Measurement

March 18, 2019 Content Chat Recap: Improving Content Marketing Attribution with Google Analytics Goals and Dashboards

March 25, 2019 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Google Analytics is a must-have tool to get the data needed to optimize your content marketing strategy, but many pros may not know where to begin or how to get the most value from the platform.

#ContentChat regular Tod Cordill (@TodCordill), principal at Moderno Strategies, is an expert on the topic, and he took the hot seat to share how you can improve your content marketing attribution with Google Analytics goals and dashboards.

In true Tod fashion, let’s start with a joke:

Q. Why was the SEO expert late for work?
A. Too much traffic#contentchat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) March 18, 2019

Q1: What are the benefits of setting up a Google Analytics dashboard? And what should I include in it?

Google Analytics gives you the data you need to measure against your goals. The dashboard can show how your content is performing and whether you are tracking toward your goals.

A1. Google Analytics helps to understand:
High & low performing content
Which content helps achieve goals
Data useful for continuous improvement and determining ROI
A dashboard can provide a performance overview. Your GOALs determine what to include. #ContentChat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) March 18, 2019

A1. With Google Analytics, marketers can:
-Get an overview of all channels that are directing traffic to your site.
-Track conversions.
-Track customer engagement.
-Find out what devices your visitors are using to get to your site.
And more..#ContentChat https://t.co/Fw5sD3eGjm
— Dianna Albanese (@dialbanese) March 18, 2019

Dashboards give a simple look at the KPIs that matter to your company decision makers, and Google Analytics can be the key to communicating your marketing ROI.

A1. Having @GoogleAnalytics is important + fundamental in tracking website performance + tracking marketing ROI – having a dashboard showing metrics / reports that are tied to your job are important. This includes traffic, site KPIs (TOS, BR, etc), + conversions. #ContentChat
— Patrick Delehanty (@fulldelmonte) March 18, 2019

A1 Easy sharing with execs and people you need to influence. Maintain a high-level dashboard, and separate dashboards for deeper dives that influence awareness and revenue goals #contentchat
— Dan Goldberg (@Jonas419) March 18, 2019

The data also provides audience insights, including how people are discovering your content and what content they engage with. This can help guide your content roadmap to reach your goals.

A1: By using Google Analytics, you can see where your content is coming from so you can learn how your audience discovers you.
You can also see which content performs the best on your site, which indicates what you might want to create more of. #ContentChat
— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) March 18, 2019

“which indicates what you might want to create more of”
I totally agree. This allows #marketing to be continually improved. #ContentChat https://t.co/zV9yn2Csgy
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) March 18, 2019

So true. Otherwise, you are just creating content for yourself, and not to meet your audience needs. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) March 18, 2019

A1. I’m a huge pessimist, so I see the biggest benefit of setting up a dashboard in seeing what’s wrong. What’s up with bounce rate at certain content pages, how much time people spend there —> all that to make assumptions about the tweaks to make. #contentchat
— Pitchbox App (@PitchboxApp) March 18, 2019

September 17, 2018 Content Chat Recap: Aligning Content Marketing Goals to Business Goals

September 19, 2018 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Content is crucial in helping you achieve business goals—whether it’s to increase sales, improve employee retention, expand your brand awareness, etc.—but aligning your content marketing goals to your business goals is often easier said than done. In this #ContentChat with special guest Rebekah Meyer (@RebekahLMeyer), we dive into the goal alignment process and share tips to help you map your content marketing strategy to the business results that matter.

ICEBREAKER: As we gather for #ContentChat please introduce yourself and share if you have documented content marketing goals and business goals.
— Erika Heald | Consultant | Content Strategist (@SFerika) September 17, 2018

Q1: Does your business communicate business goals to the company? What are some of the common goals you are working toward?

Rebekah started us off with some quick tips: goals are necessary to keep employees moving in the same direction. It doesn’t matter if the goal is annual, quarterly, or even for individual campaigns.

A1a: Companies should share overall goals so that all of its employees are pulling in the same direction. Whether that’s one large annual goal broken down into quarters or individual campaigns, getting everyone together is key. ⁰#ContentChat
— Rebekah Meyer (@RebekahLMeyer) September 17, 2018

Goals can range in focus, including sales, customer engagement, brand awareness and more. These can be set at a corporate level, then individual teams can be assigned their own goals that ladder up to the overarching goal(s).

A1b: Common broad company goals include things like building awareness, generating sales, and keeping current customers engaging with your company. These can break down into specific goals, such as gaining social media visibility or shortening the sales cycle. ⁰#ContentChat
— Rebekah Meyer (@RebekahLMeyer) September 17, 2018

A1. We keep everyone in the loop on our important business goals throughout the year. Also, at the end of each year we have a strategy meeting to set a vision for the upcoming year. Recently, a main goal of ours is to work at increasing our overall company awareness. #ContentChat
— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) September 17, 2018

A1: We share, discuss, and update company-wide goals in quarterly meetings. We also have department and campaign goals that might be shared within and across teams in a similar style. #Contentchat
— Brafton (@Brafton) September 17, 2018

Well, we wait for approved goals and then the updated goals, and then more goals. So we make our own: improving our website experience, measured via survey tools, and increasing web traffic via specific content marketing to strategic site pages. #contentchat https://t.co/xOK4N1TdOI
— Jen Brass Jenkins (@chrliechaz) September 17, 2018

With those goals, teams can plan and prioritize upcoming content or activations to ensure they stay focused on the finish line. Sometimes, that means saying no to projects that do not tie back to your goals.

Priority is so key! Goals can often clash, so it’s not just enough to know what they are. Good decision making is all about deciding which ones to spend time/resources on, at what time! #ContentChat
— Rebekah Meyer (@RebekahLMeyer) September 17, 2018

A1: We have a strategic plan that is well communicated to all employees so we understand the overarching goals of the organization as well as the priority areas during periods of time. We use that plan and goal hierarchy to prioritize work and content needs. #contentchat
— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) September 17, 2018

A1: Big yes. We look at revenue goals by quarter and target the personas who have the capacity to hire us. Not going to share the nitty gritties, but from there, we look at how much we need to have in the pipeline and what needs to be done to reach that number.#ContentChat pic.twitter.com/c2enSMPL6J
— Jesse Ghiorzi (@jesseghiorzi) September 17, 2018

With a clear set of goals, you can also say “no” with confidence, which is important! #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Consultant | Content Strategist (@SFerika) September 17, 2018

November 14 Content Chat Recap: How to Build Measurement Into Your Content Planning Process

November 15, 2016 by Erika Heald Leave a Comment

How to Build Measurement Into Your Content Planning Process

This week #ContentChat was joined by Shonali Burke (@shonali), who shared her tips for building measurement into your content planning process. We kicked the chat off with a quick poll to see how many of our participants had started on their 2017 content planning:

As we gather for #ContentChat please introduce yourself and take our poll: Have you started your 2017 #contentmarketing planning?
— Erika Heald (@SFerika) November 14, 2016

Q1: Why should we be thinking about measurement when planning our content?

A1: Two very good reasons: time, and money. Strategizing, creating & curating good (operative word) content takes time. #contentchat
— Shonali Burke (@shonali) November 14, 2016

A1 Most simply: How will you know if your programs (content or otherwise) are working if you’re not measuring the results? #contentchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) November 14, 2016

You want to check in on metrics consistently so you can spot trends- good or bad- & adjust content plans as needed #ContentChat https://t.co/Ft5PdLQ20C
— Sarah A. Parker (@SparkerWorks) November 14, 2016

A1 cont: And time = money, b/c if we’re not measuring, we don’t know what works, & we waste our time by being inefficient. #contentchat
— Shonali Burke (@shonali) November 14, 2016

A1: You need to know what you’ll measure for ROI before you decide upon what content will work best. #contentchat
— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) November 14, 2016

A1 B/c some soulless bean-counter will inevitably saunter into your office & demand proof that you’re not just messing around! #contentchat
— Ken Gordon (@quickmuse) November 14, 2016

A1: If you don’t start your content planning by defining your objectives & metrics, how will you know you’re successful? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald (@SFerika) November 14, 2016

A1 Considering measurement when planning content ensures it will be accountable to strategic goals. Outcomes over outputs. #contentchat
— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) November 14, 2016

A1: Without plans to measure content quality, we’ll never know where “there” is or if we’ve arrived. #ContentChat @shonali
— LeslieO (@LeslieO) November 14, 2016

A1: So we are not driving blind. So we know what worked, what didn’t and how to tweak. #contentchat
— HannaLizKnowles (@HannaLizKnowles) November 14, 2016

A1: It’s critical (& non-negotiable IMO) to think about measurement in planning bc you need it 2 measure your success/prove ROI #contentchat
— Tatiana Beale (@tatianabeale) November 14, 2016

A1. Measurement = Goals. Planning means knowing what u want 2 achieve with your content and finding ways to track that progress #ContentChat
— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) November 14, 2016

A1) #contentchat Measurement is a tool and process for making decisions with clarity. Best time to have clarity is in the planning stages.
— Rob Clark (@theelusivefish) November 14, 2016

A1. Good luck proposing any business plans without a spend and ROI section! #ContentChat
— Shred Nations (@shred_nations) November 14, 2016

A1 This #ContentChat You have to prove the ROI all the time https://t.co/AiXGFwmDHl
— Khepri Tech (@khepritech) November 14, 2016

A1: When you create content without goals + metrics, you’re a traveler wandering without a map or purpose. #contentchat
— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) November 14, 2016

A1. Without metrics, you don’t know what your community likes, what’s resonating #ContentChat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) November 14, 2016

Not defining goals/measuring=pretty much just shouting into the void. Maybe some stuff will get lucky & stick but be strategic #ContentChat https://t.co/d4kmH2afsM
— Sarah A. Parker (@SparkerWorks) November 14, 2016

A1b: Measurement helps you gain visibility into your progress so you can test, iterate, test some more, and improve #contentchat
— Tatiana Beale (@tatianabeale) November 14, 2016

A1. Does your content plan require a budget? If so, get ready to show some numbers to higher ups! #ContentChat @SFerika @SpinSucks
— Shred Nations (@shred_nations) November 14, 2016

A1: Measuring the effectiveness of your content helps you define and adjust your lead and lean measures. Making you proactive #contentchat
— Phil Barnes (@Barnes_Phil) November 14, 2016

A1: Analytics data is the barometer for how well your content is received. Don’t ignore the data. #contentchat
— Josh McCormack (@joshmccormack) November 14, 2016