Analytics are changing the way we view our world – from sports to business and everything in between. These days, data no longer belongs solely to statistics nerds or number-crunchers.
For anyone who creates content for a business, this data can yield surprising insights. In fact, taking a deeper dive into your marketing metrics may very well guide your next content opportunity.
So the next time you sit there staring at that cold, blank screen and annoyingly blinking cursor, don’t bang your head against the keyboard or fire darts at the bulletin board on your wall.
Instead, consider what your data may be telling you.
Related Content: Grab our Marketing Reporting Kit to create beautiful reports
Keywords
This one is kind of a gimme, because you’re probably already paying attention to keywords and SEO considerations when planning your marketing content. But how can that help you determine what content to produce next?
Dig into your SEO data to find answers to questions like:
- What is my audience looking for? Keyword data isn’t the only determinant of traffic success on a page or post, but if a certain keyword is really bringing them in, it may be time to build some more topics around that winner.
- Which keywords are driving purchase decisions? Again, there are probably several factors in play for conversion on any particular page or post, but digging deeper will help you determine which keywords are associated with some of your higher conversion rates.
- How can we leverage these keywords more? For example, maybe a great keyword can be made even better when baked into a commonly searched phrase or question.
Bounces
Normally, bounces are considered a bad thing, as a high bounce rate signals that visitors are stopping by, but they’re not really looking around, clicking on offers or moving along to other pages. But if you look deeper at the marketing metrics behind a high bounce rate, you can uncover solid content creation opportunities:
- Origination: Where did your visitors come from? What were they searching for when they found you? Write to those sources and topics.
- Length of Stay: Did you give your visitors enough content to keep them occupied? It might be time to provide more content that’s worth sticking around to read.
- New v. Returning: Which visitors are bouncing out? If returnees are the ones fleeing, maybe your content needs freshening to appeal anew to repeat visitors.
- Bounce Pages: If certain pages have lower bounce rates than others, some of the keywords associated with those “stickier” pages may be what you need to help prop up the laggards.
Top Content
There’s nothing wrong with copying what works – especially when it’s your own ideas that you’re copying. If you find a page or post that is working particularly well based on your marketing metrics (e.g., low bounce rate, high conversion rate, etc.), don’t be shy about utilizing some of those same content tactics or elements elsewhere, such as:
- Headline or subhead phrasing
- Formatting
- Keywords
- Photos or videos
- Links
If something works, do more of it!
If you send an email newsletter or create email messages for targeted lists, you have a treasure trove of marketing metrics to help steer your content creation. In particular, be sure to keep an eye on:
- Open Rates: What do your most successful emails have in common? From subject lines to topics to links within the messages, there are probably content trends that bode well for success.
- Openers: Are there any consistent themes across the kinds of people who opened your emails? If so, you may have a good idea of who wants what kind of content.
Referrers
Referrals are a great way to boost the visibility of your content, which is why referral activity is one of the best ways to promote your blog. But it’s not a matter of getting just any referral.
Your marketing metrics can tell you which sites pack the most viral punch and what to look for in a good referral, such as:
- Site focus and relevance to your content
- Specific information and keywords in the referring URL
- Comments on a referring blog
Coming up with great content is hard – especially if you don’t know what makes it great. So don’t fear the data! With a little extra effort, you can let your marketing metrics guide your content creation and make your work that much easier (and profitable).
More Metrics!
Learn how to calculate and analyze six key marketing metrics with our FREE ebook “Six Marketing Metrics You Can’t Afford to Ignore.”