How to Measure and Track Your Content Strategy ROI: Key Metrics and Practical Tools

Content’s no longer just king; it’s the entire kingdom. But how do you measure its success? This blog will guide you through the intricacies of measuring and tracking your content strategy return on investment (ROI), ensuring that your marketing investments yield substantial returns.

Why Is Measuring ROI Important for Content Strategy?

Understanding the ROI you get out of your content marketing strategy is crucial for several reasons. First, it helps marketing professionals justify the budget allocated to their content marketing efforts. You can secure continued or increased investment from stakeholders by showcasing how content drives brand awareness, website traffic, and, ultimately, conversions.

Second, understanding your content marketing ROI provides insight into which strategies work best. This information is indispensable for refining your approach, optimizing your tactics, and improving your overall digital marketing performance.

Finally, measuring ROI helps align your marketing goals with business objectives, ensuring every piece of content contributes to the bottom line.

Three Components of Content Strategy

Think of the three core components of your content strategy as creation, distribution, and analysis. Each one plays a key role in determining your content’s success and overall ROI. But what do we mean by them? Let’s take a look.

• Creation means producing high-quality content that resonates with your target audience. This starts with keyword research and fundamental SEO principles, then expands out into writing, editing, illustrating, audio and visual production: all the skills that go into crafting blogs, videos, podcasts, webinars, infographics, or whatever else you need to match your audience’s preferences and draw their attention.
• Distribution focuses on ensuring your content reaches the right audience at the right time. Effective content distribution includes leveraging social media, email newsletters, PPC campaigns, and more to maximize visibility and engagement.
• Analysis means tracking content performance and using data to inform your future decisions. By monitoring metrics like page views, bounce rate, and click-through rates, you can gauge your success and identify areas for improvement.

The Value of Content Marketing

Content marketing offers benefits that extend beyond immediate sales. By establishing your brand as a thought leader, you can enhance brand awareness, drive organic traffic, start new initiatives, and meaningfully engage potential customers.

Content marketing campaigns build trust and foster long-term relationships with your audience through storytelling, informative content pieces, and addressing customer pain points. These efforts ultimately lead to higher conversion rates and increased sales, contributing to your organization’s growth and success.

Let’s consider an example. If I wanted to try a new recipe, the website Serious Eats is one of the first places I might look. In fact, if I just do a Google search for French toast recipes, theirs is one of the first to pop up. That kind of brand awareness is powerful, and they’ve earned it through useful, optimized content geared toward what home chefs are searching for online. I might not have subscribed to their newsletter or bought anything from them yet, but the next time I’m in the market for a cookbook, I’ll probably turn to them. Heck, look at me, I’m advertising them to you right now! That’s the value of good content marketing.

What Is a Good Content Strategy ROI Percentage?

Determining what constitutes a good ROI for content marketing depends on various factors, including industry benchmarks, marketing goals, and content types. A marketing ROI of 5:1 or 500% is considered strong, while anything below 2:1 or 200% indicates poor performance.

To achieve this, focus on measuring the right metrics, such as lead generation, customer lifetime value, and conversion rate. Regularly analyzing these key performance indicators (KPIs) will help you assess your content’s effectiveness and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Key Performance Indicators for Measuring Your Content Marketing ROI

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key metrics that can help you measure and track the ROI of your content marketing efforts:

• Conversion Rate: This is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter or purchasing a product. A high conversion rate indicates that your content effectively engages and persuades users. For most content marketing, the conversion rate will fall between 1.5-3%.
• Bounce Rate: This is the percentage of visitors who leave your website right away without interacting with it. A lower bounce rate suggests that your content is relevant and engaging. A good rule of thumb is that a bounce rate of 40% or lower is considered good.
• Social Shares: This is the number of times someone shares your content on social media platforms. High social shares indicate that your content resonates with your audience and encourages further distribution. The average social share rate for content marketing varies depending on the type of content, but blog posts, for example, usually have a share rate of 5–15%.
• Click-through Rate (CTR): This is the percentage of people who click on a link in your content, such as a call-to-action button. A high CTR suggests that your content is persuasive and drives user action.
• Page Views: This is the total number of times someone views a piece of content. This metric helps you gauge content popularity and reach. It’s a good idea to keep track of your total monthly page views with a success benchmark of 5% growth month-over-month.
• Scroll Depth: This measures how far users scroll down a web page and provides insights into how they interact with your content. A good scroll depth typically ranges between 60-80%.

By tracking these metrics and comparing them to industry benchmarks, you can gain valuable insights into your content marketing strategy’s performance and identify areas for improvement. Maybe your content gets a lot of shares and a lot of page views, but not enough click-throughs. Maybe it gets plenty of click-throughs, but users stop before converting. Understanding these benchmarks in their user journey will let you focus your marketing efforts on the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Tools for Measuring Content Strategy ROI

Several powerful analytics tools can help you measure and optimize your content marketing ROI:

• Google Analytics (GA4): This free tool provides in-depth insights into website traffic, user behavior, and content performance. Use GA4 to track key metrics like page views, bounce rate, and conversion rate.
• SEMRush: This comprehensive SEO and digital marketing tool offers valuable data on keyword rankings, backlinks, and competitors. Use SEMRush to assess your content’s search engine optimization and overall visibility.
• HubSpot: This robust marketing automation platform tracks number of leads, conversions, and customer interactions. Use HubSpot to monitor your content marketing campaign’s success and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Ahrefs: This comprehensive SEO toolset helps you conduct detailed competitor analysis, track backlink profiles, and audit your site’s SEO health, all of which contribute to understanding and improving the ROI of your content marketing efforts.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Measuring Content Strategy ROI

To accurately measure your content marketing ROI, follow these steps:

1. Set Clear Goals: Define your marketing objectives and determine the KPIs you’ll use to track progress. E-commerce business? Write down the number of sales you need per month. B2C business building your newsletter? Set clear email marketing goals for open rates and click-through rates.
2. Implement Analytics Tools: Set up Google Analytics, SEMRush, and other relevant tools to gather data on your content’s performance.
3. Track Performance Metrics: Monitor critical metrics like conversion rate, bounce rate, and page views to assess your content’s effectiveness.
4. Calculate ROI: Use the content marketing ROI formula to calculate the return on your investment. The formula is ROI = (Net Profit / Total Investment Cost) x 100. This ROI calculation provides a clear picture of your strategy’s financial impact.
5. Analyze Data and Adjust Strategy: Review your metrics regularly and adjust your content strategy based on performance insights.

Case Studies: Real-World Examples of Measuring Content ROI

To see some robust content strategy ROI, check out our work with Alexander Orthopaedic Associates. By implementing an SEO-focused content strategy, we increased total organic sessions on their website by 240% and top 10 keywords by 453%, significantly boosting the client’s online visibility and appointment requests. New blogs for Alexander Orthopaedics, such as this recent one about common causes of hip pain, regularly rank among the top searches for their target keywords on Google. This single blog draws over 8,000 views per month.

Thanks to Big Sea’s continuing content strategy and creation, Alexander Orthopaedics saw 4 years of solid growth with continuing gains. Our ongoing efforts have helped them position themselves as the best orthopedic care in the Tampa Bay area.

>> Read the full case study on our website.

Tips for Improving Content Strategy Based on ROI Analysis

Tip #1: Optimize Your Content

Tailor your content creation to your customers’ journeys by focusing on high-quality output that meets your audience’s needs and preferences. Experiment with different content types, distribution methods, and targeting strategies to maximize engagement and conversions. Gather this information through surveys, interviews, or focus groups, and use analytics tools to track audience behavior and engagement with existing content.

Tip #2: Introduce A/B Testing for Improvement

Conduct A/B testing on content and landing pages to identify the most effective elements for driving conversions. Begin by identifying the specific component you want to test, such as headlines, images, call-to-action buttons, or layout variations. Develop two versions of the element — A as the control and B as the variation. Use the insights gained to refine and optimize your strategy for content marketing success.

Tip #3: Implement Continuous Analysis

Monitor your content’s performance regularly and make data-driven adjustments to your strategy. Don’t forget to calculate content marketing ROI regularly using the formula! Analyze trends over time to identify patterns, anomalies, or opportunities for improvement. Ongoing analysis ensures that your content marketing campaigns remain effective and aligned with business goals.

Get Expert Guidance on Content Marketing Strategies

By understanding the key metrics, tools, and best practices for measuring content ROI, you can create a more effective content marketing strategy and drive meaningful results for your organization.

Contact Big Sea today for expert guidance on content marketing strategies tailored to your business’s unique needs. Our marketing team of experienced professionals can help you unlock the full potential of your content marketing efforts and achieve lasting success!