For too long, the lives of marketers have been dictated by unreliable data, dubious correlations, and hearsay. The content Marketing creates has traditionally been created without keen insights into how past pieces have performed. Marketers need proper content analytics to create the best content possible.
Sure, there are statistics like page visits, bounce rates, email opens and clicks. However, these are superficial looks at engagement that merely scratch the surface on content’s impact. As the impact of content becomes more understood – Demand Metric reports that content marketing costs 62% less than other methods of marketing, but returns three times as many leads – the decisions behind what content to create becomes even more critical.
Making smart, informed decisions about content creation requires deeper insights into the habits and needs of buyers. Without knowledge of certain aspects of how buyers are interacting with content, marketers are effectively stumbling around in the dark, creating content based on intuition and feeling rather than facts.
Let’s take a look at some before and after situations to illustrate the importance of harnessing the power of content analytics.
Content analytics and buyers
Before: Marketing lacks vision into the specific ways buyers engage with content. A proper and effective content marketing strategy is designed to provide buyers with information relevant to their particular needs and wants. But without knowing how people engage with content on a granular, individual level, how can Marketing create content that speaks directly to them?
After: Marketers unlock insights about the ways buyers actually consume the content they create. This allows Marketing to hone their efforts in specific and actionable ways to produce better results. Judging the effectiveness of content becomes a much easier – and rewarding – experience.
By studying detailed data, Marketing properly maps their content to the buyer’s journey. Utilizing real-time buyer intelligence gathered at each stage of the buyer’s journey enables the creation of more tailored content, which is much more effective. ITSMA research revealed that 75% of executives will “read unsolicited marketing materials that contain ideas that might be relevant to [their] business.”
Serving up content that is relevant to buyer’s interests allows for better lead scoring. Lead scoring improves because marketers now have the insight into how prospects engage not just with the email or webpage but with the content itself. Content analytics unlocks a deeper understanding of buyers’ habits and leads to more engaging touches.
Sales and marketing alignment
Before: Content is a contentious topic for Sales and Marketing. Ostensibly, the pieces created by marketers aim to help sellers in their efforts to move buyers along the purchase journey. But, without content analytics it’s difficult for Marketing to put a system in place that regularly produces the kind of content that moves the needle for Sales.
After: Marketing is more attuned to sellers’ needs and able to provide them with the content they need. Leveraging content consumption analytics allows marketers to uncover insights into which selling materials drive winning sales interactions. Instead of wasting time creating content that is ineffective or irrelevant, Marketing improves their relationship with Sales by providing content created based on in-depth analytics and that serves a specific purpose.
Find out here, the two necessary sales content analytics for your team. Also, read about the two must-have content analytics for Marketing.
Not only does Marketing provide data-backed content, but they also arm Sales with important research into the habits of buyers. Using content analytics Marketing provides a clearer picture of buyers and what specifically draws their interest. These interactions and the free flow of information creates a more collaborative and supportive environment. Content analytics – and sales enablement in general – is a bridge between Sales and Marketing.
Better leads and increased win rates – that’s the power of harnessing content analytics.
