Most businesses have gotten wise to the notion that they need to formulate a content marketing strategy. Those that fail forget to follow these vital steps.

 

I come from the print side of the media business, where it can be notoriously difficult to gauge an ad's true impact. Quantifying marketing efforts and proving to clients that they were successful can be challenging because the available benchmarks and performance metrics are often susceptible to subjectivity.

 

This year, as I entered the digital advertising space, I did so with a mixture of trepidation and relief. Finally, our content marketing efforts would be measurable! Throughout my various roles in the print content marketing arena, I've consistently trumpeted that quality matters, that it is worth investing in strong storytelling, and that raising the caliber of content will positively affect marketing results. This notion, though, was sometimes hard to prove to my friends over in sales -- except, perhaps, by citing repeat business and touting client testimonials.

 

Now the quantifiable nature of the digital world allows us to measure just about anything, including three factors that help marketers gauge the success of their content: click-through rates, time spent on content, and shares via social media. When monitoring these factors, you'll quickly realize just how important it is to invest in talented writers, find credible sources, and implement an in-house editing process. These practices not only have a marked positive impact on your statistics, but failure to adopt them might also result in a content creation and distribution strategy that does more harm than good.

 

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