Content Marketing ROI - Is There Any?

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Content
Marketing
ROI …Is There Any?

@ A S H L E Y M A D H A T T E R
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Corporate Speaker
SEMrush
ASHLEY WARD
A G E N C Y O W N E R
C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G
S O C I A L M E D I A
F A C E B O O K A D V E R T I S I N G
D O G M O M , F I A N C E , B A C K P A C K E R , H I K E R , O F F R O A D E R ,
I N T E R N A T I O N A L C O R P O R A T E S P E A K E R

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F o r b e s
88% of marketers integrate
content into their marketing
strategies

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C M I
But, 52% of marketers are
struggling to measure their
content marketing strategies

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Let’s talk about Content Marketing ROI
C O N T E N T M E T R I C S C O N T E N T C O S T S G E T T I N G A R E T U R NW H Y M E A S U R E
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F I N A L T I P S
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why measure
content?

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Equinox launched “Q,” a blog on Equinox.com, in 2011.
Shortly after, they gained a readership of over 1 million
monthly users, 30-40% who were existing Equinox
members.
With that readership, Equinox realized they had an
audience who wanted more.
So they crafted an expansion plan.
1. Business
Expansion

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In January 2016, Equinox launched Furthermore, a standalone digital magazine - a separate product

2. New Content
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REI’s Expert Advice learning library was the highest rated
section on REI’s website with users engaging for an
average of 5.5 minutes per article.
With that long of an engagement rate, REI decided to try  
6-minute videos.
73% of the 6-minute videos had a 100% completion rate.

So then, REI released a
30-minute film which has
gained over  
1 million views  
on YouTube.
Articles > Videos > Film
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3. Find Out if You’re  
Reaching the Right Market
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David Chang  
(Momofuku Noodle Bar)  
launched Lucky Peach,  
a quarterly print publication selling at $10 an issue.
In 2015, Chang decided it was time to have a website
and launched a Lucky Peach website  
to meet reader demand.

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Lucky Peach print now has a
circulation of 100K and the website
has 550K monthly unique visits.
Average age of print readers is 39,
and 41% of web readers are between
the ages of 25 and 39.
Demographic = Reached
3. Reach Audiences

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content metrics
you can measure
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09:00
pm
M a y 2 6 t h 2 0 1 3
STURDAY

@ A S H L E Y M A D H A T T E R@ A S H L E Y M A D H A T T E R
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User
Behavior
Find user behavior  
metrics using:
• SEMrush Reports
• Google Analytics
• CrazyEgg
• Chartbeat

Engagement
Find user engagement  
metrics using:
• Social media platform analytics
• SEMrush Social Media Tracker
• Mention
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SEO  
Metrics
Find SEO metrics using:
• Google Analytics
• Google Webmaster Tools
• SEMrush On Page SEO Tracker
• SEMrush Domain Analytics
• Google Trends
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C o n t e n t
M a r k e t i n g
I n s t i t u t e
B2B marketers report sales lead quality  
as their #1 most important metric  
for measuring content marketing success;  
even more important than sales and conversions.

Company
Revenue
Find company revenue:
• Track the number of returning
users in Google Analytics
• Check CRM for new leads /
existing leads
• Conversion rate =
Conversions / clicks
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tips when
analyzing metrics

Don’t put  
all of your data
in one basket
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Different metrics produces
different data. Don’t assume all
data is the same.
By examining data as a whole,
you will gain a clear and
complete picture of your  
content results.

Change  
things up for  
new results
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If one type of content  
isn’t producing the metrics  
you want on a speciﬁc channel,  
try a different channel.
A/B Test
Avoid throwing out  
content types until all channels
have been tested.

Define Your  
Key Metrics
Website traffic is a metric, but it may
not be the most important metric for
each content type.
Key metric for blog posts: Traffic
Key metric for podcasts: Subscribers
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now that we know
what to measure..  
let’s look at costs
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S E M r u s h S u r v e y
60% of content marketers
surveyed spend $2,501 to $5,000
monthly on content marketing

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Time
• To create the content
• Edit the content
• Publish the content
• Measure the content
• In-house employees
• Paying an agency
• Hiring a freelancer
• Plus, images, graphics, and advertising
Money

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In-House
Costs

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A n n u a l S a l a r i e s

Annual
Salaries
401k
health insurance
benefits
bonuses
pay increases
HR department
payroll
etc.

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C O N T E N T C U R AT I O N TO O L S
Buzzsumo, Contently, Hubspot, Curata, Hemingway, WriteWell, Marketo
S O C I A L M E D I A S H A R I N G TO O L S
SEMrush Social Media Poster, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Buffer, Post Planner
B R A N D M O N I TO R I N G TO O L S
SumoMe, Brand24, Buzzsumo, Klout, Mention
W E B S I T E / A N A LY T I C S TO O L S
Google Analytics, SimpleReach, Omniture, SEMrush, Majestic,
Cost of
In-House
Tools

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Agency
Costs

Content Marketing Agency Costs
$1250-$2500
L O W
$2500 - $7500
M E D I U M
$10,000+
Monthly Costs
H I G H
Monthly CostsMonthly Costs
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Honigman Media

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Freelancer
Costs

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Honigman Media
Freelancer Content Marketer Costs
$35-$250
L O W
$250-$500
M E D I U M
$500-$3000
Per Content Type
H I G H
Per Content TypePer Content Type

Don’t forget  
to add  
your own time
Freelancing costs usually  
extend outside the original cost
of the freelancer.
✓ Management time
✓ Editing time
✓ Communication time
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Advertising
Costs

Content Marketers Are Spending on Average $500
to $5,000+ to Advertise Content
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keep content
costs down

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Decide which is
right for you:
• In-house
• Agency
• Freelance

4 factors to
consider
M A N A G E M E N T
How much time can you
afford to put to managing?
S K I L L S E T
Is a freelancer at the same
skill level as an agency?
C O S T
Is the annual salary cheaper
than five freelancers?
B E N E F I T S
What are the perks to having
someone in-house?
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Repurpose
Your Content

Twitter Chat > Blog
Blog > Video
Video > Podcast
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Focus on quality
NOT quantity

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Invite
User-generated
Content

76% of individuals
surveyed said  
they trusted content
shared by  
“average” people
more than by brands
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Adweek

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how can you profit
from content?
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Define
your goals

Which goals  
are you trying  
to accomplish?
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Website traffic increase
Blog traffic increase
Blog engagement
Decreased bounce rates
New leads
Registration form fill outs
Brand exposure
Become an authority figure
Increase ranking positions
Gain new backlinks - good ones
Customer loyalty
Customer education

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Create content
designed to
accomplish
your goal

blog posts
social media posts
email newsletters
infographics
videos
reviews
how-to guides
case studies
training courses
W E B S I T E  
T R A F F I C
Create Content Relevant to Your Goals
email newsletters
landing pages
social media ads
social media posts
N E W  
L E A D S
guest posts
blog posts
infographics
videos
reviews
how-to guides
case studies
training courses
I N C R E A S E  
R A N K I N G S
training courses
email newsletters
blog posts
how-to guides
C U S TO M E R
E D U C AT I O N
B R A N D  
E X P O S U R E
guest posts
blog posts
infographics
videos
case studies
social media posts
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S E M r u s h S u r v e y
40% of content marketers
surveyed believe that case studies
provide the highest ROI

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Track
Metrics

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A/B Test
Verticals and
Content Types

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Measure results
and continue with
what worked

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final content
tips
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Set Goals
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Measure
Results
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Outreach
64

Keep On
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G E T S L I D E S
ashley.ward@SEMrush.com
L I N K E D I N
Linkedin.com/in/ashleyward90
S E M r u s h
www.SEMrush.com
F O L L O W M E
@AshleyMadhatter

Content Marketing ROI - Is There Any?

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