Analytics Archives -

The Content Marketing Metrics That Actually Matter (And the Ones to Ignore)

The goal isn’t to track everything. It’s to track the right things—consistently, in a way that informs decisions.

Most content marketers are measuring the wrong things. Here’s how to tell the difference.

By Linda Pophal, MA, SPHR · Strategic Communications, LLC

Content marketing metrics are the quantitative and qualitative measures used to evaluate whether a content program is achieving its intended business objectives. They include audience growth, lead generation, search visibility, and revenue attribution. The distinction between meaningful metrics and vanity metrics is critical: vanity metrics (page views, social media likes, follower counts) may look impressive but reveal little about business impact, while meaningful metrics connect content activity directly to outcomes that matter to the organization.

Every content marketer I’ve worked with has felt the pull of the vanity metric. The blog post that got 2,000 views. The LinkedIn post with 150 likes. The social media following that crossed a round number.

These numbers feel like progress. They’re easy to report. But they’re often meaningless.

Continue reading “The Content Marketing Metrics That Actually Matter (And the Ones to Ignore)”

Mid-Year Content Audit: 6 Questions Every Marketer Should Ask Right Now

What’s working? What’s not? A content audit can help you answer these questions.

You don’t need to review every post you’ve ever published. You just need to ask the right six questions.

By Linda Pophal, MA, SPHR · Strategic Communications, LLC

A content marketing audit is a systematic review of content to evaluate performance, relevance, and strategic alignment. An audit identifies what’s working, what needs updating, and what’s no longer serving your audience or your goals. Mid-year mark is an ideal time to conduct one: enough of the year has passed to generate meaningful performance data, and enough time remains to act on what you find.

We’re at the halfway point of 2026. If you’ve been publishing consistently, you now have a body of work worth examining. Not obsessing over, not rebuilding from scratch. Examining.

A mid-year content audit doesn’t require a team, a consultant, or a spreadsheet with a thousand rows.

It requires six honest questions and the willingness to act on the answers.

Continue reading “Mid-Year Content Audit: 6 Questions Every Marketer Should Ask Right Now”

Evaluating New Entrants to the World of Gen AI

GenAI Tools You Need to Know About

ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) tool, was released by OpenAI, and that tool was soon quietly followed by other entrants to the space, including Perplexity and Claude. Then DeepSeek burst onto the scene, far from quietly, in January 2025. Almost immediately, tech companies started to worry because DeepSeek supposedly represented a low-cost option, but now experts are saying that may not be the case.

But DeepSeek isn’t the only disruptive entrant in the space. There are a continually growing number of tools and features that content creators need to know about.

Staying on top of a continually evolving GenAI landscape

Continue reading “Evaluating New Entrants to the World of Gen AI”

A Step-by-Step Process for Gen-AI Search Optimization

Preparing for the World of GenAI-Driven Search

As more and more consumers are turning to tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity instead of Google when they’re looking for answers to questions, or doing research, brands are taking notice.

Long-term reliance on Google search, and traditional approaches to search engine optimization (SEO), aren’t necessarily relevant in this rapidly changing search environment. Google search isn’t going away, but GenAI-driven search is having a growing impact.

What do you need to know, and do, to make sure your website doesn’t fall into oblivion?

Key Recommendations a One-Year Plan

Continue reading “A Step-by-Step Process for Gen-AI Search Optimization”

Future-Proofing Your Search Strategy

The Future of Search is Now

The search landscape will continue evolving as AI capabilities expand and user behaviors adapt, requiring strategies that remain effective across multiple scenarios.

Raju Dandigam, engineering manager at Navan, predicts the next evolution: “The upcoming evolution of generative AI search will introduce text and voice and image and video as fundamental input methods. Businesses need to develop content that sounds right because AI agents now merge voice assistants with smart devices.”

AI-generated content with a human touch

Continue reading “Future-Proofing Your Search Strategy”

SEO in 2024: Adapting Your Content Strategy for New Algorithms

As we move further into 2024, the landscape of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is evolving at an unprecedented pace, largely driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These technologies are reshaping how search engines understand user intent and deliver results, making it imperative for SEO professionals and content creators to adapt their strategies accordingly.

Here we take a look at some key trends and strategies for SEO in 2024, that you can use to help ensure that your content remains visible and effective in the face of continually evolving algorithmic changes. Continue reading “SEO in 2024: Adapting Your Content Strategy for New Algorithms”

Are You Making Your Customers Work Too Hard? They May Just Give Up.

Sometimes I think the most simple thing that we can do as businesspeople and marketers is “put ourselves in the shoes” of our prospects and customers. Are we making it easy to buy? Or are we setting up unintentional barriers, however slight, that may interfere with—or obliterate—the purchasing process?

Continue reading “Are You Making Your Customers Work Too Hard? They May Just Give Up.”

Avoiding Paralysis by Analysis: How Much Research Do You Really Need To Do?

Moving forward with communication tactics without a good understanding of the target audience, their current attitudes and beliefs, and the drivers that might lead them to positive action relative to your product or service is never a good idea.

On the other hand, many companies—particularly small companies—don’t have the time or resources to invest in expensive research activities.

It’s a conundrum—but one that can be addressed Continue reading “Avoiding Paralysis by Analysis: How Much Research Do You Really Need To Do?”

Then and Now: The Biggest Difference Between the Traditional and Digital Marketing Environments

marketing analytics I have been fortunate enough to practice marketing before and after the emergence of the internet, social media, and digital marketing. While the channels for communicating have changed and grown significantly, the basics of good marketing have remained the same. These new channels also often come with something that traditional marketing efforts usually lacked─analytics. Or, at least, lacked the sophistication that now exists to understand the nuances of the target audience’s response. Continue reading “Then and Now: The Biggest Difference Between the Traditional and Digital Marketing Environments”

Keeping Your Awareness and Engagement Efforts Focused

market research, marketing research We’ve written before about the sales funnel—the process through which potential customers become aware of, engage with and, hopefully, ultimately become actual customers of your company. The first part of this funnel is typically referred to as “awareness.” This is the stage at which the market—as you’ve defined it—becomes aware of your product or service. They may never be interested in making a purchase or even learning more about you, but they are aware you exist and have entered this first section of your funnel.

At the heart of the sales process is the drive to move potential customers through the funnel from awareness to action—i.e., making a purchase. A lot of resources are put into measuring the losses at each stage of the funnel and figuring out the sources of that attrition and how to reduce it. Unfortunately, a lot of these resources may be wasted. Continue reading “Keeping Your Awareness and Engagement Efforts Focused”