Create High-Impact Content Using Backward Design — Whiteboard Friday

So now you’re like, “Okay, but Purna, how do I measure it all?” It’s not that hard. What I’ve really found is something that I call the four R’s of measurement, which is line of sight measurement into content marketing.

It is so much more effective because you evaluate impact at four different stages, which will allow you to course correct even before you get all the way to the end, before you’re like, “Oh, well, I spent six months on this. It didn’t make any money.” No, no, no, you want to course correct in the beginning.

Step one, you want to look at reach. Who did I reach? How many people did I reach? And not just in terms of the actual numbers, but look at the types of people who tend to come in. Who’s filling out the lead forms? Is it the right type of audiences? Is the right job titles? Are they people in your targeted list? That’s how you’ll know whether you’re reaching the right people, or you might want to adapt your distribution strategy.

The next one is really the reaction. What’s the sentiment? Are they liking it? Are they engaging it? Are they sharing it with people? Are they commenting? What are they feeling about your content that you’ve put out there? If you’re reaching a lot of people, but it’s crickets, then you’ll know that maybe your content is not really onto something, so you want to tweak it a little bit. So, again, you can course correct quickly.

Then you want to look at the response. What is the behavior change that you’re trying to drive?  Are they booking more of the test drives? Are they submitting inquiries on the website? Are you seeing increased footfall into your car showrooms?

And then finally, the results. Did we drive the right people? Did we see the volume of cars going up? So, in that way, if you aim backwards, if you put measurement first, you’ll be much more likely to hit high-value targets with your content marketing.

Thank you, and stay tuned for the next episode.