What does it mean to have successful content? Well, that depends. Successful content can be defined and measured in different ways, by different people, and it there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, but you can start to evaluate your own content by following a few simple steps.

First, define your goals and metrics of success, and then you set those goals, and take some metrics. Sounds easier said than done, but don’t worry, in this post you’ll find out how to get started.

A Step-By-Step Process for Measuring Content Success

1 – Set Content Goals

What is it that you want for your content? Maybe you want more leads or sales. Maybe you want more email subscribers or webinar registrations. Maybe you want a certain number of social media “likes.” Or maybe you want a certain number of blog comments or blog page views. There are tons of options, so take some time to think about your overall business and marketing goals, and then use those goals to set goals for your content.

2 – Set KPIs for Each Goal

Now that you’ve set your content goals it’s time to set specific metrics for each goal. KPIs (key performance indicators) are helpful, so go ahead and make a list of metrics that will let you see whether you are meeting your content goals. For example, if you want more leads, write down the specific number of leads you want to generate. If each lead costs you money, then that cost might be part of the goal (e.g., $10). You will also want to write down how you are defining a “lead.” Maybe a lead is someone who enters a webinar registration form or downloads a buyer’s guide.

If you want more sales, then you might write down that you want to sell 20 units of your product every month. Make sense?

3 – Collect Data and Track Your Metrics

Now that you’ve set your goals, identified your metrics of success, and know how to define your metrics, you need to find a way to actually track those metrics. It might seem simple to track webinar registrations, but if you simply add a webinar registration form to your website, you won’t get any data unless you actually promote the webinar. If you want more social media “likes,” you can’t just buy Facebook ads; instead, you need to drive traffic to your Facebook page. And if you want more comments and/or page views on your blog, simply publishing more posts won’t help; you’ll have to come up with clever ways to get people to stay on your site.

4 – Analyze and Adjust

Here’s where the fun begins! Once you’ve collected your data, you can analyze your content goals to see how well you did. Analyzing your data allows you to draw conclusions that can help you see what worked and also give you insight as to how you can improve your content in the future.

Conclusion

Is it possible to measure content success? Yes. Is it easy? Maybe not. It definitely requires hard work, but if you get it right, you have the power to create content that is worth it! Set some goals. Define some metrics. Collect some data. Adjust your content. Over and over again.

If you are in need of content marketing for small businesses, contact Elly and Nora Creative. We are a boutique branding, content, and publicity agency based in Phoenix, AZ. We help purpose-driven companies, entrepreneurs, and experts to grow their income and their impact.