Publishers and brands are still facing challenges in gaining insights from their content marketing efforts according to a new survey by Rapt Media. While the vast majority recognise the importance of creating and distributing valuable content to engage audiences, marketers would like it to be easier to measure ROI and conduct analytics.
The Future of Content, Part II: Measuring Content Performance surveyed 500 marketers and found that almost two-thirds believe “gaining deeper insights is their biggest concern when investing in content”. Rapt Media notes that sophisticated marketing tools are still only able to measure the intent of content rather than how articles, blog pieces and videos are actually consumed by a target audience.
A further 60 per cent of respondents said that they were unable to measure the return on investment for any content produced. The report adds that this challenge is a double-edged sword, as ROI will continue to be difficult to measure when publishers are unable to find out exactly what individuals are doing with the content and whether it resonates with them.
Content personalisation
A separate report by Demand Metric in partnership with Seismic has also highlighted problems with personalising content. Content Marketing’s Evolution: The Age of Hyper-Personalisation and Automation white paper showed that 61 per cent of respondents personalise content in some way but that it only meets objectives adequately for just half of the survey’s participants.
Demand Metric chief analyst Jerry Rackley claims that enterprises get the best results when they personalise less than 40 per cent of their content and that more is not always better. He added that marketers should concentrate their personalisation efforts for endeavours that will advance them in the customer experience or sales cycle.
Rackley also urged businesses to experiment more with their content. He added: “If you’re just now getting started, you pick a piece of content, you pick a tool that you probably already have, and you go run some experiments and measure them, just like we do with everything else in marketing. And I think what most organizations are going to find out-wow-it makes a difference, it works; let’s do more.”
