Measuring Operational Efficiencies Of Content Production In B2B Marketing

“What gets measured gets improved!”- Neil Sharma, leadership coach and author.

These days, B2B companies invest a lot of money in B2B content marketing. So much so that in the States alone, B2B companies spend around $5.2 billion on creating content, which takes up almost 55% of their marketing budget. Now, you might assume that since such a huge amount is being invested in content production, marketing executives must have everything figured out. Still, according to the published Gleanster report, ‘The $958bn Marketing Problem,’ that’s not statistically correct.

Now, let’s try to understand the $958 billion B2B marketing problem. This is a massive chunk of money that is almost always misused to create ineffective content simply because of irregular content management. So, a single medium to a large company wastes around $120,000 per year.

Now, the first question that might cloud your mind is: are we creating content just for the sake of it?

The evidence seems to say so. Reports say only 22% of B2B content marketers believe they are successful, while only about 35% have a specific strategy they follow. Yet, new content is being published every second.

It is natural and evident that most companies take content process optimization seriously using HubSpot CRM and other CRM Customization features. Despite this, most get lost in the rat race and need help figuring out where the bug is. As a result, many surveys show that most content marketers view measuring content marketing efficiency as the most strategic area for investment.

Despite this, many B2B companies are creating and publishing content at an unplanned and humongous rate, ultimately leading to redundancy in content creation, buyer dissatisfaction, and failure to meet deadlines. 

The reality of the situation is that the content marketing industry is an emerging industry, so it lacks standards by which a benchmark can be set. Marketers are still yet to figure out effective tools to measure their efficiency. Relying on ‘vanity metrics’ such as social media likes cannot be a standard way of determining the actual value of content being produced. 

If you really want to break the code of how to measure the efficiency of content marketing, then these are some basic yet practical pointers that you can follow:

Maintain Transparency Regarding B2B Content Marketing Goals

Steering away from the traditional lead conversion and brand awareness outcomes can assist in curating an effective content campaign that easily cuts down on call center inquiries. The aim should be to be a one-stop shop that provides educational content for all your customers’ questions and encourages feedback. No matter your goal, have enough clarity and even create KPIs to keep a check on them. 

For instance, if you aim to maximize brand awareness, your focus should be on branded content and measure attributes like shares and views. You can use HubSpot CRM to get the job done faster and efficiently. 

Business Outcomes Should Mirror B2B Content Marketing

In content marketing language, an increase in social share will result in higher levels of engagement, while an increase in reach will mean that there is significant audience growth. Ensure that your KPIs reflect that you're truly meeting your declared business objectives.

Keeping Account of Content Marketing Strategy & Measurement Strategy

Successful marketers keep detailed accounts of their marketing and measurement strategies. This gives them clarity about whether their efforts have been fruitful. Incorporate your targeted business results, KPIs, and metrics, and foster an attitude of content efficiency inside your company.

Opt for a Content Marketing Platform

Businesses that consider themselves the big shots or ‘efficiency experts’ have always relied heavily on technology to achieve their increased productivity. Specifically, they use content marketing platforms to standardize their B2B content creation workflow using personalized templates, reporting, integration, and content distribution tools like HubSpot CRM.

HubSpot CRM has various CRM customization options, including KPIs to measure attributes like call-to-action click-through rates, traffic sourcing, engagement, landing page form fill rates, email effectiveness, and more.

B2B companies that effectively use HubSpot CRM have shown increased content effectiveness, reduced costs, and increased content production.

The golden rule of any business is that what is measured can be managed. However, marketing managers have been unable to measure the effectiveness of most B2B content. Yet, there are solutions to this. Initially, it might feel like a mammoth task, but if you can keep at it and create an efficient system, it will become an automated cycle. This will not only maximize your content’s efficiency but also save you money and energy.