Measuring content success: insecurity

“Ultimately, we need to be able to prove it, and that’s never been more true than it is today— especially in content marketing.”

We all believe in content. We should. Its power, its ability to create a connection with its audience. Its capability to go beyond the 30-second pitch and really engage with an individual.

But how to prove it? What to measure?

So many questions… and so much insecurity.

And those are the questions William Quinn asks himself on a daily basis as Editor-in-chief of Nielsen.com.

In a recent LinkedIn post he wrote, he opened the books on how he feels about it all. Knowing a company pays good money for content creation, but knowing it will be hard to really link it to any direct for of revenue.

“Is an article that gets 5,000 views more successful than one that’s only viewed 200 times? At face value, it may be. But the truth is, the numbers aren’t writing any checks.”

Struggling to get performance out of your content? If your content team is living through content chaos on a daily basis, schedule a quick call with us to discuss Content strategy and content operations. We can help you get all your ducks in a row.

In a way, more views/shares/clicks are better. It should raise brand awareness, brand value. But can we really put a dollar figure on this? Building a true ROI?

Not for now at least.

Of course, we are turning to newer ways to measure success in content. Leaving pageviews in favor of time-on-page, time-spent-with-content. There are dozens of articles coming out every month on the subject of measurement and the research is also coming along very well.

Content is a different beast. And we love it.