{"id":38266,"date":"2019-07-03T12:44:50","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T10:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketingplatform.com\/?p=38266"},"modified":"2023-05-29T13:06:40","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T11:06:40","slug":"content-marketing-and-emails-an-introduction-to-the-important-kpis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingplatform.com\/resources\/content-marketing-and-emails-an-introduction-to-the-important-kpis\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Marketing & emails \u2013 an introduction to the important KPIs"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Why are digital KPIs important?<\/span><\/h2>\n

As with all things digital, measurability is essential when assessing the success of any campaign, and with every digital marketing campaign<\/a> you create, it is likely you will be using multiple channels to reach your audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each of these channels necessitate the use of differing channel-appropriate strategies, and the majority of these channels will be focused on content. This is particularly true of email marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, finding ways of measuring engagement<\/a> with your content are critical in providing you with an indication of how successful your campaign has been in aligning with the interests of your audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cStart big, and grow from there\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

More often than not, ROI and profitability will be the governing factor of your KPIs. This is the \u201cbiggie\u201d and will always be a key factor in measuring how successful the content in your email marketing campaigns has been in engaging your customers<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

How your audience engages with your content is strongly aligned with profitability, as the more engaged your customers are, the more likely they are to purchase from you, not just once, but repeatedly, and if the content around your product or service is particularly good, the more likely they are to share it with their networks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, content marketing KPI metrics are more varied and nuanced than just the bottom line, and they neither begin nor end with ROI.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Content marketing really works<\/span><\/h2>\n

As a marketer, you will no doubt know, indeed you may have found it impossible to avoid, the phrase \u201cContent is King\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bill Gates: Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What you might not know, however, is that it was coined by Bill Gates in an essay <\/span>he wrote in 1996<\/span><\/a> for the Microsoft website.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the essay he expands on the phrase, saying:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cContent is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting [and] the broad opportunities for most companies involve supplying information or entertainment. No company is too small to participate.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In the more than twenty years that have passed since he first defined the concept, and whilst the phrase itself has suffered greatly from overuse, abuse and finally the ultimate indignity of be reduced to \u201cjargonese\u201d, we have nonetheless repeatedly seen the truth of Gates\u2019 initial assertion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Content, therefore, whilst not being the <\/span>only tool<\/span><\/i> you should use in your campaigns, plays <\/span>an absolutely vital <\/span><\/i>role in your overall digital marketing strategy<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Measuring the success of this content, however, is not always a simple matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Effective KPI metrics \u2013 rocket science or brain surgery?<\/span><\/h2>\n

You\u2019re not alone in finding it difficult to track the ROI on your content marketing activities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the <\/span>B2B Content Marketing Report 2014<\/span><\/i><\/a> which collated answers from over 600 respondents, <\/span>only 8% of marketers<\/span><\/i> considered themselves a being very effective at tracking content marketing ROI.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, improving your tracking is actually a lot less daunting you might think.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/marketingplatform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/rocket-3122690_1280.png” alt=”A rocket flying above the clouds on a blue sky with stars representing effective KPI metrics for email content marketing.” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”70%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

So, what KPI metrics are right for your email content marketing?<\/h2>\n

Different businesses use content in different ways, thus the most appropriate KPIs for you may vary accordingly, depending upon what it is your business does, and who within your organisation is monitoring the different KPIs.<\/p>\n

When considering content marketing<\/a> as a whole there are a number of high-level KPI metrics that offer insight into the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy, including such things as:<\/p>\n