INBOUND ACCELERATOR

As 2020 closed out what became a very unusual year in business, marketing and life in general, Pan Communications asked a number of CMOs and marketing leaders to weigh in one their predictions for 2021.

Almost 80 percent of marketers use market research to inform their business decisions. This statistic from HubSpot’s latest global survey of marketers really isn’t a surprise—using the data available from market research, rather than relying on best guesses and pure creativity just makes sense.

When HubSpot asked marketers about their top priorities, over the years, one of the perennial top contenders has been the need to prove the ROI of marketing activities. (See more insights in the State of Inbound report.)

We all constantly set goals, some informal, others documented for our reference and for others. As a runner, I’ve seen many different approaches to setting goals. Some runners have very specific time goals—such as meeting the qualifying time to be able to run the Boston Marathon — while others take a less disciplined approach with goals to simply finish the race and enjoy it. I’ve even seen a runner whose goal was to pet 200 dogs in the course of a half-marathon as a fundraising endeavor.

Every runner sets goals based on what he or she wants from the race. It makes it easier to stay focused during the months of training leading up to the big event.

Some things about content marketing change from year to year, and others simply become more obvious. When it comes to the advantages of working from a documented content marketing strategy, the answer is obvious: Having a strategy pays off.

That can be seen in the results of the Content Marketing Institute’s annual survey of B2B marketers, in which one of their continuing questions is: Do you have a documented content marketing strategy?

In marketing, as with almost any endeavor, there is theory and there is reality. Just ask any veteran of a given profession who has recently had a conversation with a freshly-graduated newcomer full of ideas about “how it works” that come from classes and books.

Those classes and books are great, and should be very close to what happens on the ground and in the trenches, but real-world results can also be much different. Which is why it pays to take time to review your actual results and see how they compare to what you would have expected based on best practices and industry averages.

No marketing or public relations campaign is completed when the last of the content is published and promoted. There is still one important step to undertake in order to maximize the results of your next campaign: analysis.

It is important to know as much as you can about your content and campaign, and the results it yields, in order to improve the next time around. That means monitoring key metrics, digging through the data, and uncovering what Spiralytics calls content intelligence in this infographic.

In some professions, you have to do the dirty work to set up a project for success. Building the tallest skyscraper begins with making sure the ground is prepped and a solid foundation in place. Creating the most delectable dessert begins with making a mess in the kitchen. It takes some dirty work before the genius can be seen.

In marketing, it’s not so much dirty work as it is data work.

Measurement is a key step in any successful marketing program. It is important to know the numbers in order to track performance of your overall marketing strategy, as well the performance of individual elements, so that you can increase the use of elements that work, and improve those elements that aren’t meeting expectations.

Along with metrics such as website traffic, social media followers and reach, and blog post views, you need to track the performance of your calls-to-action, including those that are part of emails, blog posts, website banners, and social media content.

What was your greatest success in 2018? What didn’t work? And how are you going to change your strategy and approach in 2019 to improve on your results?

If you haven’t already taken time to review last year’s results, now is the time to do it, before you get any farther into the new year. Even if you don’t have time for a deep dive into all of the metrics from every content distribution channel, every individual campaign or piece of content, or each press release and bylined article pitched to the media, DO choose a few specific areas to review and analyze.