THE ROI OF CONTENT MARKETINGPAUL EVERETT, DIRECTOR, THE MARKETING PRACTICE@TMPEverett

High Performance Content, The Ivy, 9 September 2015

THE ROI OF CONTENT MARKETING

Why are we doing content marketing?

Examples of ROI measurement

Tactics for improving ROI

INTR

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1. WHY ARE WE DOING CONTENT MARKETING?

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NT? OBJECTIVES OF CONTENT MARKETING

Typical strategic objectives:

- (re)Positioning the business to increase conversion, lifetime value and customer retention

- Engaging with buyers who are researching online and pulling them into the sales process (content replacing the sales team)

- Impact on other audiences (analysts, press, current/future employees)

- Because everyone else is doing it?But measurement is still mostly at the tactical level…

- Consumption (views, time on page)

- Reach/sharing- 1st step lead generation

…not great indicators of quality

A LONGER TERM INVESTMENT IN GROWING PROFIT

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• IPA Databank• 996 case studies • 30 years of the IPA

Effectiveness Awards

A LONGER TERM INVESTMENT IN GROWING PROFIT

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31% 40%

86%

% reporting very large profit growth as a result of their campaign

Very large improvement in both

Very large improvement in price

only

Very large improvement in sales/share

only

Most marketing focuses on measuring growth in revenue, but we also need to build the reputation that can sustain a higher price point if we want to have a big affect on profit

What drives very large profit growth?

• Only 31% of those who saw a very large improvement in just their sales (but not the price they can charge) as a result of their campaign delivered a very large rise in profit

• 40% of those who saw a very large improvement in just the price they can charge (but not in their sales) delivered a very large rise in profit

• 86% of those who saw a very large improvement in both sales and price delivered a very large rise in profit

• So if we want to have a major impact on profit, we need to drive demand and also build a reputation that can sustain a higher price point

This is not a short term thingA LONGER TERM INVESTMENT IN GROWING PROFIT

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% re

porti

ng v

ery

larg

e sa

les g

rowt

h

Volume growth can be immediate

Campaign duration3 months 6 months 1 years 2 years 3 years

23%

28%

33%

34%

36%

Price effects take time

Campaign duration3 months 6 months 1 years 2 years 3 years

0%

1.7%

1.8%

2.9%

3.1%

% re

porti

ng v

ery

larg

e pr

ice e

ffect

sProfit takes time to fully realise

Campaign duration3 months 6 months 1 years 2 years 3 years

4%8% 9%

14%

15%

% re

porti

ng v

ery

larg

e pr

ofit g

rowt

h

2. MEASUREMENT IN ACTION

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ITSMA SURVEY: 2015 MEASURING AND COMMUNICATING MARKETING IMPACT

http://www.itsma.com/research/itsma-online-survey-communicating-marketings-impact-roi-c-suite/

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ITSMA SURVEY: 2015 MEASURING AND COMMUNICATING MARKETING IMPACT

Majority of current measurement

(quarterly)

Best sources of content ROI

EXAMPLES: CONTENT THROUGH TO RESULTSAXA WealthGrowing business 3x more with companies who engage with content than those who don’t.

Capgemini Expert ConnectSales of EUR6m in 2014, EUR10m expected in 2015.

Microsoft/NokiaIn decision-makers targeted by content campaign: Consideration increased by a third; Purchase Preference more than doubled. Part of a programme increasing business market share from 11% to 18% and now to 26%.

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3. TIPS FOR INCREASING ROI

FOUR TIPS TO CONSIDER…1. Use the sales team as a direct channel to market

Marketing ownership for social selling programmes: increases the reach of content directly to people the sales team want to influence

2. Closer integration of ‘brand’ content with demand generation and bid support

Target content further into the sales process where influence is easier to track

3. Push for more relevant and targeted advertising solutions to promote content (retargeting, IP-based etc)

Don’t cut back on promotion budget just because you have made a large investment in content

4. Proving rather than increasing ROI: keep investing in data and systemsDecide upfront on how you will track content efforts (not by clicks or likes if your objective was increasing share of wallet or retention!) and ensure your data/systems/reporting roadmap will support those metrics

3. IN

CREA

SING

ROI

@TMPEverettTHANK YOU