For many ecommerce businesses, a long-term content marketing strategy is a tool to increase visibility and drive growth. In fact, according to one survey of B2B marketers, 93% rely on content marketing to some extent.
You likely have your content objectives – but how do you know your plan is worth the investment? That’s where content marketing ROI comes in. Content marketing ROI (return on investment) measures the value or profit generated from your content marketing efforts compared to the cost of producing and promoting that content. It’s a critical metric to assess the effectiveness of your content and determine whether you need to redirect your strategy.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about ROI content marketing for your business, including key metrics to track and how to measure it.
What is content marketing ROI, and what does it have to do with content experience? Essentially, content marketing ROI is the value your content marketing efforts generate compared to the costs involved. It’s one part of a well-rounded content marketing strategy, as it helps provide a comprehensive understanding of whether your strategies are delivering meaningful results, such as increasing website traffic, lead generation, brand awareness, or sales.
Unlike traditional advertising, content marketing often focuses on long-term benefits. Calculating ROI helps you justify investments, update your content strategies, and better align your content with your business goals. Creating high-quality content may have more upfront costs than generating large amounts of inefficient content (such as by using AI writing tools), but it actually saves money in the long run by reducing the need for frequent updates or rewrites.
If you want to know how to measure content marketing ROI, there are several key metrics to consider, such as:
Cost-related metrics: Determine how much time, effort, and money you spend on creating content that generates a lead and the expenses associated with converting that lead into a customer.
To measure content marketing ROI, follow this straightforward formula: When it comes to key content marketing ROI statistics, research shows that the average return is two to three times the initial investment. However, this depends on a variety of factors, such as the age and size of your business and the quality of your content. Next, let’s review a breakdown of what this formula means and how to calculate your results.
The income generated from your content marketing efforts is the revenue gained. This can include monetized results such as:
When evaluating your content, be sure to identify specific pieces that have directly or indirectly impacted your revenue.
To determine your investment costs, add up all the costs associated with your content marketing efforts, such as production (e.g., freelancers, video production, and graphics), promotion (e.g., paid ads, sponsored or boosted posts), and personnel (e.g., salaries for team members working on content creation).
You should also factor in the cost of any software tools you use for content production, such as analytics tools and content management systems, and recurring subscriptions.
Subtract your investment costs from the revenue gained. Divide the result by your investment costs and multiply by 100 to get the ROI percentage.
Do you want to improve your overall content marketing plan, but aren’t sure where to begin? Use these 10 ideas to improve your content marketing ROI:
Improving your content marketing ROI starts with research into how to reach your target audience. Research your audience’s preferences, pain points, and content consumption habits by analyzing past purchases, tracking social media engagement, and creating buyer personas. Whenever possible, tailor your content to address their needs and interests to ensure it resonates and drives engagement.
Published content doesn’t need to be single use to be effective. Not only does finding ways to repurpose content improve your ROI, but it also helps you reach a wider audience and engage with more potential customers. Repurpose content by converting blogs into social media posts or infographics for your landing page or compiling related articles into a downloadable ebook.
Improving SEO writing helps increase organic traffic to your website over time. Since Google updates tend to prioritize unique, helpful content that directly addresses user search queries, focus on quality over quantity when producing content. Revisit and optimize meta descriptions and set relevant keywords to increase visibility on search engines.
Ensuring content is thoroughly proofread and edited to reflect your specific brand voice is also an essential part of any SEO strategy. High-quality, error-free content builds trust and credibility with your audience, which can lead to increased backlinks and shares, boosting your ranking on SERPs. Consider investing in professional proofreading services and free your team to focus on maximizing your content marketing ROI.
To ensure your efforts are focused on the areas that achieve maximum impact, track how individual pieces of content are performing and boost them through paid ads or email marketing campaigns. For example, certain types of content tend to be more popular with readers, such as case studies and articles that include images. Tools like Google Analytics can analyze user behavior, traffic sources, and the overall effectiveness of digital marketing.
Evergreen content remains relevant and valuable to readers over a long period, regardless of trends or specific timeframes. Unlike time-sensitive or trendy content, such as seasonal updates, which may quickly lose significance, evergreen content is timeless and consistently attracts traffic. Once created, it requires less frequent updates and delivers ongoing ROI, with the added benefit of boosting SEO over time.
Analyze the performance of keywords related to your industry and align your content with trending or high-performing keywords. You can also survey your audience or evaluate purchases to determine which topics your website visitors are most interested in and incorporate them as keywords into your SEO strategy.
Focusing on personalized content is another way to boost ROI and connect with your audience. Segment your audience by analyzing customer data and tracking behavior, and implement quizzes, polls, or assessments that adapt based on the user’s input to create a more engaging and personal interaction.
Each piece of content should have an identifiable purpose and include a compelling call to action. For example, a blog post could end with a prompt encouraging readers to make a purchase, subscribe to a newsletter, or visit another part of the website. To increase conversions, content should always end with a way to direct readers toward the next step in the customer journey.
Partnering with influencers or other companies can expand your reach and increase your credibility, as collaborative content is a way to attract a new audience and enhance engagement. In addition, consider implementing a brand ambassador program to encourage existing customers to promote your business.
Promote your content across various content distribution channels, such as email, social media platforms, websites, and paid ads (such as Google Ads). Engage with users by responding to comments and encouraging shares.
You can also boost engagement by participating in forums and other online communities related to your industry. Share your content in these spaces when it provides genuine value and aligns with the discussion.
Be open to frequently re-evaluating and refining your content marketing strategy based on the collected data and results. This could mean tweaking elements of your content to reflect search engine updates or refreshing your brand style guide.
While calculating content marketing ROI is a valuable data point for your future marketing strategy, it’s not without its challenges. For example, it can be tricky to determine which piece of content contributed to a lead or sale, especially when multiple touchpoints (e.g., blog posts and social media) influence customer decisions.
It can also be difficult to track the long-term ROI of content when the benefits of SEO strategies and evergreen content are not always immediate and can happen months or even years later. Consumer preferences, industry trends, and algorithm updates can also quickly make content obsolete or ineffective, requiring frequent adaptation to stay competitive.
In addition, measuring ROI for non-revenue goals, such as increased credibility or brand awareness, is not as straightforward as calculating a reported dollar amount. Although they are harder to measure, these benchmarks are considered indirect content marketing ROI and are significant metrics that indicate long-term growth.
Are you interested in improving the quality of your content and increasing your ROI? It’s time to invest in first-rate content editing services. Our expert editors have a proven track record of getting results – we can precisely tailor your content to your target audience while optimizing it for SEO to expand your reach. Schedule a call with our team today to learn more about what we can do for your business.
Tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, SEMrush, and Sprout Social are excellent for monitoring traffic, engagement, and conversions. You can also use AI tools to measure content performance and ROI.
Monitor the ongoing traffic, leads, and conversions that evergreen content generates over time. Track performance trends and adjust SEO strategies to maintain relevance.
Yes, there are many free online tools, calculators, and social media insights platforms that can effectively track basic metrics like traffic, engagement, and conversions.
Direct ROI refers to measurable revenue or leads generated by specific content. Indirect ROI includes benefits like brand awareness or audience trust, which contribute to long-term growth.
Focus on engagement metrics, lead generation, and customer feedback to demonstrate how your content builds relationships and supports future conversions.
Track metrics like social shares, impressions, and audience growth to measure your content’s impact on brand visibility.
Review your ROI monthly or quarterly to identify trends, refine strategies, and align with business goals.
Benchmarks vary widely, so research industry-specific studies or reports to compare your results with similar businesses.
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