The success of your online business largely depends on how well you plan and execute your digital marketing campaigns. Another aspect you should be paying attention to is knowing what strategy is working and what is not by tracking your progress, against set parameters – otherwise known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
KPIs are metrics used to track and evaluate the progress of your marketing efforts towards achieving your goals. While you keep track of all your initiatives, do not forget to keep an eye on your content – the building block of everything that goes online. From the website to social media posts, what gets displayed on the screen is ultimately content. Here are 4 KPIs for measuring your content marketing initiatives:-
KPI #1 Reach
Measuring the content reach can be done by evaluating the Unique Page Views. The number of individuals who have visited your webpage in a given time frame (known as a session) is called unique page views. Google Analytics defines unique page views as “ A unique pageview aggregates pageviews that are generated by the same user during the same session.”
Unique Page View is different from pageviews. Let us understand both with an example.
If a user visits a webpage 5 times in a single session (usually 24 hours), then it will generate 5 pageviews. But in terms of unique page views, it will be calculated as 1. Unique page views is the ideal metric to know the traffic to your webpage.
Tools to measure unique page views:- Google Analytics,
Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics
KPI #2 Traffic source
Measuring traffic volume is critical for all content marketing initiatives. However, identifying the source of traffic to your website is equally important. Measuring traffic volume by the specific channel or source helps in designing an even better marketing strategy. By learning which type of content is preferred on which platform will help you in better channeling your time and money.
For example, if you run an online business that sells apparel and electronics and you blog on fashion and gadgets in order to drive traffic to your website, learning that your social media campaigns are driving more traffic to your fashion blog and Google Ad campaigns are driving traffic to gadget blog posts will help you promote the right content on the right platform.
Tools to view traffic source:- Google Search Console,
SEMRush, Bit.ly, Similar Web
KPI #3 Engagement
The most powerful way to know how engaging your content is by evaluating the bounce rate. A high bounce rate KPI indicates that your content did not meet your reader’s expectations. Your goal should be to keep the bounce rate KPI as low as possible. This can be achieved when you provide value to your online visitors. Try optimizing your content if your webpage has a high bounce rate. Consider adding more visual elements to your content. Visual content retains people’s attention more than simple, plain text.
Tools to measure bounce rate:- Google Analytics,
Scoop.it, Followerwonk
KPI #4 Sentiment
Analyzing the public’s opinion on your content gives you the ability to know what people are thinking and discussing. By evaluating the sentiment, an online business can understand what content people are interested in.
Likes and comment:- with social networking platforms, marketing is a two-way conversation process. People can discussion through comments. The sentiment of comments can be positive, negative or neutral. Analyze the sentiment of comments to know what content is liked by your audience and what is not.
Social sharing:- your readers sharing your content with their network is a great way to increase the reach. The more the sharing, the more meaningful your content is for the audience.
Tools to measure sentiment for content marketing:- Content Management System (CMS), Buffer (for social media),
Hootsuite, Kissmetrics
How content is performing is critical for every digital marketing effort. Be it blog, eNewsletter, eBook or social media posts, knowing the performance of content will help you identify your audience’s interest and the content that needs to be optimized.
