Blog Tactics That'll Maximize Your Content Marketing ROI

5 Tactics You Can Use To Maximize Your Blog’s ROI

Why do so many businesses invest in blogs? The answer is simple. Sales.

If you consistently publish useful articles for your target audience, your blog will drive traffic to your website and help convert that traffic into leads so you can turn those leads into sales

If you’ve decided to start a business blog, here are the five things you must do to avoid wasting time and money.

  • Measure Key Performance Indicators
  • Understand Your Target Audience
  • Publish Consistently
  • Create a Dual Readership Path
  • Craft Clear Call-To-Actions

Let’s dive deeper below.

1. Measure Your Blog’s Key Performance Indicators

Skilled bloggers don’t guess which posts and topics resonate with their audiences. They know. 

You can also track content marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) for each post. With KPIs, you’ll understand which posts gain attention and increase conversion rates — and you can use that insight to create others like them. 

What should you track?

Here are the essential blog KPI categories you need to know:

#1 Consumption Metrics

With these metrics, you’ll know if you’re drawing readers to your blog, where that traffic is coming from (e.g., organic traffic, social media, email campaigns, referral sites, etc.), and whether or not you are successfully capturing people’s attention.

For each blog post, you should track:

  • Number & source of unique visitors
  • Number of views for each post
  • Bounce rate for each post

#2 Engagement Metrics

The ultimate goal of all your marketing efforts is turning leads into sales. With lead generation metrics, you can know how your blog posts contribute to that aim.

Here, you should measure:

  • Number of blog comments
  • Social media shares 
  • Backlinks

#3 Lead Generation Metrics

Finally, these metrics matter most because they tell you if your marketing efforts turn traffic into leads and ultimately into paying customers (sales). With lead generation metrics, you can know how your blog posts contribute to that aim.

Specifically, you should measure:

  • Subscriptions
  • Content downloads
  • Conversions & sales 


2. Connect With Your Target Audience

Once you’ve built a KPI-based foundation, you can focus on content. But your goal is not to write what you want to say — it’s to write what your audience wants to read. 

Start by visiting top-rated pages related to your topic. Pay special attention to the comments section on top blog posts or articles. Also, peek at Q&A sites like Quora or user forums like Reddit

What questions are top-of-mind for the readers you want to attract? What concerns and needs do they have?

These reader insights will help you understand how to make your post stand out. You’ll see what content exists and what it does and doesn’t answer for readers. 

Then, you can ask yourself: How can I improve on what’s already been said? You’ll win over readers if you can offer an engaging voice or a unique perspective. 

Answer their questions. Address their pain points. That way, you’ll show your audience that their needs are the motivation behind your blog. They’ll pay attention to your ideas and keep coming back for more — and your content marketing ROI will climb.



3. Publish Consistently

Imagine you’ve found a compelling blog with content that speaks to you. You look forward to the author’s next post, but it takes weeks. Are you still paying attention? Most likely not.

Without question, having a predictable stream of content is crucial for growing an audience. Publishing consistently establishes your credibility and authority. Your audience starts to see you as a reliable resource for knowledge.

Regular posting also helps build brand trust and awareness. People need multiple touches to recognize your brand — and even more to internalize your core messages. 

Once you’re an established blog resource, readers become more likely to share your content with others. They’ll also convert from readers into customers at increased rates since you’ve earned their trust by reading your blog.



4. Create a Dual Readership Path

While you want people to read every word of each carefully crafted blog post, nearly half skim blog posts rather than read them, especially if they’re new visitors to your site.

Cater to people’s tendency to skim online content by creating a dual readership path — when you create content that appeals to scanners and readers so that everyone walks away with something of value.

For scanners, architect your content so that they get your message by skimming. Ideally, they’ll see enough value to read your complete piece. That’s the first path.

And the second? Include enough depth for people who read each word.

Your mission is to create blog content that is both scannable and deep, wherein readers can tell right away that the content matches their search intent (the key to SEO).

So how do you do it?

The pros at Copyblogger suggest the following tactics:

  • Use White Space: Don’t use big blocky text. It’s hard to read. Instead, aim for short sentences, short paragraphs, and ample white space. 
  • Break Up Content With Subheads: Readers may feel intimidated by long passages. With subheads, they can quickly get critical messages and skip around to suit their reading needs.
  • Use Bulleted Lists: Lists call attention to content and break up text blocks. The result: improved readability.
  • Add Relevant Links: Links demonstrate that you’ve backed up your marketing ideas with research.
  • Use Strategic Formatting: Too much formatting can be overwhelming, but a touch of italics, bold, or color can create visual appeal and attract the eye.
  • Use Numbers: Numbers stand out in a line of text; one reason why stats are so powerful in writing. 

These techniques highlight your content and draw visitors in. They give people a feel for your message and help them decide if they will invest the time to read your post.

After a while, you’ll convert more scanners into readers and build an engaged audience.



5. Craft Clear Calls-To-Action

If you’ve done the hard work of getting people to your post, you will want to build a relationship with them. Make it easy for visitors to take the next step with CTAs that motivate action.

Think through what you want visitors to do. Maybe you want them to sign up for email updates or download a lead magnet. Both actions convert an anonymous visitor into a subscriber who lets you communicate with them. 

Another marketing idea is to ask people to follow you or share your content on social media. Or you can guide them to other posts or pages that may interest them to keep them on your site. 

It’s common to see a CTA at the end of a post or on sidebars. You’ve probably also encountered CTAs that slide in from the side or hover over posts. You can use in-line CTAs, such as internal links or simple callouts embedded in the body content.

Although you don’t want to overwhelm your visitors, you can add several CTA in each post. With a smart CTA strategy, you will gain more subscribers, increase conversion rates, and see ROI.



In Conclusion

Start with KPIs that provide data on what content works for your audience. Study your audience to know what they want to read, then deliver high-quality content consistently.

Create content that allows visitors to see the value of your article with just a quick scan. And then provide enough substance to make a full read worth their while.

Once you’ve gotten readers’ attention, tell them how to take the next steps with CTAs.

With these elements, you’ll start building an engaged blog following.

And over time, those loyal readers can become customers and brand champions that spark the next chapter of your business growth. 


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Editor’s Note: The article is part of the blog series Grow Your Business, brought to you by the marketing team at Unitel, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners.