Despite many years of “knowing that more web traffic equals more leads” we continue to get asked the question about how exactly to measure the impact of content marketing efforts. Understanding the basic math, and the levers you can use to drive improvement, will help you make the business case for increased investments in your content marketing strategy. Here’s how to make your content marketing count:
The Math
As a strategic marketer, the math below should be pretty straightforward if you strive to use your website as a demand generation engine.
The first step to measuring the value of your content marketing initiatives is to determine the number of leads you currently deliver into your marketing funnel through your website.
Visitors x Site Conversion rate = Inbound lead flow
You can then convert those inbound leads into revenue by applying your funnel metrics.
Inbound Leads Lead to Sales ConversionX Average Deal Size = Revenue Attributed to Website Leads
Next, to factor the improvement that your content marketing efforts generate, it helps to express the above formula in terms of an easy variable for math purposes. For example:
Every 10,000 visitors to the website generates 30 inbound leads (3% conversion), which turns into 1 deal or $30,000 in revenue. (input your own variables)
Now we have the data ready to measure impact. Content marketing and good website strategy should impact both the number of visitors to your site AND your ability to convert them at a higher rate. Taken individually:
Increase Visitors X Constant Conversion Rate = increased inbound lead flow
Thus, doubling visitors with a constant 3% conversion rate in the above example will now generate 2 deals or $60,000 in revenue.
However the scale efficiencies come rapidly into focus when considering both an increase in visitors AND an improved conversion rate through a better website experience.
Increase Visitors x an Increased conversion rate = multiplier effect to spike inbound lead flow.
Thus, doubling visitors AND doubling the conversion rate will lead to a 4x increase in revenue or $120,000 in the above example.
Using this simple math you can begin to calculate the value of your content marketing initiatives and justify your investments.
