Pace vs. Performance: The Ongoing Content Marketing Battle

Marketers see the value-add in producing content, but are they trying too hard to keep up with the pace? Mark Nardone, Executive Vice President of PAN Communications, discusses the common misconceptions and shares insights about meeting your content marketing goals 

The biggest mistake that marketers make is thinking they’ve done their job if they keep up with the pace of content. Brands are beginning to realize that customers are inundated with content, so it’s safe to say that pace isn’t everything. We’ve spoken with marketers over the last year about the difficulties that come with establishing a content program, and if there’s one thing that’s consistent in their feedback it’s that most struggle with balancing quality over quantity when it comes to content.

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Marketers are feeling the pressure from their executive teams, customers and competitors to continue producing more and more content – but at what point does this mass-produced content become devalued? The answer is almost immediately. The “more the merrier” approach does not apply to content.

Pace of content is the common denominator in a few key misconceptions that stump today’s marketer. Let’s take a look at a few you should be avoiding:

Misconception #1: Thinking you’ve met your content goals when the numbers match up.

Your team comes together in January and establishes a goal of creating six premium pieces of content by end of the year. Fast forward to May, and eBook number three is on its way to publishing. You’re feeling great because the mid-year check-in is around the corner and you’re on track to meet your goals. But that’s where your mindset needs to change.

KPIs are only as important as the data that backs them up. How are those three eBooks performing? Have you established baseline expectations for content performance? Sure, you’ve hit the numbers your team is looking to accomplish but is your content resonating? There’s no sense in celebrating until you’ve collected data that speaks highly of your content.

Misconception #2: A blog that publishes regularly is a successful blog.

Starting a company blog from scratch is something that small businesses – especially B2B – find to be a daunting task. Many don’t know what to write about, how to get contributors, or how often they should be publishing. The biggest misconception is thinking that consistency is all you need to achieve a successful blog. And I’m here to tell you that’s not the case.

Be sure to keep audience preferences and personalities in mind when you’re writing a blog or any other content for that matter. This can be accomplished by creating buyer personas to assure you are targeting the right audience. This all goes back to data – analyze who is engaging with your content or visiting your site and keep those people in mind when you’re developing content. From there, create a pillar strategy with your content to align with your verticals and areas of interest. What is your brand most known for, and what areas do you feel you excel in? The tricky part is acknowledging that not all content is good content. A highly targeted thought-provoking blog post will produce more return than a handful of averages ones. Quality over quantity.

Lastly, when it comes to blogs, time on page and traffic to valued pages on your company’s website becomes leading factors in how you measure success. Determine the average length of time it takes to read one of your blogs (and keep it reasonable) and compare it to average time on page. Leverage CTAs throughout your piece of content to help guide and increase session time. Improving these aspects should be top of mind KPIs for your brand.

Misconception #3: Number of pages per session doesn’t matter, a visit to your site is enough.

While driving traffic to your site through your content is important to strive for, it’s not the end goal. Creating more content to drive more traffic will only take you so far. Where do they go after they’ve viewed the content? Ask yourself – do they go where you had hoped? Learn to monitor this behavior, as it will provide your team with insights that are extremely valuable in extending the life cycle of the customer. Spend time studying the user experience on your site and map content to guide your customers through a seamless journey to purchase. You should be determining which content is impacting their decision along specific stages of their journey, and moving them down the funnel through smarter, more targeted content.

Once customers have read your content or visited your site, follow up through social media engagement. The best way to stay top of mind is by developing this type of multi-channel approach. Your content should act as a starting point for a much larger conversation.

So, what does this all mean?

If you’ve taken anything away from these misconceptions, it should be that performance trumps pace no matter the circumstance. Measure intelligently – the sheer number of pieces says nothing about your return on investment, but the number of engagements, clicks, views and downloads, along with time on site, says an abundance about your content.

Start off by establishing data-oriented KPIs and measure your content according to these goals. Learning how to create content that connects and engages with your audience will take time but improving your blog’s performance will get you going in the right direction. Lastly, remember that almost every move you make as a marketer can be made smarter by data and analytics.