Three Key Content Marketing Metrics You Should Consider (The Pulitzer isn't one)

Image of the Pulitzer Prize. Courtesy of AP

Often when I’m writing a piece of content, I ask myself: “Is this worthy of a Pulitzer?”

But then I come down from the clouds and remember that as a content marketer, the Pulitzer isn’t the best gauge of whether the content I create is successful.

Rather, content marketers have specific metrics that can help us understand whether our content is supporting our intended goals.

If winning the Pulitzer for that beautifully written piece isn’t in the cards for you, don’t fret. 

Hitting your targets with the following metrics is also a win. 


Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The click-through rate (CTR) is a ratio of users who click on a specific link to users who view a page, ad or email. The CTR is based on the number of clicks your ad, social post, blog or email got—respectively—divided by the number of views. With ads, for example, people may view them but not click on them. 

But you don’t have to bring out the calculator. 

Your search console can help you figure out what your CTR is. Different industries have different benchmarks for the CTR. Understanding what your CTR is compared to the industry benchmark is one way to develop a targeted CTR.

Comments and Social Shares

Want to know whether someone’s read or viewed your content? A telltale sign is a comment. If someone leaves a comment on your post, the likelihood is high that they engaged with the content. Comments can give you an idea of how your content is being received by your intended audience. 

Comments can also help you understand what’s going on in the mind of your reader or viewer and that alone is beneficial to developing new story ideas. As content marketers, keeping track of your social shares is necessary since social is one of the most important metrics in understanding your earned recognition. Most social media platforms will give you access to your social media metrics, but you can also use third-party tools like Brand24 or Buffer to access social media performance across all your platforms.


Brand Awareness Metrics

For new brands just starting out, follower count is an important one to consider. It’s considered a vanity metric, but as a brand it can help you garner a sense of credibility among your audience. Focus on the social media platform that houses your target audience and aim to grow your connections there. 

Also consider:

Unique page views—the times an individual user has view your page.
Page views—the number of times a page on your site is viewed.
Users—the number of people visiting your page.


Final Thoughts

There are more metrics you can use to measure your content marketing efforts, but I’ve found these ones work well to help me understand whether I’m going in the right direction. It’s also important to not overwhelm yourself with too many metrics. Hone in on the ones that are important to your brand and work your way up from there.