Knowing if Content is Working
You’ve invested time in creating that great piece of content, now what? Knowing whether it’s achieving what you hoped it would is essential to help you reach your goals.
Step 1: Setting a clear goal for your content
To know whether it’s working for us, we need to be clear about what it actually is that we want the content to achieve. Think about the impact or actions that you want to happen as a consequence of this specific item of content.
Examples might include:
- meet an information need
- reduce or increase enquiries
- sign up to receive something
- register to attend something
- explore more of the topic
Don’t try to make the goal an overarching one that wouldn’t be measurable.
For example 'to increase the total number of applications to our course' is a goal that is hard to measure without breaking each touchpoint down.
Instead focus on the steps in that decision making journey (the touchpoints). Then design your goals around that, for example 'increase registrations to attend our Open Day'.
Step 2: Designing the content to deliver on that goal
Once you have your goal, you have a clearer idea on what action you want the person to take after engaging with your content.
Now, when you’re creating your content, make sure that you include that call to action.
For example:
- include a button to send people to a registration page
- include a hyperlink or QR code in printed materials that directs people to the extra information that you want them to read
End your presentation with a slide that tells them what to do next (ie 'now it’s time for you to apply to study here')
Keep thinking about that action and build that action into your content. As you do this, you can also ensure that you design it in a way that is measurable.
Step 3: Measuring and evaluating effectiveness
The way in which you measure the effectiveness of your content depends on:
- what the content is
- the channel that it is published on
- the goal that you set for it
Measuring online content
If content is online, it is possible to gather insights from analytics. You might measure:
- audience engagement metrics - click through rates (CTRs), likes, shares and comments
- conversion rates - sign-ups, downloads, or registrations
- traffic and analytics - website traffic and user behaviour including time on page
- social media metrics - reach, shares and impressions
- feedback and comments - you might ask for the feedback through a process like user testing or it might simply be offered to you
- behaviour changes - impact on other behaviours. For example, are you receiving more or fewer enquiries?
- A/B testing success rates - A/B testing refers to a trial where you test out two different variables in the piece of content such as a different page title or text on a call to action. The A/B test results will tell you which works best
If a piece of content was designed to guide a specific audience to enrol on a course, we can check how many people clicked on our call to action, how many then enrolled online, and find out more about their ages and locations.
This tells some of the story, but not all. After all, some may have enrolled, but in a different way.
Other ways to measure content
We should also consider other ways to test our content with our audiences, including:
- user testing
- sentiment testing
- readability scoring
Use these insights to determine whether our content is optimised for our chosen audience. Consider whether it takes them on the most streamlined journey possible. Ask yourself if it has any unexpected impact on other audiences.
Ultimately the success of your ability to measure and demonstrate the effectiveness of your content depends on your planning. Have you taken steps to make sure that your content is measurable? Don’t leave it as an afterthought.