I'm a brand manager. We've been running a corporate blog for three years and honestly, I'm not sure about the results.
We post regularly and traffic is coming in. But I can't show what that traffic actually does. When management asks "what did the blog bring us," all I have is visit counts.
Does anyone here have concrete metrics on this? Or are we all just writing out of habit?
Your doubt is valid and few people ask this question, so I care about it.
Let's be clear first: visit count isn't a result, it's an intermediate metric. If you're presenting visit counts to management, they're right to ask "what did it bring us."
To measure, you need to decide where the blog sits in the sales funnel. There are three possibilities and each has different metrics.
If the blog is for reaching new people, what you measure is whether visitors from the blog return after a while. A one-time visitor is as good as never having come.
If the blog is for persuasion, what you measure is how many blog posts customers read on their way to conversion. You likely have this data, but nobody looks at it.
If the blog is to support the sales team, what you measure is how often blog content is shared during sales calls. You find this out by asking the sales team, not via tools.
The simplest metric that worked for me was this: we looked at the first touchpoint of our last hundred customers. The percentage coming from the blog was lower than expected, but average contract sizes were significantly higher. So the blog brought fewer customers, but better ones.
Before finding this number, we were discussing shutting down the blog. After finding it, we increased the budget.
A warning from a researcher: "first touchpoint" metrics can also be misleading.
Here's why: people see you multiple times before coming to you and don't remember most of it. Your analytics tool sees the last click, not the first encounter.
That's why I don't rely solely on quantitative data. I ask new customers directly: "Where did you first hear about us?" The answers differ from what the tool shows, and content usually performs stronger in these responses than in analytics.
Concrete suggestion: a one-question survey for every customer who signs a contract. Once you collect thirty responses, the picture becomes clear.
An addition from the content side: the question of what the blog brings often stems from the ambiguity of why the blog is written.
I recommend this exercise. List your last twenty posts and write next to each one, in a single sentence, "whose question does this answer and which question." Mark the ones you can't write.
In most corporate blogs, this list comes out half empty. Because some posts are written not for the reader, but just to say "we posted this month too."
Stop the half that comes out empty, shift that effort to the half that's full. The measurement debate usually resolves itself after that.
Let me summarize the discussion in the title, because three different answers were given and they all complement each other.
Serdar Bey says measurement changes based on positioning: look at the metric corresponding to what the blog is a tool for.
Duygu Hanım adds that tool data is incomplete and you need to ask customers directly.
Ebru Hanım says the purpose needs to be clarified before measurement.
Combining these three gives you a practical order: first, clarify who each post is for, then ask new customers where they heard about you, and finally compare that with your tool data. Ms. Ceren, if you follow this order, you'll have a story to present to management.
To get into the details: Merge instead of deleting; deleted content doesn't come back.
That's all sorry if I went on too long.
The cheap-looking path usually ends up costing more later. The real issue isn't the number, but what it's based on.
Just leaving this note, it might be useful.
I can't fully agree with this. Merge instead of deleting; deleted content doesn't come back.
This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.
Thanks for writing this, that's the right way. Processes without records never improve, because you don't know what to fix.
The real issue isn't the number, but what it's based on. Correct me if I'm wrong.
let me summarize whats been said so far. the real issue isnt the number but what its based on.
i'm also curious if anyone does it differently.
youre right. tbh disucssing numbers without verifying the measurement setup is a waste of time.
solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.
The most overlooked point about content is this: If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.
Thanks for posting. A page that answers one question works better than one touching on five topics.
Hope this helps.
The opposite happened to me, that's why I'm writing. Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.
Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval. Proven by experience.
I agree with this. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.
That's all, sorry if I went on too long.