargeting to serve them up more messaging and content.
If you hit the jackpot and they give you their email to download an offer or sign up for a newsletter, then you can deploy an email nurture series and/or send an ongoing newsletter to give them more valuable content and keep your business top of mind with them.
05
It’s always on
Once you publish content on your digital properties, it can continually draw mid-funnel traffic from search engines. That is, if it is high-quality content and you’ve ensured it’s optimized for search engines.
Once you publish content, it can live a long and productive life, driving high-intent users looking to answer specific questions they have or find solutions to their problems.
06
It positions you up as a helpful resource
An essential function of content is providing your target audience with valuable information that helps solve their problems or in some way makes their life better. If you do that consistently, then your prospects start to build an affinity for your company and may even start to see you as a go-to resource on certain issues.
Warming your prospects with valuable content means you can count on them becoming hot leads once they decide to explore your solutions.
