The ROI of Content Marketing is defined by a sales conversion funnel, not by Web activity metrics<\/strong><\/h2>\nAnother very common issue with understanding the value of Content Marketing initiatives is the ability to measure a return on investment. In the day and age of the Internet where most online actions are\u00a0traceable,\u00a0the issue is not measurement but rather to define performance in a relevant and tangible way. Then of course, tracking needs to be setup and measured regularly.<\/p>\n
Performance should be based on the steps of a determined conversion funnel and metrics should be established for each step of this funnel. A typical conversion funnel could look like:
\nStep 1: user lands on homepage
\nStep 2: user reads\u00a0a blog post
\nStep 3: user read a product or service page
\nStep 4: user filled in Contact form
\nStep 4 alternative:\u00a0user filled in form to download something you offer<\/p>\n
Here is an example of a classic B2B blog lead generation funnel:<\/p>\n
![\"Inbound](\"https:\/\/webtargetinc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Inbound_Marketing_Conversion_Path.png\" "\\"Inbound")
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Defining performance in terms of web activity such as overall visitors and pages views of a website won’t reflect performance as much as much as measuring how many users start at step 1 (for example: arrive on a landing page) of the funnel and reached step 4 (for example: fill in a contact form) which is what we wanted them to ultimately do and that we qualify as a business goal.<\/p>\n
In conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhile it’s true that defining\u00a0the content tactics and\u00a0producing enough content are very common Content Marketing challenges, these challenges can be more effectively tackled when\u00a0the company:<\/p>\n
\n- has allocated a budget and appointed someone to be responsible for overseeing\u00a0Content Marketing\u00a0initiatives<\/li>\n
- has understood that Content Marketing takes time to build up and leverage in order to generate engagement and sales leads<\/li>\n
- has defined success metrics (KPIs) based on conversion funnels rather than generic Web activity metrics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>
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![\"Top](\"https:\/\/webtargetinc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/biggest-b2b-challenges-of-Content-Marketing-2015-CMI-565x630-custom.png\" "\\"biggest-b2b-challenges-of-Content-Marketing-2015-CMI\\"")
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