In recent years, content marketing has positioned itself as one of the most popular strategies to attract and retain customers. Companies have increased their budgets in this area due to its potential to generate long-term value. However, despite this growing investment, there is an interesting paradox: many organizations still fail to effectively track and measure the performance of their content marketing strategy.
Content marketing investment on the rise
According to data from the report “Content Marketing Worldwide 2024” by Statista, 41% of organizations increased their content marketing budget in the last 12 months, and 45% plan to increase it in the next 12 months.
The growth in investment reflects the increasing importance that companies attribute to content marketing as a tool to achieve business objectives, such as customer retention, lead generation, and brand strengthening.
Despite the significant budget increase, a large portion of organizations still face challenges in accurately measuring the performance of their content marketing strategies.
Statista data reveals that only 26% of marketing leaders have a “very clear” view of how their content is performing, while 61% claim to have a “somewhat clear” view, and 13% admit to having no clarity at all.
This lack of clarity in performance measurement can hinder companies’ ability to optimize their strategies and justify the continuous increase in their budgets.
Most commonly used content marketing metrics
For organizations that manage to track content performance, the most commonly used metrics include social media engagement (53%), website interaction (53%), and page views.
These metrics are considered essential to evaluate the reach and effectiveness of the content but often only provide a superficial view of the real impact on business objectives. For example, social media engagement may indicate that content is popular, but not necessarily that it generates conversions or customer loyalty.
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Other metrics such as email engagement (46%) and conversions (41%) are also monitored, although to a lesser extent.
- Social media engagement – 53%
- Website engagement – 53%
- Pageviews – 51%
- Email engagement – opens, clicks – 46%
- Search engine positioning – 41%
- Conversions – 39%
- Media coverage – 35%
- Email subscriber rankings – 34%
- Other metrics – 1%
- Do not measure performance – 3%
- Unawareness – 2%
In terms of metrics with the greatest revenue impact, Statista data highlights that retaining and expanding the customer base is the most important for 59% of respondents. Placing advertising (54%) and driving traffic to products for sale (51%) are also considered key metrics driving revenue.
According to the “Content Marketing Worldwide” dossier, the most relevant metrics for generating revenue are as follows:
- Retaining and expanding the customer base – 59%
- Placing advertising – 54%
- Driving traffic to products for sale – 51%
- Using sponsored content – 51%
- Driving traffic to the sales team – 49%
- Selling content products – 46%
- Undertaking affiliate sales – 41%
- Introducing content paywalls and subscriptions – 39%
- Using donations – 32%
Quality content
Regarding the implementation of a content marketing strategy, there are several challenges. According to Statista data, creating high-quality content is the top concern for organizations at 33%, followed by budget constraints (30%) and the need to stay up-to-date with new trends (29%).
The mention of these three aspects as the main concerns highlights the interest of companies and brands in balancing investment in this area with the ability to produce and distribute relevant, engaging content aligned with business objectives.
