Why KPIs underpin your B2B content marketing cycle?

People think a love of analytics is a bit weird; but they’ve clearly never left a web content planning meeting thinking they may just have lost the will to live for good.

Into an analytical vacuum flows a bunch of strongly held opinions that turn website performance from a matter of fact, into a matter of endless debate.

It’s soul destroying, and it’s a serious problem, because mob-handed internal voices shout louder than the unrepresented users in the grab for scarce resource.

Loving analytics means you love and listen to your customers and you are committed to improving their experience, lives and (as it doesn’t need to be a selfless act) your own bottom line.

Open your KPIs

Many B2B marketers mistake KPIs for business drivers like the need for new sales leads. But a KPI demands focus: say an increase in sales leads of 25 per cent over the next three months.

Here are five steps to help get your B2B content marketing KPIs in place.

1. Understand your current performance

What’s working? What’s failing? You can’t establish a KPI for improved performance if you don’t know where your analytical base.

2. Apply critical business objectives

All your KPIs should relate to business strategy. Improve what your business cares about most and report accordingly.

3. Set time limits

A good KPI is set in a time-frame. You need to give your content time to work it’s magic but there has to be a day of reckoning.

4. Don’t frighten people

People like to talk, but they don’t really like to be measured. When setting up KPIs you need to be clear that you’re there to support, not judge, their efforts.

5. Create KPIs for different job roles

You need to create KPIs so different marketing roles, perhaps with different local conditions and trends, can measure their contribution.

Considered and actionable KPIs mean better B2B content marketing in three ways:

– Initial ideas are better. People talk less and think more when their targets are focused and measurable.

– True value is consistently tested. Subjective and anecdotal understanding is displaced by real testing to deliver rock-solid conclusions.

– Good ideas are recycled, bad ideas dropped and marketing becomes more efficient, productive and popular.

Don’t forget that once you pop you just can’t stop.  You should review your KPIs regularly to ensure they stay relevant. They are the start and the end of your B2B content marketing spin cycle.