This document discusses content marketing metrics and how to measure the effectiveness of content marketing. It recommends measuring content across four categories: consumption, sharing, lead generation, and sales. Specific metrics are provided for each category. The document emphasizes tying content metrics to business objectives and mapping content to the buyer's journey. It also stresses calculating the ROI of individual content pieces and using correlation to link content to business results over time.

1. The Ultimate Guide to
Content Marketing Metrics
Jay Baer
Convince & Convert
@jaybaer • #cmworld
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2. @jaybaer
“We Can’t Measure” Really Means:
• We don’t know what to measure
• We don’t have access to the data
• We don’t know how to tie the data together
• We don’t have the time to measure
• We don’t know what the data means
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3. @jaybaer
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4. @jaybaer
If You’re Not Measuring Content
Marketing, It’s Your Fault.
But Don’t Panic.
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5. @jaybaer
Are You a Publisher?
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6. @jaybaer
You Are In the Action Business,
Not the Eyeballs Business.
Plan and Measure Accordingly.
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7. @jaybaer
Step One: Know Why You’re
Making Content
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8. @jaybaer
Yee-Haw!!
Step One: Know What Actions Finally Got Us
You
Some of That
Want and Need CONTENT!!
“Making Content” Is Not the Goal
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9. @jaybaer
Are You Measuring the Right Things?
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10. @jaybaer
Content Helps Achieve Business
Objectives, Not Content Objectives
Business Objectives
Marketing Objectives
Marketing Strategy
Content Objectives
Content Strategy
Content
Tactics
Content
Metrics
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11. @jaybaer
Step Two: Map Content to Buyer’s
Journey, and Metrics to Content Type
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12. @jaybaer
The Right Content for the Right Person,
at the Right Time
• What’s the conference about?
• When is it?
• Where is it?
• What’s the agenda?
• How much does it cost?
• Is there a section on metrics?
• Is Jay Baer doing it?
• Is Rick Springfield going to be there?
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13. @jaybaer
The Right Content for the Right Person,
at the Right Time
http://ar.gy/1bHO
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14. @jaybaer
Step Three: Know What’s
Mathematically Viable
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15. @jaybaer
Ways to Measure Brand Awareness
• New visits to Website (proxy)
• Increase in positive and neutral social mentions
(proxy)
• Visits from search (proxy)
• Pre and post surveys of target audiences,
randomly sampled and variable controlled
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16. @jaybaer
Ways to Measure Direct Sales
• E-commerce tracking
• Leads that turn into new customers (requires
CRM)
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17. @jaybaer
Step Four: Select the Right Metrics
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18. @jaybaer
4 Categories of Content Metrics
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19. @jaybaer
Consumption Metrics
Question answered: “How many people
viewed, downloaded, listened to this piece
of content”
Goals addressed:
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20. @jaybaer
Field Guide to Consumption Metrics
• Page views
• Google Analytics or similar
• Video views
• YouTube Insights or similar
• Document views
• Slideshare or Scribd data
• Downloads (ungated)
• CRM system (Eloqua, Hubspot, Marketo, Infusionsoft)
• Google Analytics or similar
• Social Chatter
• Mention.net, Radian6, Sysomos, Viral Heat
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21. @jaybaer
Never Exit the Metrics Train at the
Consumption Depot
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22. @jaybaer
Are You a Publisher?
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23. @jaybaer
Knowing a Piece of Content Generated
3,000 Page Views Should Prompt These
Questions:
• Do people consuming that content engage in
other, more desirable behaviors on the site?
• Do they do so at a ratio different from site
visitors overall?
• Do people consuming that content return to
the site?
• Do they do so at a ratio different from site
visitors overall?
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24. @jaybaer
To Boost Consumption,
Free Your Content
• “Forms are the enemy of spread” – Joe
Chernov, Eloqua
• “Of all the places your content could reside,
your site has the least amount of traffic.” – Me
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25. @jaybaer
Be a Digital Dandelion
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26. @jaybaer
Sharing Metrics
Question answered: “How resonant is this
content, and how often is it shared with
others?”
Goals addressed:
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27. @jaybaer
Field Guide to Sharing Metrics
• Likes and Shares and Tweets and +1s and Pins
• Sharing tools, or Google Analytics or similar
• Forwards
• Email provider, or Google Analytics or similar
• Inbound links
• OpenSiteExplorer, RavenTools, MajesticSEO
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28. @jaybaer
Sharing Metrics are Overvalued
Because They’re Public
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29. @jaybaer
To Boost Sharing, Make Sharing Easy
• Easy to use sharing buttons on all content
• Configure correctly
• Embeddable infographics
• Social proof
• Content WORTH sharing
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30. If Your Mom Won’t Share Your Content,
It’s Not Good Enough
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31. @jaybaer
Lead Generation Metrics
Question answered: “How often do
content consumptions turn into leads?”
Goals addressed:
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32. @jaybaer
Field Guide to Lead Gen Metrics
• Gated content that produces leads itself
• CRM system (Eloqua, Hubspot, Marketo, Infusionsoft)
• Tracking URLs
• Email subscriptions and similar
• Email provider, or CRM system
• Blog subscriptions and similar
• Feedblitz, or CRM system
• Blog comments
• Comments platform (Disqus, Livefyre) or blog system
• Conversion rate (consumption to lead)
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33. @jaybaer
Indirect Lead Generation
• Not all content is lead producing directly
• But, all content can contribute to lead generation
behavior
• Set up goals in Google Analytics or similar
• For key behaviors that are not revenue-producing
per se (email signup) assign a dollar value
• Set custom reports to show goals for each content
piece
• Also look at new Page Value data
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34. @jaybaer
Tying Social to Content
• Some Social Platforms (Argyle Social, Expion,
Hubspot) can tie social media posts to content
landing pages, and track through to lead
generation value.
• Systems that can do this MUST have their own
URL shortener.
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35. @jaybaer
Content is Fire. Social Media is Gasoline.
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36. @jaybaer
Sales Metrics
Question answered: “Did we actually
make any money on this content?”
Goals addressed:
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37. @jaybaer
Field Guide to Sales Metrics
• Online sales
• E-commerce system
• Offline sales
• CRM system
• Unique, trackable URLs via CRM, social media
system and/or Google Analytics or similar
• Manual reporting and anecdotes
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38. @jaybaer
If You’re Going to Track Leads and Sales
You Have to Do Something Trackable
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39. @jaybaer
Don’t Forget Customer Retention
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40. @jaybaer
Your Most Important Content Audience
are Your Current Customers
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41. @jaybaer
Content ROI is Calculated at the
Component Level First
Investment
40 hours/month to produce blog
X hourly rate per each blog
participant ($40)
X overhead factor (50%)
+ amortized design fees ($1k/month)
+ monthly hosting fees ($100/month)
+ miscellaneous ($100/month)
= true monthly blogging costs
$3,600
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42. @jaybaer
Content ROI is Calculated at the
Component Level First
Return
25 leads per month
X lead conversion rate (20%)
X average lifetime customer value
($3,000)
X average profit margin (30%)
= true monthly blogging return
$4,500
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43. @jaybaer
ROI = Return Minus Investment,
Divided by Investment
$4,500 - $3,600 = 900
Divided by 3,600 = .25
ROI is 25%
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44. @jaybaer
Sometimes You Can’t Close the Loop
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45. @jaybaer
Correlation Approach
• Track EVERYTHING
• Over a long period of time
• Note whenever ANYTHING changes
• PR coverage, website change, new radio campaign
• Also track multiple revenue data points
• Total leads
• Average purchase
• Churn
• Total revenue
• Look for patterns that indicate content is working
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46. @jaybaer
Your Job is to Prove Something Wrong,
not Prove Something Right
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47. @jaybaer
The Goal Isn’t to be Good at Content.
The Goal is to be Good at Business,
Because of Content.
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48. Jay Baer
Convince & Convert
www.ConvinceAndConvert.com
www.OneSocialThing.com
www.SocialPros.com
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