1. The BestContent Marketing MetricsAccording to 24 Experts

2. Content marketing is a journey.Followalongas24marke)ngexpertssharetheonemetrictheyusetocharttheircourse. 3. It makes no difference whatsoever whatMY most important content marketingmetric is the real question is: Whatmetric, what key performance indicator, ismost important to your business? No twomarketers objectives are exactly alike.What matters is aligning against businessgoals, not all the abstract things you canmeasure.REBECCA LIEBDigital Advertising, Media & Content Analyst, Altimeter@lieblink 4. I have different metrics for different channels. For the blog, Ikeep track of unique users and page views, and Im moreconcerned about trend than absolute numbers. I like to trackwhich posts and topics generate the most interest; werealways interested in what people want to read. For ourdownloadable assets such as white papers and eBooks,particularly the high-value ones we gate, the numbers thatreally matter are conversions and closed sales. If an asset isworking well, well keep it gated. If its not generating results,well un-gate it. We also track linking domains.SHERRY LAMOREAUXWriter/Editor,Act-On@SherryActOn 5. ROB YOEGELVP of Marketing, Gaggle@RobYoegelThe most success Ive had is looking atconversion metrics (downloads/registrations)and website traffic (blog posts) from trafficsources. Either in aggregate (i.e., social vs.search. vs. direct) or by a specific website,campaign, etc. By analyzing the source ofconversions/traffic, you can better understandwhat content resonates and what audiences arevaluable to the business, assuming you can trackthem through to a sale. 6. Ive been operating with the mantra the money is in thelist for a year or more, so my top priority for measurement isthe growth of my email list. Beneath each of my posts (andalso in the blog page sidebars) are email opt-in forms. Now, Ishould say that many visitors are there to read my postsbecause theyre already on my email list; however, for a bigpicture metric of how my content performs both for pull andon-site, I look at my email list. I call an email opt-in aconversion.BARRY FELDMANFounder,FeldmanCrea=ve@FeldmanCrea)ve 7. ROBERT ROSEChiefStrategist,CMI@Robert_RoseUnderstanding how you are drawing in yourdifferent influencer and buyer personastoward a common content marketingmission is perhaps the most important firstgoal of any approach and will give you agreat early indicator of future success. So,mostly that looks like a registered or knownsubscriber metric and also provides someindication of quality of audience as well. 8. Content marketing success metrics must be tracked back toyour specific business goals. Each goal often requires aseries of smaller steps and objectives that contribute toromancing your prospects into ultimately purchasing fromyour organization.HEIDI COHENChiefContentOfficer,Ac=onableMarke=ngGuide@HeidiCohen 9. BETH KANTERSocial Media Expert,@kanterThe most important metric for me is the number ofspeaking engagements or training projects that I gethired to do, but leading up to that I have to look at howmy content is engaging audiences and reach. 10. NEIL PATELFounder,QuickSprout@neilpatelThe one metric I really look at iscomments per post. It tells me howengaged an audience is. No matter howmuch traffic you have, if you cantcultivate an engaged audience you wontbe able to convert those visitors intocustomers. 11. OneimportantnewmetricIstartedtrackingrecentlyforcontentmarke=ngisreader feedback.Forexample,areyougeKngfanmailfrompeoplewhoareblownawaybyyourcontent?AreyourreadersreachingouttoyoutoconnectonLinkedIn?LARRY KIMFounder/CTO,WordStream@larrykim 12. The most important metric for us in measuringthe success of our content efforts is number ofqualified leads. We make considerableinvestment in content creation particularlyour blog, which represents a major componentof our overall inbound marketing. The mostimportant result of those efforts is qualifiedleads that we can then pass along to our salesteam.DHARMESH SHAHFounder/CTO,HubSpot@dharmesh 13. Without a doubt, the most importantmetric is lead conversions.ARNIE KUENNPresident,Ver=calMeasures@ArnieK 14. At the end of the day why are we doing this?The answer is for more leads. If the leads thatare coming into your pipeline are morequalified based on the engagement with yourcontent and are closer to buying, then yourcontent strategy is working.JASON MILLERSenior Manager ofContent & Social,LinkedIn@JasonMillerCA 15. Forme,themostimportantmetricisnumberofpagesreadperlead.MARCUS SHERIDANFounder, The Sales Lion@TheSalesLion 16. Hows sales? Ultimatelycontent marketing drivessales success.DAVID MEERMAN SCOTTOnlineMarke=ngStrategist,@dmscoE 17. MIKE VOLPECMO, HubSpot@mvolpeRevenue. And anyone that says you cantattribute new customers and revenue downto a single piece of content, like a blogarticle, is doing it wrong. 18. Revenue has to be the mother ofall metrics. Its what were here for,right?DOUG KESSLERCreative DirectorCo-Founder,Velocity@dougkessler 19. JEFF ROHRSVP of Marketing Insights, ExactTarget@jkrohrsAs with any marketing activity, the number onemetric we should be paying attention to is howdoes it positively impact sales. Whether directly orby influence and loyalty, content marketers mustdeliver measurable value to the organization. 20. My most important metricfor my content marketingsuccess is revenuegenerated.IAN CLEARYFounder,RazorSocial@IanCleary 21. While all marketing roads must eventually lead to revenue, thesingle most important metric for content marketing success is theone that measures the goal youre after. It would be easy tosay that goal is customer acquisition, sales, revenue or profit. Butcontent marketing programs can deliver results on a variety ofobjectives that create value for a business.LEE ODDENCEO, TopRank Online Marketing@leeodden 22. CHRISTOPHER STELLASenior Marketing Director, Siegel+Gale@CStellaOneofthemostcri=calmetricsatthisearlystageofourcontentmarke=ngprogramisemployeeparticipation. 23. Of one thing you can be certain incontent marketing: Your first effortswill almost definitely be your worst.And your current efforts will beeclipsed by later efforts. Everyoneimproves. What sets great programsapart from mediocre ones: the rate ofimprovement.RYAN SKINNERAccount Director, Velocity Partners@rskin11 24. Average Value per Customer. The power of contentmarketing goes far beyond generating leads. It is critical tomeasure the increase in the Average Value per Customer toreflect content marketings effectiveness in educating buyersand differentiating the brand in order to increase purchasevolume and earn long-term loyalty.JIM LENSKOLDPresident, Lenskold Group@jimlenskold 25. CYRUS SHEPARDContent Astronaut, Moz@CyrusShepardBecause its hard to choose a single measurement of contentperformance, we actually invented a score called 1Metric whichcombines several different factors into a single number. You canconfigure it different ways, but our 1Metric combines traffic, socialshares and link data into an algorithmic score between 1-100. Byfocusing on a single number, we eliminate outliers and gain amuch more clear picture of our content success metrics. 26. PAWAN DESHPANDECEO, Curata@TweetsFromPawanROI metrics. These combine different classesof performance and operational metrics. For anexample, use the following equation: 27. AAAAAAAaAHearmorefromtheseexpertsandseeourComprehensiveGuidetoContentMarke)ngAnaly)cs&Metrics.DownloadourlatesteBooktoday.bit.ly/CMmetrics