Measurement and Adjustment

The flood of data from the posting of your content can be daunting.

It is critical that a measurement and adjustment strategy is in place.

I like to look at things on a monthly basis and build a 12 month review dashboard. We use predefined labels aligned to personas, themes, and any other important filter we may need to consider. By reviewing the activity, you can better understand what is working, what is not, and what outside factors are affecting the results.

First , you need to have a reporting structure that articulates the impact on revenue. This is a difficult task and sometimes seemingly impossible. It is critical to get as close as possible. This builds credibility for the content program with your leadership.

For example, with products and services that have a long buying cycles, you can track the progress of customers in their earliest stages then count the handoff to your sales team as ‘potential’ revenue. That is pretty good. Longer term, work with the sales teams to confirm sales and then you have rock solid $ attribution… even if it takes several months (or years).

Beyond the direct business impact, metrics should also be helping refine your persona definition, content strategies and distribution strategies. These day-to-day insights help you produce better content that resonates with the customer.

The whole content process is complex and time consuming. However, I cannot underestimate the importance of following up with the measurement and adjustment process. If this looses priority, your program will begin to fail.

 

*This article is part of a series titled Elements of an Effective Content Program. See below to review the related content.

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