We see it all the time: the companies that could benefit the most from content marketing either don’t know what content marketing is, don’t understand why it’s important, or believe that they just need to “keep the lights on” on their content channels.
But stop and think – does the content you’re putting out there (think blogs, whitepapers, email newsletters, social media, even print brochures) add value? Does it showcase your company’s unique perspective and expertise? Or does it just exist to take up space on a blog that’s an afterthought for your business because marketing’s not your industry?
Or, just as bad, you haven’t spoken to your audience in months. Maybe your social channels sit untouched, your last blog post was published two years ago, and you have a list of contacts but no one’s put together an email to engage them.
Content marketing is so important for businesses because your audience is looking at your online presence and sizing you up against competitors before ever reaching out to you. They are researching options, ranking companies as they go, and proactively contacting the businesses that pass their test. You want them to read your content and think: This company understands my pain points, the news and trends of my industry, the language we use day-to-day. They get us.
When this happens, your audience comes in the door wanting to work with you, creating a far easier conversation for the sales team. But is your content creating these “ah ha” moments for your prospects? Or just repeating what’s already out there? Here are a few ways to tell if your content marketing is actually working.
Does it follow Google’s best practices for content?
Google is prioritizing, in its own words, “helpful, reliable, people-first content.” With more and more people just prompting AI and throwing ChatGPT’s output on their website, Google is being transparent that “original reporting” will be favored in its search algorithm.
Here are a few “gut check” questions to ask yourself directly from Google that reflect quality content:
- Does the content provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?
- Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious?
- If the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources, and instead provide substantial additional value and originality?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
And here are some “gut checks” Google urges you to avoid when producing content:
- Are you producing lots of content on many different topics in hopes that some of it might perform well in search results?
- Are you using extensive automation to produce content on many topics?
- Are you mainly summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?
If your content is guilty of any of the “avoid” list, or you know your content isn’t living up to the “quality” list, your content marketing needs to be reassessed.
Is it saying something new?
This goes hand-in-hand with Google’s best practices for content. You might be thinking, “Everything’s already been said. How can I say something new in the crowded field of the *entire internet*?”
Here’s the secret: showcase your company’s unique expertise and perspective by talking to the people within your organization. This is “people first content.” Interview the people on the frontlines, ask them about questions they want to see answered, issues they’re encountering in their day-to-day. No two people are going to have the same stories, expertise, and opinions.
This is the “good stuff,” the topics that people in your industry want to read about but it’s simply not being shared. Why? Because no one’s ever asked someone like Bob, a manager of wastewater treatment, what’s the hardest part about his job and what needs to be changed? Showcasing his voice on your company channels will not only pique your audience’s interest, but also highlight your employees’ deep and valuable knowledge, in a humanized way.
Are people sharing it?
This goes back to Google’s gut check question: “Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?” If your content was successful in adding value to the conversation around a topic, whether that was new opinions, new insight, new analysis, new perspective, or it was just plain fascinating to read, people will want to share it with their circle. If people are sharing your content, which is evidenced by shares or reposts on social media or larger-than-average traffic numbers on Google Analytics, your content resonated so much with your audience that they were compelled to share it. Shareworthy content is successful content.
Has a client mentioned it?
This is a qualitative measure, yes, but it’s the highest form of flattery. If a client of yours has complimented a piece of your content marketing unprompted, it was memorable and they loved what you produced. In fact, they loved it enough to say something! Don’t forget that your clients are in the same field of business as your prospects. If your client loves your content, chances are that it’s being shared, and your prospects are noticing it as well. Your clients’ opinions are a great litmus test for knowing if your content marketing is hitting the mark. If the content is truly great, you won’t have to ask them about it, they’ll tell you about it.
And if you’re thinking, “But what if they never read it in the first place?” this could be an indication of a few things. Either your headline or the topic of the content isn’t hooking your audience enough to read further OR you need to improve the content’s distribution. Push it out on more channels (company channels and employee social channels), push it out multiple times (people might scroll past the first time), and get creative in sharing it (post it in a relevant LinkedIn group or Reddit channel).
Has viewership and leads increased over time?
To balance the qualitative metric above, here’s a quantitative metric for you. Look at each blog post’s traffic, your overall website traffic, email opens, social media impressions and engagement, the number of leads coming in. Are you seeing an increase? If you’re producing content that your audience loves reading, you should see an increase in viewership metrics, spiking around the time each piece of content was published and shared on prominent channels. The goal is that with the elevated reputation your company is crafting through its quality content, leads will inevitably follow. Compare your lead numbers pre-valuable content marketing and post-valuable content marketing, understanding that the consideration stage takes time, and determine if there’s been an increase.
In B2B, prospects might visit your website for a year or longer before actually reaching out, so it can be difficult to track a defined, linear journey and determine which pieces of content held the most influence. When a prospect comes in, ask why they chose to reach out to you over competitors and take note of their response. If they’re all mentioning a particular article on your blog, expand on that topic. Go into subtopics or adjacent topics.
Conversely, if you’re not seeing spikes in viewership around the publication times of your content or an increase in leads over time, you likely need to reassess your content marketing to ensure you’re consistently adding value.
If you need help showcasing your company’s expertise on a regular cadence (no long periods of radio silence), Encore360 can elevate your online presence, warming leads before they ever reach out to you. Content marketing is a full time job – we handle that aspect so you can focus on yours.
