In some industries, cost metrics determine the success of a given marketing campaign. For example, marketing procurement organizations focus closely on how much they save when evaluating their strategies. While every brand looks to cut a few corners and pocket some cash, non-cost-centric metrics are becoming just as important, especially with companies funneling more resource toward long-term content marketing efforts.
A recent study from the Association of National Advertisers asked marketing procurement professionals about their content analytics reporting programs. Approximately 94 percent say they evaluate cost reduction as a success metric, and 84 percent look at cost avoidance as an equally important stat to evaluate. However, when asked where importance should be placed moving forward, many respondents suggested brands take closer looks at how their marketing campaigns improve ROI.
With companies launching content creation campaigns to generate and nurture leads, they’ve grown used to the idea of waiting for results to trickle in. Content marketing can produce significant returns, but it requires investments of time and money. Brafton reported on a study that found accuracy, freshness and availability are what drive users to read web content from specific blogs or sites. In order to create compelling editorial resources for lead gen, brands must abandon their cost-centric approaches, and focus on under-the-hood returns.
