The tipping point for blogging was years ago. So you might wonder if it’s still worth your time to write and maintain a blog.
The short answer is yes, but that depends. Not all blogs are equal. Some are well-written, and others are not. Some blogs have a strategy, while others do not.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, “Just 37 per cent of B2B marketers and 40 per cent of B2C marketers have a written content marketing plan.”*
If a strategy or plan is not in place, then have you, at least, bothered to outline your objectives?
If not, how will you define your return on your blogging investment? How will you know if blogging is worth your time and money?
Now is the time to assess your overall blogging strategy, including your goals and your ROI.Let’s take a look at what your blog is actually doing for you. Think of this as a short lesson in learning your blogging ROI.
Let’s take a look at what your blog is actually doing for you. Think of this as a short lesson in learning your blogging ROI.
Identify your blogging objectives, and make sure they’re measurable
Without clearly stated and measurable objectives, you have absolutely no way to know your ROI. So start with listing your goals.
In many cases, you’ll want to generate immediate sales or leads, or start a customer on a conversion journey. All of this, by the way, can be measured with Google Analytics, and you don’t need a degree in computer science or business to install and use this program.
Understand the dollar value of a sale or lead
In ecommerce, the value of a lead is simple, direct and clear. It’s simply a matter of how much profit you will make from the sale?
If you’re not an ecommerce site, though, it can be trickier to understand your actual profits from a lead generated by your website. That’s because you may not convert every web enquiry to real business.
Let’s say, for instance, that only two out of every five enquiries turns into real business and each time you close a sale it is worth $500. That means you’re making $1000 for every five enquiries made via your website leads, and each lead is worth $200 to you.
Assess your blog’s performance with analytics
Google Analytics is more than you’ll need for your small business. With this free software, you can identify each lead, and know how many of them came to your site directly to one of your blog posts.
So referring back to the example above, if your blog posts referred two leads for the month, then your blog’s ROI for the month is $400.
Hold on, though. Before you start undervaluing your blog, understand that while some customers and clients came directly to your blog post, others found your blog post indirectly, after visiting your home page for information on your business. So take this into account, too.
Your next step
So now that you have calculated whether you’re getting a return on your blogging investment, what’s your next step? Is your blog failing you? If so, can you improve it with a content marketing strategy?
If you are making enough to cover the cost of blogging, plus a little more, is there still room to improve? By working on your content marketing and using the power of analytics, there’s every possibility that your ROI can continue to grow over time.
* http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2016/12/documenting-content-marketing-strategy/
Quentin Aisbett, Digital Strategist, OnQ Marketing
