Heidi Sullivan, SVP of digital content at Cision, (and our first ever Hubbies Influencer of the Year,) was joined by Shonali Burke, president and CEO of Shonali Burke Consulting last week at Hub Convene for a conversation on how to measure content marketing success.
Sullivan kicked off the discussion highlighting the convergence of paid, earned, and owned media. She said in the past, marketers had worked off the assumptions of what content works and what messaging works, but now there were ways to measure it. “Avoid vanity metrics, and figure out metrics that will show the client why they spent the money they did,” said Sullivan.
In addition, she stressed the importance of creating timely, relevant content that provides real value to the reader, instead of just being a sales tool. In an era of content curation and linking, she said it was crucial to be original. “Google is placing more importance than ever on original content that people are engaging with,” said Sullivan. “If you don’t have original content, your SEO is out the window.”
Sullivan also recommended the use of A/B testing to identify which content and headlines work best, and then amplifying that content among identified audiences.
Burke said it was important to keep in mind the reasons for business communications, educating your audience about what your business is doing and why it’s important that the audience listens. She said communications professionals often get so lost in social media platforms and understanding the different mediums that they often forget to grab the data and metrics.“Outcome metrics should be established in the beginning and they don’t necessarily have to be ambitious,” said Burke.
