Are You Curious if Your Content Marketing Efforts Are Paying Off?
I know most of you that read this will be saying something like; Jason I barely get a blog post out every month and log-in to my Facebook and you want me to use 29 metrics to measure the success of that?
No I don’t. But I thought this was a fun infographic to give an idea of the complexity that is Real Estate Content Marketing and SEO—especially in 2024, where we’ve expanded our approach to include even more ways to measure success.
Focus on What You Can Manage
Some of you will eat this up, and for the rest of you… Just focus on getting that 1 blog post a month 🙂 And maybe 3-5 Facebook posts, and perhaps 3-5 Instagram shares as well. As you get comfortable, you can start exploring these metrics to see where you’re really making an impact.
“Treat your content like a product. ~ Drew Davis“
What Is Success in Content Marketing?
I believe success in content marketing, as in any marketing effort, boils down to one thing: Getting A New Client and Making A Sale.
Does that mean that if you post some content to your WordPress Real Estate website that you will get a sale?
Maybe… but doubtful.
You will however, start to generate leads with a steady stream of new and updated content over time. That is a guarantee.
Why Measure Your Content Marketing Success?
In the meantime, you might want to measure the success of your efforts in different ways. This can help you stay motivated, focused, and feel good about the work you’re doing.
In addition to measuring the success of your content marketing strategy, following up with these metrics will ensure that your website stays fresh and healthy. Interestingly enough, it’s metrics like these that represent the new SEO.
9 Essential Metrics Categories for 2024
In 2024, we’ve organized our metrics into 10 essential categories, each with specific sub-metrics to give you a comprehensive view of how your content is performing. Whether you’re looking at how often your pages are viewed, how long visitors stay on your site, or how well your SEO efforts are paying off, these metrics will help you gauge your success.
Content Marketing Metrics Breakdown
Production/Cost Metrics: Optimizing Efficiency and Budget
Creating high-quality content consistently requires careful management of time, resources, and costs. Production and cost metrics provide crucial insights into how efficiently your content is being produced and distributed, helping you maximize your return on investment.
- Time to Publish: This metric tracks the time it takes to move a piece of content from concept to publication. A shorter time to publish indicates a streamlined process, allowing you to respond quickly to trends and opportunities in the market.
- Content Throughput: Content throughput measures the volume of content your team produces within a given timeframe. Maintaining a high throughput without compromising quality is key to staying relevant and keeping your audience engaged.
- Content Backlog: Content backlog refers to the amount of content that is ready but not yet published. A healthy backlog ensures you have a steady flow of content to release, helping you maintain consistency even during busy periods.
- Production Cost per Post/Piece: This metric calculates the cost of creating each piece of content. Understanding production costs helps you manage your budget effectively and ensures that each piece of content delivers value relative to its expense.
- Distribution Cost per Post: Distribution cost per post measures the expenses involved in getting your content in front of your audience, including promotion and advertising costs. Keeping these costs in check is essential for maximizing the ROI of your content marketing efforts.
Consumption Metrics: How Your Audience Engages
To really know how your content is performing you need to know how your audience is interacting with it. Consumption metrics give you a window into your audience’s behavior and preferences, so you can see what content is resonating and where you need to adjust.
- Page Views: This measures the total number of times your content is viewed. High page views means your content is getting attention, which is the first step to deeper engagement.
- Unique Visitors: Unique visitors are the number of individual people visiting your site. Tracking this metric helps you understand the reach of your content and how well it’s bringing in new people.
- Average Time On Page: Average time on page measures how long someone stays on a page. The longer the time, the more engaging and valuable your content is perceived to be, so they’ll stick around.
- Email Opens: Email opens measure how often your emails are opened. A higher open rate means your subject lines are working and your audience is interested in what you have to say.
- Email Clicks: This measures the number of clicks on links in your emails. High click-through rates means your email content is driving action and guiding people to further engagement.
- Asset Downloads/Form Completions: Asset downloads and form completions are active engagement. When someone takes the time to download a resource or complete a form it means they’re really interested in what you’re offering and are one step closer to becoming a lead.
Engagement Metrics: Measuring Depth of Interaction
Engagement metrics go deeper into how your audience is interacting with your content. These metrics show the level of interest and involvement, so you can see which content is sparking conversation and which needs a tweak.
- Comments: Comments are direct interaction, so your content is prompting conversations and engaging your audience. The more comments you get the more your content is resonating with your readers.
- Session Duration: Session duration measures the total time someone spends on your site in a single session. Longer sessions means your content is holding their attention and encouraging them to explore more of what you have.
- Page Depth: Page depth measures the number of pages someone views in a single session. Higher page depth means your content is compelling enough to keep them coming back for more, which is a strong indicator of engagement.
Retention Metrics: How to Keep Them Coming Back
Retention metrics are all about the loyalty of your audience so you can see how well your content is bringing them back. These are important for building long term relationships and sustained engagement.
- Return Rate: Return rate is how often someone comes back to your site after their first visit. High is good, means your content is valuable and engaging so they’ll come back.
- Bounce Rate: Bounce rate is the percentage of people who leave your site after visiting only one page. Lower is better, means they are finding your content worth exploring more.
- Pages Per Visit: This is the average number of pages someone views in one visit. More pages per visit means your content is leading visitors through your site and keeping them engaged.
- Unsubscribe/Opt Out: Unsubscribe rates are how often people choose to stop receiving your emails. Keep this low to have a strong engaged email list.
- Follower Count: Follower count is the number of people who follow you on social media. Growing your follower count means your content is attracting and retaining attention.
- Subscribers: Subscribers are people who sign up to receive your content feeds. A steady or increasing number means ongoing engagement with your content.
Sharing Metrics: Get More Eyes on Your Content
Your content is only as good as how many people see it. Sharing metrics are the numbers that show how your audience is helping to spread your message. They not only increase your visibility but also prove your content is good enough to be shared with others.
- Social Shares: When your audience shares your content on social media it means they like it and want to pass it on to others.
- Social Likes: Likes increase visibility.
- Email Forwards: Email forwards bring in new leads.
SEO Metrics: Visibility and Findability
SEO metrics are key to understanding how your content performs in search engines.
- Keyword Rankings: Higher rankings increase visibility.
- Backlinks: Show authority and relevance.
Lead Metrics: Engagement to Results
Lead metrics show how well your content drives prospects into your funnel.
- New Leads: New prospects entering funnel.
- Existing Leads Touched: Re-engagement.
- Funnel Conversion Rate: Movement through funnel.
Sales & Conversion Metrics: Turning Interest into Revenue
Sales metrics show how content converts into revenue.
- Lead-to-Customer Conversion Rate
- Pipeline Generated
- Pipeline Touched
- Revenue Influenced
Brand Metrics: Awareness and Credibility
Brand awareness metrics measure visibility.
- Brand Mentions
- Share of Voice
Putting These Metrics to Work
With 34 metrics at your disposal, it’s important to focus on the ones that align best with your business goals.
I must mention that the majority of these metrics can be created and easily tracked using a WordPress website, a few WordPress plugins, Google Search Console, and Mailchimp.
Final Thoughts
The complexity of real estate content marketing and SEO can’t be overstated, but by focusing on these essential metrics, you’ll gain valuable insights that can help you fine-tune your strategy, measure your success, and, most importantly, get closer to landing that next client.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is measuring the effectiveness of content marketing important for real estate professionals?
Measuring helps you understand what’s working and what’s not.
How can I determine which metrics are most relevant?
Align metrics with your goals.
What tools can I use?
Google Analytics, social platforms, Mailchimp.
How often should I review performance?
Monthly, with some metrics tracked more frequently.
Can small businesses benefit?
Yes, content marketing is scalable.
Biggest challenge?
Attribution across multiple touchpoints.
How to improve results?
Refine strategy, test formats, analyze metrics.
Role of SEO?
Drives visibility and organic traffic.
