"Many people produce a lot of content," says Irene Michl, co-author of the bestseller Think Content! and a consultant, trainer and university lecturer on content marketing topics. But is the mere production of content really effective?
We discuss this question with the experienced strategist from Austria. "No, certainly not. Without measuring success, it can happen that resources are used completely wrongly", she says. In her consulting work, Irene repeatedly finds that it is extremely difficult for marketers to analyze the performance of content and draw conclusions from it. Many people don't even realize how important it is to analyze output in the first place. Of course, it is crucial to have goals and to monitor their achievement. And to use the findings to continually improve future measures in order to make content marketing effective.
One experience that we at sentibar often make in customer discussions is: First of all, it must be defined WHAT is to be measured in the first place. Depending on the marketing goal, you look at different areas: Interaction rates, conversion, lead generation, reach, SEO ranking.... Once these are defined, the next question is: HOW do we measure this? Numerous tools are available - from the classic Google Analytics to HubSpot, plus Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, Geckoboard, Cyfe ...
But which tool is suitable for which applications and requirements? And how do you integrate and operate the analysis software? Here, even before the data measurement, the hurdle becomes clear, which Irene also sees with many of her customers. Does everyone have to become a tool expert to do efficient content marketing? We don't think that's efficient for many companies and their marketers.
What is needed, in addition to the comprehensible analysis, is above all the right conclusions from the data obtained
Data from various tools must be extracted, evaluated and interpreted. After all, the crucial thing is to draw the right conclusions that will help me to constantly optimize my content marketing. At this point, Irene points out the next challenge: "Many people don't even take the time to look at the reports. And not everyone can interpret the collected data correctly." This is also our experience in setting up and supporting content marketing for B2B companies. What is needed, in addition to comprehensible analysis, is above all the right conclusions from the data obtained.
We collect the relevant data for our clients and make it available in a bundled and comprehensible form: Based on the measured values, we show whether and to what extent certain goals, such as online visibility, target group accuracy or an optimal content mix of content from different sources and formats, have been achieved. The customer receives a dashboard for a central and simple overview of all key figures and their effect.
We then derive concrete recommendations for action for our customers from the measured data. We incorporate every insight and every learning into content planning and creation. These are valuable levers for continuously optimizing content marketing to maximum effectiveness, step by step.
If you are looking for practical ideas and new suggestions for efficient marketing with content, we recommend the book by Irene Michl and Miriam Löffler "Think Content! Now an absolute standard work in the industry, it is now available in its second, heavily revised edition.
