5 simple steps to analyze content marketing

Today, content to fill Internet resources is an everyday product that needs to resonate in the hearts of users. And if in the journey itself, the search for ideas seems like an uncomplicated task, when faced with practice, difficulties arise.

The fact is that much has already been written, the initial list of ideas is not that big and interesting, and implemented ideas do not arouse the interest of the audience. In order to achieve the planned results, you need planning, quality execution, and analytics of the activity. 

What is content marketing

To do business online, content marketing is a tool to influence the reader/visitor of a resource through content. In this case, any text, audio-photo or graphic material intended for the target audience is content.

The final result of the Internet business, as a commercial enterprise, will be a profit. However, the path to achieving the goal comes at the expense of:

1. Competitor analysis;
2. Attracting visitors to the resource;
3. Increasing the level of trust of the target audience;
4. Transforming visitors/readers into buyers;
5. Transforming customers into loyal customers (those who make regular purchases and recommend the resource to their friends);

IMPORTANT: remember that content marketing cannot be a primary source of sales: it has a delayed effect. That is why its launch is advisable within the framework of already established procedures to reach the target audience. In addition, doing business on the Internet requires the regular filling of the resource and a regular analysis of its activities.

A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the content of the site/channel/page is what content analysis in marketing is all about. It is based on two principles:

• Formalization, that is, unambiguous rules;  
• statistical significance, that is, only content elements with sufficient frequency are taken into account.

Analytics is necessary to find and eliminate weaknesses in a business strategy, as well as to strengthen its strengths. 

Three "pillars" of content marketing analysis that should be monitored on an ongoing basis:

• Product/brand quality. The level of attention and awareness of the target audience about your brand is determined by market share indicators, the number of mentions of the brand in the media and reposts, and the volume of website traffic; 
• Quality of content. Digital indicators that your content is interesting/uninteresting are the number of likes, subscriptions, views, clicks, reposts. This information provides insight into the direction of the business;
• The quality of your marketing objectives. At the time of launching content marketing, you need to fix the overall strategy: determine the level of sales revenue, margins, advertising budget, average checks, objective figures of site conversion. These and other marketing metrics need to be monitored regularly.

So, 5 practical steps for comprehensive content marketing analysis for online businesses that are relevant in 2021:

1. Competitor analysis

Yes, you need to start analyzing your own performance by looking at similar work by your competitors. At the same time, you don't need to copy the actions of your competitors exactly, you need to take the best ideas and combine them. 

2. Analysis of media and forums

To create interesting and useful content for your subscribers, you need to know their needs. There is no better source of ideas for your online resource than forums. That's where people state their thoughts freely, and relevant topics are already broken down into headings. Pay attention also to publications in the media. This is an inexhaustible source of information for analysis. On the basis of the data you can make a comparative analysis of your content and improve it.

3. Analysis based on statistics

The key performance indicators of content marketing are the number of:

• registrations/subscriptions on the resource;   
• views;  
• conversions; 
• reposts;
• likes;
• CA reach;
• leads;
• engagement;
• participation of visitors in events;
• traffic and its sources;
• discoveries, base size (for e-mailing);

All posts, media publications, special projects, blogs, and e-mail newsletters should be evaluated. 

4. Analysis by stages of sales funnel

To evaluate the effectiveness of content marketing, you need to pay attention to the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the elements of the sales funnel, namely: awareness, attraction, loyalty, transaction/sales, return.

In doing so, it is necessary to analyze the "three whales": brand quality, content and marketing objectives as a whole. 

5. Frequency of analysis

Regularity is the basis of analysis. Based on the cumulative effect of marketing actions affecting business profitability, it is advisable to conduct analysis 3-6 months after the start of the process. Make it a rule to examine the results of work at least once a quarter, six months, and be sure to pay attention to annual indicators.

In lieu of a conclusion

Marketers say: even if you're happy with the performance of your online resource today, that doesn't mean it can't be improved. And you can only manage what you can measure. Therefore, to analyze the effectiveness of content marketing, it is necessary to apply quantitative methods of evaluation. Use specialized services so as not to lose sight of important facts.