.jpg)
If you promised yourself that 2016 was going to be the year that you doubled-down on content marketing for brand growth, it’s imperative that you’ve also established a clear understanding of your metrics for success. You can’t blindly throw content online and just hope that something sticks – failing to define your success metrics ahead of time will leave you frustrated with your content outreach efforts, and with no real way to measure your return on investment.
Before establishing your goal posts for success, consider the following to make sure your content outreach efforts are driving your brand forward:
1. PAGE VIEW COUNTS
Pay attention to your page view counts. Are visitors to your site only viewing the initial page they land on or are they browsing your site? If your visitors seem to be the ‘hit it and quit it’ type, try adding more internal links to your content to keep readers perusing your site and discovering more of your material.
2. TIME ON PAGE
Your average time on page is another metric you should be monitoring – if your audience isn’t reading an entire post before bouncing away, you might want to take a long, hard look at the content you are providing and consider why it’s failing to resonate with your audience? Understanding why viewers aren’t sticking around can help you craft better content to increase your engagement metrics.
3. RSS SUBSCRIBERS
If your site offers an RSS feed, make sure you monitor your RSS feed subscribers. Promote your RSS feed on social media and on your own site. If you’re offering valuable content, readers will want to subscribe to stay updated on all new posts. Optimizing your RSS feed will also enhance your interaction with your existing subscriber list and enable you to nurture the interests of your most loyal readers.
4. OPT-OUT RATES
Tracking your email subscription opt-out rates is another metric that can provide a clear indication as to the success of your content marketing efforts. If your audience has entrusted you with their email address only to be greeted with less than stellar content, your opt-out rate will be high. Do everything in your power to ensure email subscribers are impressed with the content they receive – check out Neil Patel’s 6-step plan to triple your opt-in rate for more tips.
5. E-MAIL FORWARDS
Speaking of email, another important metric to track is the number of times your content is forwarded. Most email marketing programs will offer you this data; monitor your email forward ratio to understand the type of content that resonates with your audience. Email marketing done right can produce big results, even for small brands with tiny budgets.
By knowing what your definition of content marketing success looks like, you can keep your efforts focused on activities that drive you closer to your goal. Monitoring each aspect of your audience outreach efforts will ensure that you’re able to maximize your content performance and use it as a tool to increase leads for your sales department.
[Source:- Socialmediatoday]
