Content marketing is transforming; it has more depth and uniqueness. To demonstrate, we have handpicked four brands that reflect and represent this change.

Reports suggest that leads generated from inbound marketing channels, particularly content marketing, have high conversion rates.

While this might be true, let’s not forget the patience and consistency content marketing truly requires. It could have ample benefits for your business and still demand needle-like focus and all hands on deck.

Each nitty-gritty in content marketing must be paid attention to. Without correct ingredients and much-needed cohesion between them, your efforts will likely pack no punch. Whether it’s content development, distribution, or performance reviews.

Where do most marketers miss the mark? Each piece must have intent, purpose, resonance, and relevance to perform its best.

Most marketers overlook these factors because they believe marketing content is merely about content production and publishing it. The intricacies are either unaddressed or barely touched upon.

This minimizes your content’s performance from the get-go. Of course, it fails.

Marketers must move from the bottom up –

What is Content Marketing?

“Content marketing is a marketing channel through which businesses create and distribute valuable and engaging content, articles, social media posts, videos, podcasts, or other types.”

But its true essence? Building a connection with your target audience and offering them value in a way that doesn’t encroach on their space.

There’s no rulebook for content marketing, just morsels that marketers often brush off. All because it isn’t included in their traditional content playbooks.

The truth is that you recognize unique and engaging content when you see it. It’s all in how the piece speaks to its audience – entertaining, engaging, and inspiring to take action.

Your content doesn’t have to make sense to everyone, but it must prove impactful for the right bunch. Through this, you’re building your credibility and elevating visibility.

It’s the key to effective and strong content marketing: focusing on what your audience would want to see and hear, and making them feel heard indirectly. You’re acknowledging basic pain points even before potential customers have entered the funnel.

And in the long term, this establishes your brand as the thought leader and subject matter expert.

This leaves a silent trail of breadcrumbs. When prospects feel seen, they are highly likely to come knocking at your door, seeking answers and solutions.

A win-win situation.

Given the successes that consistent content marketing can afford, businesses have left several stones unturned in curating the right content strategy.

Most often, it works. But sometimes, there’s a missing piece in the puzzle.

We bring you four B2B content marketing case studies. Brands that don’t just follow trends. But have crafted content into their unique personality.

They aren’t just doing content right. But have mastered it by taking a step outside the box, which most marketers are still hesitant to do.

4 Best B2B Content Marketing Case Studies

Example #1 – Figma’s Creative-first Content

Source: Figma

Figma didn’t just market content. It redefined the medium.

With marketing losing its storytelling edge, Figma decided to do content differently. They didn’t broadcast it like other brands do – from production to distribution. But it is a medium to amplify the creative prowess of creators.

It’s safe to say that Figma doesn’t do blog posts in the traditional sense. They treat creators and designers as people who don’t want to be taught but participate in the creative process.

It’s a subtle way to mirror back the creator’s capabilities at them.

So, the design company has moved from treating content like a megaphone for various talking points. They do what their audience (again, the designers) wants from them.

Talking about products is an age-old sales tactic that isn’t fooling anyone. It’s too on the nose and takes away the interest as soon as it builds it.

But Figma does it differently. Their content doesn’t talk about the products. But establish the product as a canvas for content.

It’s a participatory medium, a tool for inspiration and building community.

Their “content” can be prototyped, experimented with, and is open-source. It’s how designers look at their designs.

Figma isn’t trying to control the narrative. It’s setting the stage and moving out of the way – putting up a mirror for the designers to glimpse into. By doing so, the audience gets a chance to step into its files, templates, and plugins and use them to tell stories by themselves.

Most B2B brands would shy away from this.

But in this landscape of stale strategies and templated content, Figma is reimaging marketing from a creator-first perspective.

It has spotlighted one facet that most creatives themselves have lost focus on – Content is an ecosystem that promotes collaboration.

Example #2 – Slack’s Resource Library

Source: Slack.com

Slack has become a leader in ensuring communication and collaboration between teams. Instead of offering space for long email threads, it focuses on real-time chatting.

With different groups and channels for distinct projects and teams. It has revolutionized workflows and cross-departmental functioning.

But there’s another add-on. Slack also has communication channels for external partners and clients.

And their capabilities sweep into the content they muster.

Slack’s content merges impressively with the workflow – it’s deliberate. Their brilliance hides in how they deliver their content. It doesn’t scream out to the users but whispers to them.

Their content is about making you the hero, not standing out as the hero amidst other B2B brands.

Slack’s user-first approach has made waves across the marketplace.

Even the content marketing route they take increases efficiency for the consumer, not dazzles them with flashy content. Added to their already robust content marketing is the resource library. From eGuides to eBooks to helpful tips, Slack has a digital library for all its keepsakes.

It helps users from different industries use and implement Slack effectively by not centering its content on itself but spotlighting the human experience – how teams work on Slack, not how Slack works.

In short, it’s informative, diverse, and consultative. And at the center of this is the human experience – workers are people, not leads.

For example, take its 2023 State of Work report. The no-nonsense report flags everything that’s wrong with the workplace. And highlights the challenges employees often face. And from this content report, it was evident that Slack doesn’t play around.

It facilitates a healthier work culture, avoiding the practice of shoving products down your throat – you happen to need them.

Slack is one such B2B brand that practices what it preaches. Its content isn’t here to bedazzle you with shiny promises. But it is effective.

In a landscape where B2B content often leans into dullness and monotony, Slack successfully stands out. Its storytelling has positioned it as the future of work, not as a messaging brand.

Example #3 – Salesforce’s Learning Hub for Sales Basics

Source: Salesforce

Content is at the heart of customers’ experiences with brands. And with the ever-evolving buying trajectory of each consumer, marketing and sales are noticing every slight change.

And parallel to this observation, they are pivoting towards what works best.

Salesforce is doing the same. They have realized that diminishing returns and flatlining traffic aren’t undone by merely buying more traffic.

There’s only a singular effective solution: a sound content strategy.

So, Salesforce has found unique ways to leverage content while also revolutionizing the landscape. At the crux is the digital customer experience, motivated by content. This is the sales giant’s underlying belief – integrating CX and content.

Their content marketing model isn’t just good. It’s something that other companies can’t easily replicate.

Salesforce’s structurally robust content strategy doesn’t take content for granted.

It means that where most businesses consider thought leadership content as ad hoc, the sales organization knows how to institutionalize it. They turn C-suite insights into recurring products, such as annual reports and Salesforce+, among others.

For them, thought leadership isn’t just about hot takes or staying up with the market gossip.

Additionally, Salesforce’s most underrated but authentic content strategy is the narrative IP. For example, its “State of” reports are built on memorability, given how the tone repeats across different reports but familiar stories. They have transformed dull market research into media assets with such powerful emotional language that establishes their authority in this area, even though competitors might come up with similar content.

Salesforce follows an annual rhythm in creating and distributing this content. It’s cross-functional and includes an executive standpoint (at least a summary).

They aren’t living up to industry standards but establishing them themselves.

Through their authentic content strategies, Salesforce doesn’t just inform but drives the narrative. And every content piece they create is part of a bigger why – something that transcends the mere selling of products.

Salesforce’s content strives to offer a comprehensive and expert POV on the future of the business landscape. That’s the underlying objective they hope to accomplish with every piece they create.

Moreover, Salesforce knows that B2B operations and decisions aren’t made on spreadsheets. Customers want to be seen and be a part of something. And their content heavily propagates this – who the customers will become, not what the product is.

Example #4 – HubSpot’s Library for Everything Marketing

Source: HubSpot Academy

HubSpot is another powerful name among the brands that are doing content marketing right.

Their platform shapes people’s opinions on modern business problems and how HubSpot’s solutions can solve them. It’s direct but sophisticated.

HubSpot’s design isn’t salesy; it’s methodological and intentional.

Their content has one central purpose: teaching how to do marketing right, by defining what “right” really is. Often, this aligns with the product’s strengths.

HubSpot’s content marketing approach establishes it as a teacher and a guide. It educates and directs customers toward the subsequent steps, blending fluidly into product descriptions and placements.

The software company understands that a customer’s buying journey doesn’t begin with pricing charts and demo requests. The first is always the mental exercise – there’s a psychological model that prospective buyers follow, one that should lead to the funnel.

HubSpot leverages this model. Through their learning academy, they build a foundation in the practitioners’ minds, even if they aren’t in the market.

This content marketing model’s design is purposeful – it aligns belief with the product. So, HubSpot’s straightforward marketing efforts are a marketplace favorite. Similar features might be offered industry-wide, but only HubSpot can connect the story they started.

Marketers build a story, but they often forget it in the sales stage. They are too busy closing the deal. HubSpot, through its Academy, births and instills an inbound philosophy that seems like the logical extension later on. It connects the gap.

Their focus is on a more strategic, long-term, and in-depth play.

What most B2B businesses do is try to sell way too quickly. But your pitch is only effective when you know it’s the right time. By building its educational content into the product ecosystem, HubSpot resists this impulse.

It sweeps in as the savior when a solution becomes inevitable.

HubSpot isn’t selling a worldview but engineering and helping customers adapt to it.

And how does it seamlessly do this? Content marketing efforts are directed to the right people at the right time. It’s about pushing out ideas and teaching a system – what you could do if you could do it like us.

From messaging to becoming a manual, HubSpot has flipped the script.

Content marketing is no longer treated as a marketing channel; it’s an operating model.

Weaved into the strategic layers with other business functions, content’s role in marketing has changed. It builds a market, establishes a system, and influences behavior.

It is not about what the product can do for you anymore. Content isn’t isolated from the broader business challenges companies face. Now, content marketing is more about changing how customers perceive products and services – what would the future look like for you if you adopted this solution?

These brands aren’t thinking of content in terms of blogging or SEO. It’s about creating an impact, integrating it into the business culture, and establishing an infrastructure.

One that helps you think in content.

Traditional marketing is persistent and off-putting. To improvise, savvy marketers have devised an approach that informs and entertains- branded content.

Storytelling anchors marketing campaigns, strategically influencing a behavioral change.

This theory has been the magnum opus behind using stories at the heart of marketing communications. From traditional playbooks to the latest drivers, its innate ability to influence behavior continues to help marketers attract and engage their target audience.

Beyond aggressive marketing and incessant selling tactics, storytelling puts consumer pain points into context, making it digestible and relatable. And there’s minimal space to counterargue when your business’s success stories or value proposition is delivered through stories.

Because consumers don’t see a narrative in segments but as a whole- they want minimal distractions and immersive experiences.

This underlines why modern marketers have actively gravitated towards branded content.

Branded content makes up the majority of where marketing is headed. To illustrate this, we have some of the best branded content examples in our pockets.

But before diving into it, let’s start with outlining the basics.

Branded Content: What It’s Not

Traditional advertisements haven’t been successful in moving the needle anymore. With increasing ad saturation, consumers have adapted by tuning out unnecessary ads.

This isn’t the case with branded content, given how it takes a more nuanced approach to marketing.

So, the commercials, pop-up ads, and clickable banner ads you observe on diverse platforms aren’t branded content. The fundamental differentiator: this content isn’t focused on products and services.

Then, what is Branded Content?

To ensure the impact is tenfold, marketers have added an edge to their storytelling techniques – the use of branded content. Branded content is content pieces created in partnership with advertisers or publishers to highlight an organization’s mission and values.

It’s used to deliver ideas that help establish a strong connection with the audience. As stated before, it’s not supposed to sell a product or service but to enable them to think and inspire empathetic emotions.  

It doesn’t expose viewers to pushy sales content, encouraging them to buy so-and-so products.

Branded content is a very subtle way of elevating brand awareness, i.e., introducing who you are underneath the colored graphics and catchy taglines. This way, intrigued viewers are more likely to pay attention to the entire content and even interact with it.

So, what branded content does is:

• Spotlight that a company is more than its corporate entity
• Appeal to the consumers by connecting on an emotional level
• Facilitate conversation by weaving a narrative

Branded content is, in itself, really a narrative. It leverages Bandura’s social cognitive theory:

By seeing role models whether real or fictional perform a behavior with positive consequences, viewers are more likely to learn and engage in the behavior themselves.

And branded content uses realistic and relatable characters and plotlines.

Given that it’s curated in collaboration with celebrities, individual creators, and other professionals, Bandura’s theory functions in full force here. It triggers empathy and social learning, elevating the possibility that the viewer is willing to undertake an action.

Is Branded Content Effective?

When interacting with branded content, consumers receive something in return – value in the form of entertainment.

It’s the significant driver behind why branded content works effectively. Technology has caught a considerable portion of viewers’ attention- branded content leverages this vulnerability.

Too much of the produced content reeks of recycling. With the same messages published incessantly, there’s a dullness shrouding the marketing-scape.

And with saturation in tow, the stakes are higher than ever. How do businesses move their fatigued consumers?

Marketers are aware of the impact of stories on people, especially those that make us acknowledge our humanness. So, they leverage storytelling to their advantage.

Modern content marketing has realized that content doesn’t always need to veer in a single direction. Sometimes, it requires derailing – something that offers an immersive experience.

Branded content does just this.

It penetrates through the cacophony of this baseless noise and delivers uniqueness (not just promises). And spotlights your brand as it is, seeking to transform the public perception of your company.

This content form can be developed in any format – from sponsored Instagram posts and social activations to YouTube videos and influencer-driven campaigns.

In the long run, branded content is a strategic investment in your brand’s future. With a strong market reputation, your business is sure to build customer loyalty and generate high-quality leads.

Although branded content is fundamentally different from traditional advertising methodologies, it requires a strategy.

How else do you know where to begin creating your branded content?

As a solution, we offer you a framework. And branded content examples that fortify why some brands were successful while others weren’t.

A Strategic Framework for Creating Branded Content with Examples

Example 1: Tell a story and commit to it.

Weaving a story isn’t the first obstacle to creating branded content. It’s about converting it into a reality.

Buyers have outlined the real reason for their pivot towards self-directed buying– most businesses don’t live up to the promises they initially make. And their offerings are lackluster.

Telling a story isn’t enough anymore. What value does it deliver beyond entertainment? The branded content should spotlight your brand’s genuine beliefs. It must be built into the content you’re creating.

For example, if a tech company ascertains sustainable practices, what exactly are they doing to live up to the same? It shouldn’t be a charade to garner leads and be truthful.

Promises and values, when not reflected truly, can only end up harming your brand’s reputation.

So, the solution is to create branded content that illustrates the organization’s commitment to these values. Make it sensory and immersive. Or your stories ring hollow.

Consider, for example, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. It created an enormous frenzy like never witnessed before. For most, it wasn’t merely a feature film.

The emotional resonance, messages empowering women, and high-profile partnerships relaunched a whole new generation of potential customers for the toy brand. One of the most commercially successful films in history, the film’s success spotlighted the brand’s core value.

And the brand’s worth rose to $720 million.

The branded content film redirected everyone’s attention to a brand often seen as too “girly” or “feminine.” And reiterated the global public perception. Now, Barbie is associated with owning your feminine side and being confident in who you are.

Barbie proves it.

Storytelling in your branded content isn’t just a “what we can offer you” narrative. The story here does not equate a sales pitch but delivers a powerful message. Instead, it should entertain, educate, and instill curiosity, ensuring your brand stays at the top of the mind.

This is why Barbie’s (the film) marketing campaign affected the toy brand to such an extent. By working as an asset of its own, the movie significantly reshaped the perception of dolls and the color pink.

Barbie (the toy brand) came to resonate with its own story and embody the message of women’s empowerment, owing to the movie’s virality.

Example 2: Build characters that personify your brand.

The relationship between businesses and consumers has drastically shifted. Buyers want interpersonal relationships with brands that demonstrate how much they really matter. This has changed the entire face of customer relationships.

Consumers need brands they can relate to and build an emotional connection with, i.e., something they identify with. Most of this relatability factor is regarding the characters in your branded content – the role models Bandura’s been emphasizing.

Marketing has realized the need to deliver relevant content. This applies to every content type, even branded content. When buyers see people who are just like them, real and mundane, they create a stronger bond.

Your branded content, in short, should be a mirror through which consumers see themselves reflected truly. This means using real stories surrounding real people.

But there’s always a downside, so offer genuine content.

Most digital content is built on false stories and insincere reviews. And consumers have become adept at pinpointing. Given how far modern tech has advanced, it’s easy to gauge when businesses are biting off more than they can chew. And this only topples your brand reputation, scattering away any potential customers.

Remember Burger King’s Women’s Day tweet?

Burger King was attempting to capitalize on one of the most celebrated holidays – Mother’s Day. But in a very short period, the company’s expectations took an unexpected turn.

666k likes as opposed to 171k quote tweets: A Twitter novice will tell you that while this highlights engagement, it has proved detrimental to the food chain. The users quoted-tweeted it, didn’t realize the post was clickbait. The team responsible couldn’t nail its execution.

And that’s where the disconnect was.

The image on the right highlights Burger King’s actual intentions behind the tweet. The food chain’s tweet was to raise awareness regarding the lack of gender diversity in the restaurant industry, promoting a scholarship program for female employees.

However, only their initial message stood out, causing widespread backlash for Burger King. This was because it was posted on International Women’s Day – a day to celebrate women.  The strategy was cheeky but highly insensitive as a standalone tweet, leading to its virality for all the negative reasons.

And the result? Burger King apologized and deleted the original tweet.

Example 3: Inspire the right emotions.

BK hit a nerve, but not in the way branded content is supposed to.

There’s one takeaway from this incident: audience connections can only be built through shared vision and values, not sales objectives. Your branded efforts should be perceived as worthy of attention and trust – quite distinct from what digital ads seek to do.

So, branded content must balance between offering informational and entertainment value. Only then can it help establish your brand’s thought leadership and market perception.

But all of this can be executed effectively once you understand who your target audience is:

• What do they care about: values, beliefs, and ideals
• Audience preferences and interests
• What entertains them
• What is their preferred channel and content types
• Which role models do they identify with?

Take, for example, HP’s Generation Impact, one of the best examples of branded content.

Source: YouTube

It targets the tech giant’s audience base of tech enthusiasts, young professionals, and students. Each video content or episode highlighted how young innovators leverage tech to create an impact, also learning to make the world a better place.

Every episode follows a single theme of “Their brilliance will change the world,” i.e., how young minds have used technology to reshape their community.

In their content, none of their products are highlighted or focused on. The creators had only one objective: to illustrate technology’s positive impact on the world. And HP has carried this out through robust storytelling techniques. It has developed a single theme across all its branded video content in this series – young minds’ innovative solutions to global challenges.

This aligns with HP’s broader mission to elevate sustainability and also their brand value – “to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere.”

The strategy is quite impactful. And proved quite adept at creating ripples across their audiences, mainly comprised of young professionals, students, and tech enthusiasts.

At large, HP’s branded content was quite exemplary. Not only did it acknowledge the fundamental issues entrenched in the minute crevices of society, such as poverty and inequality. But it also highlights HP’s commitment to environmental responsibility, reinforcing its vision.

This branded content resonates with their demographics and is authentic.

It spotlights how committed HP is toward sustainable principles and the extent to which it’s intertwined in its products. For example, the Pavilion Laptop, which uses ocean-bound plastic, and the Smart Tank, made from recycled plastic.

Example 4: Establish meaningful collaborations.

There’s one aspect to highlight in this discussion – branded content has a core message. It might not always be the same, but it continues to align with a company’s values. Imagine it as an overarching umbrella that allows you to take leaps creatively.

This creative prowess is only amplified through the correct collaboration. It spans multiple platforms and offers an immersive experience, elevating visibility across numerous touchpoints.

As in the case of HP’s partnership with Ocean Impact Organization, the HP Generation Impact Incubator.

At the heart of this collaboration, we circle back to HP’s mission statement: “to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere.” HP is committed to environmental responsibility. And most of their branded content embodies this.

HP and OIO partnered up to find the next young Australian innovator. Each year, they announce the grand prize winner and runners-up for innovative solutions that can help transform ocean health.

The tech giant’s collaboration with OIO is not merely a marketing charade. It’s centered around empowering young innovators to demonstrate authenticity, value, and innovation – components that every branded content must embody.

And just like HP, several brands have gotten branded content right. It’s time to glance at some of the noteworthy examples.

Example 5: Take a stand.

Branded content is all about creativity. And it’s vital to deliver a unique narrative that takes a stand. How else do you outline what your brand has to offer differently?

Without a distinct perspective, your branded content could end up blending with the repetitive marketing clamor.

So, take a stand on a subject you wish to cover. Every marketing piece addresses a common pain point, but you need a compelling angle – one that earns your audience’s attention.

This, in turn, helps elevate you as a subject matter expert and establishes your credibility. A general perspective is commonplace, but a fresher viewpoint highlights the knowledge you hold.

And Lenovo’s Late Night IT is a brilliant example of this.

Thought leadership around technology is often jargon-heavy and complicated to grasp. From blockchain and data management to cybersecurity and IT – subjects remain the same.

The approach is the real differentiator. And that’s what Lenovo leveraged in its branded content. It covered similar topics to its competitors, but the ‘how’ differed.

Lenovo created a comedy news series titled ‘Lenovo Late Night IT.’ Available on CIO.com and YouTube, this program stood out owing to its unfiltered host and guests. This attributed an entertaining spin to tech discussions, making it more relatable for tech decision-makers.

This series offered a fresh take on technology and how tech brands operate. The conversations were brutally honest and authentic.

The episode “Mental Health: Generation Burnt-the-F-Out” spotlights mental health in the workplace. Here, the host and guests tune in to a genuine discussion on what tech brands are doing to help their employees tackle mental health.

A single question delivered the final blow, a reality curtained by humor: “Is wellness woven into your digital transformation strategy? Or did you deploy a self-help app and call it a day?”

Branded Content: Ideas that Drive Action.

These examples of what worked and what didn’t are to direct your brand in the right direction and inspire new ideas. But this isn’t all we hope to incite.

Branded content isn’t a piece put together to incite your targeted audience. They are stories told through illustrative media that are supposed to deliver the right message.

Whether branded video content or an Instagram collaboration, it’s more than a traditional marketing gimmick. Branded content, although entertaining, is also a versatile medium to showcase brand values.

And it embodies a single marketing motto – practice what you preach.

In the race to boost sales revenue, businesses have forgotten their mission of change. And that’s why their promises end up vacant. They have messages diluted across multiple channels, but the impact isn’t evident at all.

Where are they missing the mark?

Not converting their words into actions. Not sticking to their promises. Barely skimming through customers. Branded content becomes an effortless way of building content that delivers meaning. And peels the facade to reveal the layer that drives businesses – audience connections.

It’s easy to drown in a sea of measurable metrics. So, this piece helps highlight how choosing the right ones ultimately depends on the campaign goals.

HubSpot defines content performance metrics as –

“Numbers that can help you determine if what you’re doing is making an impact as is, if you’ll need to tweak your approach, or if you’ll need to abandon it altogether in exchange for something else.”

Across the crowded digital space, content has continued to be marketing’s magnum opus – but the game is changing.

Modern buyers are skeptical of recycled messages that stem from traditional playbooks. And are actively tuning them out.

Amid these shifts in consumption patterns, content marketing has become the only way out. Especially when it helps deliver unique, targeted, and valuable content in an age where the power has tilted back toward buyers.

But, it’s easier said than done.

Content marketing demands patience, consistency, and a copious investment in resources. How do marketers know their efforts are bearing fruit?

This is where content performance metrics come in.

What Are Content Performance Metrics?

Content performance metrics are simply numbers or data illustrating your content’s impact and performance. The answer to: Is your content influencing the bottom line?

However, not all metrics are equal or used for the same purpose.

Cue: vanity metrics. They used to play an integral role in the old content playbooks. But marketing realized these could be directional indicators of brand visibility and reach. Otherwise, the vanity metrics didn’t capture demand or indicate a shift in market perception.

So, in a landscape where CMOs are held accountable for revenue, impactful marketing demands actionable metrics that demonstrate tangible business outcomes.

Why should you measure content marketing metrics?

Measuring the performance of your content isn’t only beneficial for the bottom line. It ensures that your strategies are updated and aligned with the broader business goals.

1. Visibility

Without any optimization, it’s possible that your content won’t be visible to the right audience. And just gathering digital cobwebs. So, tracking content performance metrics allows marketing to ensure that the right content is reaching the ICPs at the right time.

Search engines only rank relevant, high-quality content for users searching for solutions similar to your brand offerings. But if your content strategy is loose at the ends, your content doesn’t even appear to prospects.

2. Strategy

Content marketing metrics illustrate the effectiveness of your content strategy from the bottom up, tying directly to your brand visibility and its overall growth.

Through a robust content strategy, it becomes easier for potential buyers to find your brand amidst the competition and elevate conversion possibilities.

3. Quality

But this is significantly dependent on whether you’re creating the right content in the first place.

Measuring content marketing metrics ensures this is the actual case. It allows you to assess the content quality and change the content or its type to what drives impact.

4. Impact

Content performance metrics also help gauge audience behavior: Are they really hooked or leaving a page too quickly? Does it fit your audience’s preferences?

You can optimize your channels and segment audiences by understanding who is interacting with your content and how. Both help underscore whether your content reaches your ICP and drives them to action.

And if it doesn’t, the metrics outline where your strategy is lacking.

Overall, measuring content performance metrics is a key driver of your brand’s growth and expansion. And offers a comprehensive understanding of your content marketing ROI.

So, the primary step for tracking these is to ensure the chosen metrics align with your business goals. And in turn, the goal you’re attempting to achieve underlines the content marketing metrics you should track.

How Do Your Business Goals Define Your Content Metrics

Not all content is curated for the same reason, which means not every metric is measured the same way.

From attempting to fill your sales pipeline, elevate brand awareness, or retain customers, your performance metrics should align with the goal your business hopes to achieve.

1. If your priority is lead generation:

One of the commonplace goals of marketers is generating quality leads through their content marketing KPIs efforts. After all, the leads that convert into customers are the honest indicators of your business’s success.

So, it’s not just about traffic but about qualified traffic because you’re capturing demand that transforms into action.

The warmer your leads are, the higher the chances that your content marketing strategies are set in the right direction. So, it is significant to underline the number of leads your content has generated.

The key metrics to calculate –

• Lead quality
• Lead volume,
• Cost-per-lead (CPL)
• Traffic-to-lead ratio
• Conversion rates

What not to focus on –

Think: A lead downloads a whitepaper, which marketing forwards to sales. When contacted, the lead illustrates no interest in the brand, resulting in a waste of time and resources.

Just because a lead downloaded a whitepaper, it doesn’t mean they are always a potential buyer. Most often, third parties who hold no interest in your solutions also undertake specific actions for their research.

This missing piece here is intent.

So, page views, impressions, or shares without content don’t carry weight here. High engagement doesn’t equate to high intent. And often signals marketing towards low-quality, irrelevant leads.

2. If your priority is brand awareness:

Brand recognition is one of the most crucial indicators of growth – How well does your ICP really know your brand?

And content that provides real value can help build your brand awareness. A crucial aspect of this is thought leadership content that leverages your brand’s top voice to establish credibility across the industry.

Here, the focus isn’t on driving immediate action but on building trust and visibility. The final goal is to stay on top of the buyer’s mind – as the best possible solution to their pain points.

The key performance metrics to improve this –

• Social media metrics: Engagement, mentions, and shares
• Brand search volume
• Unique page views
• Backlinks
• Time on page
• Scroll depth
• Impressions

What not to focus on –

Conversion rates.

This particular metric has a lot to offer. But this isn’t always a business’s objective, especially when it comes to elevating brand recognition and awareness.

Imagine a company planning to introduce new services or even itself in an already crowded and unfamiliar market. And its sole priority is to get on the radar.

How else will they engage leads if the market doesn’t know the company exists in the first place while building trust?

Brand awareness here becomes the company’s strategic moat.

It might be too early to sell, so driving action isn’t even the first step. And lead generation doesn’t add much value here, not before the company has penetrated the new territory and established itself as a credible source.

3. If your priority is customer retention:

Content marketing efforts aren’t merely meant to capture prospects. As much as it’s crucial to engage new customers, it’s also vital to nurture existing ones.

Marketers seamlessly forget that it’s not the first buy that matters. It’s truly the second one. A customer who buys from your brand again means taking a step forward to become a brand advocate.

It should also be your content marketing’s focus.

Imagine a customer making purchases from you repeatedly over the years and also referring you to their peers. This customer has a high CLTV compared to a one-time buyer.

That’s why your efforts should also prioritize nurturing and retaining these customers.

Retaining an existing customer is far simpler than converting a new one – valuable, relevant, and unique content can ascertain this.

Your marketing team can ensure that there’s specific content that elevates the CLTV of these customers while simultaneously boosting your bottom line. The only concern here: Do you know if it’s working?

Track the relevant metrics –

• Repeat purchase rate (RPR)
• Customer churn rate
• Customer lifetime value (CLTV)
• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Upsell conversion rate
• Repeat logins

What not to focus on –

Traffic volume.

Customer retention means nurturing existing customers with high LTV. This means you aren’t marketing to the broader public.

Your audience for all your content marketing efforts is directed towards a concise, familiar, and segmented pool. For SaaS companies, the bottom line is dependent on churn rates. Once a customer signs up, one of the priorities is to keep them engaged and upgraded.

So, content marketing metrics, from pageviews to the number of users, don’t offer depth. To elevate customer retention, you don’t need eyes on irrelevant bots or new leads.

But focus on the specific and finite existing customer base.

Accurately tracking and analyzing content performance metrics.

We’ve briefly established the content performance metrics you should track in line with different business goals.

Do you measure these manually? No.

Leverage marketing tools and software for accurate data. There are a vast number of content reporting tools available to help businesses collect and track website data.

These help marketers collate and analyze user behavior, make sense of insights, and track conversions – most often, across a single dashboard.

Some of the known effective and robust tools that offer integrated content measurement along with seamless user experience are:

1. Google Analytics 4
2. HubSpot
3. SEMrush/Ahrefs
4. Attribution tools, such as Dreamdata and HockeyStack

These tools are significant for tracking, measuring, and analyzing your chosen content performance metrics.

But not all data sets are the goldmines, you’re searching for. With a data-driven approach at the base of most of their tactics, marketers should realize that more data isn’t synonymous with more insight.

Especially when it concerns measuring the performance of your content.

What Can Marketers Get Wrong About Content Metrics: The Common Pitfalls

Without a clear strategic roadmap, the numbers rarely mean anything:

1. What do the metrics on your dashboards mean?
2. Why are you particularly tracking these?
3. How do they influence the bottom line?
4. Do they align with your broader business goals?
5. Do these metrics demonstrate content’s impact for the long term?

But without an answer to any of these questions, your marketing team is moving in the dark. And your plans lack any scope.

Without the basic know-how, i.e., the why, which, and how of your performance metrics, it’s easy to face a setback. Some of which could stem specifically from:

• A knowledge gap regarding which metrics to measure at each funnel stage – This is particularly demonstrated by non-marketing leadership. Not all stakeholders entirely gauge the importance of content across the funnel, resulting in a constricted understanding that success looks different at each stage of the funnel.
• Pressure to prove the marketing ROI – Stakeholders want proof of their investment – they want content to work within a short period. To prove its worth, marketers chase measurable metrics that are easy to gauge.

So, they end up over-indexing short-term metrics such as impressions and visitors and skip long-term investments, like SEO and thought leadership – ones that build brand equity.

But what they forget is that vanity metrics are ineffective. They offer a false sense of success but rarely translate into active customers.

• Attribution gaps – Even with the relevant attribution tools, it’s hard to assess if the insights are down to the number. There are so many intangible channels through which leads interact with content – not all of it’s graspable through quantitative data.

Many visitors read blogs anonymously or are engaged through podcasts. There’s a lack of clarity in attribution.

So, marketers dive into the extremes with less to see and more to prove. They either overvalue what is measurable (traffic and impressions) or don’t end up measuring at all.

Additionally, marketers could fall into blind spots, miss insights, prioritize the last touch, rely only on attribution tools, focus only on numbers, or expect content to work within a short period (say, 2 weeks).

It’s simple – any of these pitfalls could prove detrimental to your content marketing efforts.

Keeping a to-the-point track of your content performance metrics isn’t straightforward even with the right tools and software. Marketers bend backward with the most limited resources while attempting to prove the content marketing ROI.

This feeds into the existing rupture between stakeholder expectations and actual outcomes, widening the gap.

But it’s not the end of your content marketing journey. Although each business might choose to measure a different set of metrics, the underlying basis should remain the same.

There are particular strategies, the fundamental building blocks, that can help improve your content marketing metrics and refine the overall measuring process.

Improving Content Performance Metrics: Optimize Based on Data

A/B test for headlines and CTAs

Churning out content pieces constantly is a waste of both time and resources, especially if you don’t know whether it’ll move customers. For your content to translate into tangible outcomes, you need to assess what works and what doesn’t.

The best path to do this is A/B testing.

Not only will it highlight the headline that engages your audiences the most, but also the placement of the CTAs. It shouldn’t overwhelm visitors but also be compelling enough to drive immediate action.

So, test using alternatives.

There are multiple variations of a single content that can appeal to different customers. But your priority should be to drive the maximum number of leads to action. And headlines that instill curiosity within them to know more and read through the content.

So, experimenting with different CTAs – the subject and placement – will outline an idea that aligns with the brand requirements and ICP.

Update underperforming content

Most content is published and then forgotten. But a potential client browsing through your website is looking only for solutions. And often, they merely skim through the written content for the relevant bits.

What if the information they’re looking for doesn’t align with the latest market conditions? It can harm your brand’s reputation.

So, update your content periodically, especially statistics and market problems at the crux of your piece. This little piece of advice isn’t limited to blogs – it’s for infographics, content carousels, and whitepapers.

Your potential buyers depend on you to act as a guide, helping make informed decisions.

So, it’s paramount to update the information you’re offering – at least the irrelevant statistics.

Repurpose the content that’s working.

At the heart of content marketing is quality, not quantity. And one of the most effective channels to gauge the most out of your pieces and elevate their quality is repurposing them.

Content repurposing boosts impact without multiplying the effort. Now, instead of waiting for your audience to visit your website, your content reaches them through infographics, LinkedIn carousels, newsletters, podcast snippets, etc.

This methodology will elevate your reach and impression while improving SEO and organic traffic.

It’s a harsh reality that most content expires. However, by keeping the core message alive through short-form formats, you’re increasing its lifecycle.

And keeping your brand’s core message alive.

Set content strategy goals

What is it that you’re aiming for with your content?

From driving conversion to instilling awareness – your content should entail an intention, i.e., a purpose. Once the goals are set, it becomes easier to gauge the direction you’re moving in.

A directionless strategy might catch a few stray prospects here and there in the long term. It’s ineffective. So, build a roadmap and outline what you want your content to do – close sales or inform?

Accordingly, your own goals can help underscore the kind of content you should focus on.

Consider different channels and formats.

Marketing has had one motto, and in all these years, it has remained constant – experimentation. It’s applicable to content formats and your campaign channels.

It might be perceived as a ‘let’s see what sticks’ formula, but it isn’t.

Experimentation is about diving into innovation without the fear of failure. Not all channels you first camp on will offer the same outcomes – some might work, while others mightn’t. The same applies to various content formats.

Your ICP might interact highly with some, while others may fall flat. But you wouldn’t know this unless you experiment. Think out of the box.

Customers want unique content and to be caught off-guard – how can your marketing team offer this to them? Deliver your story (content) in the relevant box (format) through the right medium (channel) to maximize its impact.

Even if you fail, remember you can rethink your strategies and trace your initial steps. Your content marketing metrics will spotlight your missteps from the get-go, a crucial advantage.

Content Performance Metrics: The Goldmine Beyond Datasets

Measuring the performance of your content marketing efforts can be daunting. It’s like opening a can of worms or being uncertain about the number of potholes you’ll encounter.

But marketing offers you the space to learn and grow.

It’s limiting to underscore marketing as a chore. Instead, it should function as your business’s extension in overcoming its pain points – whether it’s lead generation or building brand equity.

By tracking and analyzing content performance metrics, you’re allowing your team to pinpoint its gaps – why is your marketing campaign not generating the expected results? And how to overcome similar dilemmas.

The right content performance metrics open up a treasure box – a roadmap for how your campaigns generate better results without the need to multiply efforts.

Brand identities remain timeless. But organizations keep on turning a blind eye to their importance. They shouldn’t.

One word bounces around a lot in boardroom meetings, interactions with buyers and vendors, and internal communications.

Brand.

The reverence the word holds is immense. And why wouldn’t it be? Brands are giving people a sense of belonging, appeasing our tribal nature in all the right ways.

That’s why every great leader speaks of their brand with reverence, love, and care. They have to! Because that’s what people are buying for— they are buying from the brand. The saturated marketing is full of similar products, and the only thing standing between the buyer and the vendor is the perception.

The brand image, so to speak of. And brand images are formed only through an identity deeply rooted in the organizational mission.

As time passes and our computing powers evolve to create content with autonomy, this brand identity will become crucial to survive. Without it, companies will find themselves adrift, competition racing ahead of them.

But what can organizations do about it?

There are many options, and the short one, the tl;dr, is to embrace your process, your mission.

That is your identity.

Your brand.

However, for those who want the long answer. There are two vital ones that we’ve been able to find.

Before diving into the meaty parts of the discussion— let’s reintroduce the concept.

The identity of a brand is what it does.

What is brand identity?

Generally, brand identity is the visual and contextual cues your brand represents. However, brand identity is not limited to such a definition— this is just one side of it. Brand identity, as a more inclusive definition, should mean:

1. The unique activities a brand performs are its identity
2. The experience they deliver to their users
3. The mission they embody
4. How well they embody that mission
5. The impact of the actions of the user
6. Perception of the user

Many think that brand image and brand identity are two distinct concepts; they are not. The perception of the audience— is brand image, which is an intrinsic part of the identity.

Brands are never disconnected from what they do.

Average brands fail at this.

There is a reason so many organizations lose face value with their customers— they lack this authenticity. They show something they are not, and their buyers quickly grasp this fact.

Their identity isn’t forged in their mission. Fortunately, the modern buyer is more aware than ever. And they are actively looking for markers that foster trust. Their brand interactions, especially during consideration, are done with a fine pick comb.

Any sign of distrust will thrust brands to the bottom of the barrel.

First in, last out.

Brand identity is forged in the heart of the organization.

The question is, what can you do about it? A lot of organizations usually peddle inauthenticity— they simply cannot walk their talk because, well, they aren’t doing what they are saying.

It’s disingenuous. However, brands with strong identities may fail, and an inauthentic brand may not. That is the truth.

Yet, brands that drive revenue through inauthentic means begin failing sooner or later. And if the buyers decide enough is enough, the business will run dry. That’s why so many organizations pivot. They have lost the battle with the buyer and need to save face.

Time and again, brands with a powerful identity and reputation manage to survive even the harshest of critics— it’s because they align with their goal and deliver on it, even if sometimes the process might be messy.

The question is: Can you replicate it?

Possibly not. The answer to this is easy. Every brand has to discover itself through an arduous and creative process.

While no one can walk your hand through crafting your brand identity, there are frameworks you can use. Here’s one:

1. Why was the organization founded, and what is the vision driving it?
2. What roles do your employees play in your organization?
3. What do you do to make sure the vision is realized?
4. Deeply understand what you’re offering the buyer.
5. Why are you offering it?
6. What’s your opinion on the industry you’re serving— essentially, what are the holes you have noticed?
7. What are you doing to fill these gaps?
8. How are you doing it?

Reflection of such kind will help you gain clarity. As Ciente has echoed many times, strategy is about performing unique activities. And these unique activities are the ones that give identity and meaning to your brand.

It gives a non-living thing the properties of personality and charm.

The two answers and the importance of brand identity.

There is a lot of data that answers why brand identities are so vital. But there are two pieces of literature that we must draw our attention to.

The first is HubSpot’s 2024 Sales Trends Report, and the other is Barry Schwartz’s Paradox of Choice.

While they may seem disconnected, they discuss consumption and the role of choice in these habits. The report outlines what B2B marketers have known for a while— 96% of B2B prospects do their own research before speaking to SDRs.

They advise that organizations form a consultant-consultee relationship with their prospects by educating and delighting their buyers. Essentially, brands will have to add value to buyers’ lives.

But will they trust any brand?

No. And that’s why brand identities are important.

They will trust the brand they feel familiar with and the one that has made them feel heard. Without this identity, organizations won’t be able to gain buyer mindshare.

HubSpot suggests adding more choice in the mix, giving power to the buyer— letting them self-buy and serve. However, a severe problem arises here: 60% of software buyers experience regret.

Why is that? It’s the paradox of choice— faced with many choices, people experience fatigue and enter analysis paralysis. And to escape from the discomfort, make choices that might not be aligned with the overall goal.

The paradox of choice outlines that facing an overwhelming number of options can lead to decision paralysis, increased effort, and dissatisfaction.

It’s a logical fallacy.

And here, in this messy fallacy, lies the ability of brands to survive by crafting an identity that helps buyers break away from this paralysis.

So, what can brands do here?

Their identity, the core, must speak to their intended buyer. But you may think that it might limit your impact. Not at all.

When you speak to one group of people or speak their language, you start creating value that is timeless. And people favor such timeless wisdom— they enjoy knowledge that helps them tackle multiple scenarios at once.

The importance of brand identity isn’t limited to knowledge. It’s also about reducing choice by giving people a sense of belonging and security.

In the always-on world, brand identity is a survival metric.

If you provide multiple options to the buyer, their fatigue will guide them towards a brand they know. However, some brands don’t get it.

They do everything yet forget to form an actual personality. Dull and uninspired messaging will not work. Look at AI and its replication quality and speed— nothing can match it.

But AI systems will not replace personality, charm, and voice— things that require originality.

Understand that your brand identity stands between you and the loss of your business. Explore Salestech.

It’s the driver of economic certainty.

Building robust brand reputation takes time. And even a miniscule mistake could prove costly. How can brands proactively manage this?.

The modern buyer is self-aware. With digital resources and channels at the doorstep, they can leverage research, instigating a shift in their buying patterns. It has led to heightened demand and dynamic expectations.

And what happens when these expectations are not met? Criticism, scrutiny, and endless social debate.

In this digital-first era where social media is at the forefront of every public opinion – shared and discussed, brands take consumer opinions quite seriously. This prolonged noise seems unmanageable, especially when customers often want businesses to respond to their pain points straightaway.

And digital transformations have accentuated these concerns.

From social proofs to online reviews, consumer opinions deeply impact a company’s market positioning. Tech innovations have also put them under a microscope. Now, it’s easy to detect, augment, and scrutinize any error – when they deter from an ethical pathway the audience has already framed.

These could range from tiny slip-ups to data breaches to poor consumer reviews. Any divergence significantly affects their brand reputation, leading to a loss of market share and their status. The brand should be a priority – the value it entails and the relationships forged.

With digital innovations accessible in a blink, businesses are rethinking and regrouping. With modern challenges in tow, they are developing unique solutions and strategies to address and counter them. If tech can work against them, it can also benefit them.

Because market value isn’t merely about the numbers, most of it is dependent on brand equity and other immeasurable metrics. These incite holes in form of weaknesses across the brand, making them susceptible to reputational damages, which may directly impact sales and customers.

What Should Remain the Priority: Risk Mitigation or Crisis Management?

“Too often, we’re tempted to address the symptoms of a problem rather than the root causes or conditions,” asserts the Managing Director of Achievers Workforce Institute.

In line with how companies can mitigate reputational risks, the Forbes Council voices a similar opinion. They agree that brands should frame a proactive approach to safeguard their reputation instead of waiting for the problems to fester.

Precaution before cure has been a motto that has worked effectively in every road of life. It similarly applies to the business landscape.

This is where risk management and crisis management differ from each other. Addressing brand reputation risks is crucial before any sort of crisis management. It requires a reactive approach.

Why?

When a brand has a positive reputation, the perception is that they’re providing more value to their audiences. These organizations entail loyal customers who access a broad range of services from them or apply for premium. It proves how tangled customer experience and brand reputation are with each other.

Is Brand Reputation All About the External Image?

Here, we highlight another facet of this discussion – brand reputation is relative and subjective.

For example, an expert opinion of a business might differ from the audience’s.

However, at the end of the road, there are similar goals – invite trustworthy partnerships, successfully launch products into the market, and safeguard against competitors.

But doesn’t understanding reputational risk involve defining “brand reputation” beforehand? Brand reputation focuses on the value – of what people perceive externally to build an internal (trusted) relationship with the business.

An old article by HBR implies that reputation is all about perception. But to what extent is it true? Generally understood as a socially constructed notion, the magnitude of the hit isn’t driven by a speculative allegation but depends on its credibility. A brand reputation might take years to construe, but a tiny hiccup or obstacle to disrupt – it encompasses the value expression.

A business can capitalize on this – attracting investors and boosting clients amidst other factors interlinked to its growth and success.

In a research paper titled – “Corporate Reputation: Being Good and Looking Good” (2019), the author questions – is reputation about having a positive image or doing good (ethically)? The modern challenge identifies a cross-connection between both these aspects. It’s the same angle that the HBR article provides on reputational risks – identification of the gap between the perceived image and the reality.

This could introduce a wide rupture in the public perception and the actual standing of the business.

The consequences?

Negative marketing could lead to a dip in sales and challenges in customer retention, damaging the overall reputation. This is why business leaders should draw on creating value through strategic reputation risk management.

How to Effectively Implement Reputation Crisis Management Strategies?

Reputation management evaluates how the market perceives a business and then seeks to execute strategies that ensure a positive image. For a long-term and noticeable effect, reputation management should be integrated and adapted to align with the business-wide processes. Here, stakeholders’ perspective goes a long way.

Building back a positive and streamlined reputation – whether an internal or external overview – requires management insight. This ensures that the beliefs and long-term requisites align with stakeholder expectations.

Moreover, a proper reputation management strategy should be followed by significant performance indicators, illustrating which factors affect a brand’s reputation. Only then can an organization continue to build a roadmap.

However, this isn’t all. Reputation management is a consistent process that requires dedication. For robust reputation crisis management planning, the following take the front wheel:

1. A thought-out code of conduct

What if a stakeholder, an employee, or a partner instigates a reputational crisis? What is the primary approach to managing such a crisis? To handle conflicts, an organization has to be aware of the model behavior – the conduct and ethics everyone who’s part of the organization should follow.

In 2019, following the #MeToo movement, organizations decided to hold CEOs accountable, ramping up ethical standards at the C-level. This was on the basis of professional and personal conduct and led to over 120 CEOs resigning and 580 of them stepping down.

When specific stakeholders are directly tied to a brand’s identity, this could hit the brand’s reputation and create a crisis in their market perception.

However, a well-planned and meticulous code of conduct helps establish what is and isn’t acceptable in a professional setting. And when these rules are not followed appropriately, corrective measures should be placed.

When well-designed code of conduct highlights core values and purpose – it’s much easier to map a smooth pathway in handling a crisis. The organization then entails an offensive solution when a stakeholder or employee gives root to a crisis such as the one mentioned above.

The brand’s code of conduct holds them accountable and establishes their awareness regarding how one should behave. It also includes evaluating employee sentiments along specific ethical indicators such as accountability, trust, and decision-making. It has to be an inclusive process where the attributes resonate with diverse stakeholder groups.

Thus, to influence the ideal behavior in the organization, these standard codes have to be woven within the organization’s culture and mission. This way, it extends across departments and hierarchies.

2. The philosophy behind the brand’s vision and mission

It’s true that a brand doesn’t receive a bad reputation overnight. There are specific mistakes leading to such a displacement in brand positioning and loss of market trust.

Here, the primary thought is questioning where the business stands and what the values it stands for. If there are any hiccups between what the audience expects and brand values, rebranding could be a potential next step.

If a business loses its direction toward engaging its audience, it could be time to reassess its mission statements and values. It is specifically fruitful in aligning with where the company hopes to be and its overall strategic framework.

The current channels and partner websites on which your brand is present should reflect the edited messages, descriptions, trademarks, guidelines, and logos.

3. Periodic audits

Periodic audits investigate what the market is saying across variable platforms – social media, review websites, user reviews, and Google searches, amongst others.

These require extensive research, offering a different perspective on where your team is lacking in its crisis management strategies. The point is – people are already talking, so you need to know where.

The in-depth research will help assess the extent of damage done – what exactly happened, the subsequent backlash, and how it affected the company. It’s important to continue tracking the scenario – whether the backlash is increasing, moderate, or decreasing.

Doing so will highlight the areas of the crises which require primary attention.

4. The following steps are monitoring, reacting, and improving the reputation.

Once you’ve mapped the conversation around the brand, it’s time to take some measures. What if the reviews and comments are negative or moderate? The next step is to think over strategies to improve them.

You have to turn the tide. But how?

Study the market trends and customer experiences. Both these factors are revealed through the conducted audits. Create a consistent management strategy around this:

1. Who will oversee/monitor the implementation and evaluation of these strategies?

A brand reputation manager or a new group of employees? Building a team leveraging employees who indulge in customer-facing activities could contribute toward effective communication.

They’re already talking to customers, so they are aware of the tone and messaging they should use.

However, businesses must acknowledge that those on top are sometimes the only ones with the resources to preside over reputation crisis management. The communication isn’t merely with the customers but also with the stakeholders who decide whether a risk should be managed or avoided.

Additionally, there should be a brand reputation manager, i.e., the point of contact, who will help bridge the gap with the decision-makers and improve coordination.

2. Do the reviews or comments deserve responses?

Legitimate and genuine feedback, whether positive or negative, that transcends trolling should be responded to. Arguing with trolls online may backfire and damage the reputation further. However, addressing real concerns and providing them with solutions could improve the derailing opinions.

It could additionally prove that, as a business, you care about the well-being and time of your clients.

3. Establish readiness, even for favorable audits

Even if the audit reports demonstrate consistency in maintaining a positive brand reputation, a business should be ever-ready. Crisis could easily be deviated by undertaking efficient precautions.

Because once it occurs, there should be a previously thought-out plan on handling it.

Planning for emergencies will also help develop the ideal response.

Execution of brand crisis management requires a reactive and all-inclusive approach.

The rupture between the reality of a brand and its reputation should materialize into a positive public perception instead of deteriorating. Media in the age of information overload plays a modular role in shaping the market’s perception.

This is why there should always be a communication and a trust-building strategy set in stone. Companies also undertake PR managers to build robust plans to manage media images.

But image and reputation aren’t the same. Reputation is built on a long-term collective opinion, once destroyed, takes decades to reinstate.

This is why a reactive approach to crisis management is the key – an actionable route to assuring audiences of the guidelines the brand values.

Modulating the strategies according to the source of the crisis can be a vital step in reputation crisis management. If it was due to data breaches, execute new cyber policies; if it was due to employee/stakeholder misconduct, develop a standard model for the ideal behavior.

And, there is one aspect threading them all into ball of yarn – strong communication. Technology has increased the stakes for everyone involved. When someone has a negative experience, the news travels faster across social platforms. This works reversibly as well – in case of a positive brand reputation.

Building a strong brand image helps you accelerate your sales pipeline. But how do you set the right KPIs to measure growth?

For a brand that wants to scale, it makes sense to invest time and resources toward your market presence. Having your brand appeal to a wide audience may seem tough to begin with. However, studies highlight that 81% of buyers will purchase from a brand they trust.  Brands can leverage tracking to gauge how well the brand performs among the target audience.

It keeps your brand’s health in check, helping you understand how your customers perceive your business and their patterns of purchasing your offerings. A solid brand tracking shows you what has worked well and what requires improvement. Popular brands have established a strong brand identity by fostering awareness and more loyal customers. 77% of marketing leaders believe branding promotes sustained growth. To become a strong brand, you must understand how this powerful tool can be leveraged in your favor.

Why consider tracking your brand?

Effective brand tracking allows you to identify factors that positively impact your sales cycle. Using the data derived, you can predict the potential threats and opportunities. Optimizing your overall marketing strategy is another key highlight of brand tracking.

It is equally useful whether you are starting up or have successfully established your brand voice. Brand tracking helps you gather customer-centric data, including their feedback. Such details give you a better idea of what your target audience thinks of your brand and its products/services, how they benefitted, and what challenges (if any) need attention.

You can also benefit from this approach by testing strategies, watching out for competitors and what they are up to, and performing a comparative analysis. These enable you to determine your strengths and uncover new opportunities. When you continuously track your brand, it allows you to assess its performance over some time. The good thing about real-time tracking is the scope to flag issues before they become a problem.

With the booming tech landscape, customer engagement with your brand can happen across various channels. When you integrate the right brand tracking tools, you can assimilate data with KPIs relevant to brand awareness and preference among a target audience. The key significance of brand tracking is to identify trends and acquire data-driven insights that uncover potential threats and opportunities in the market.

Use cases of brand tracking

Let’s look at the top three use cases of brand tracking

Understanding your brand’s performance

You can utilize metrics to track shifts in customer perceptions and evaluate the ongoing trends that can impact your brand’s performance. This approach lets you tweak your marketing strategies to stay ahead of the competition.

Finding out your potential threats and opportunities

Brand tracking brings you closer to analyzing changes in customer preferences and awareness. You will tap into the competitive brands that can impact your performance and growth. Once you have these details in place, you can proactively address the roadblocks, make the most of the new opportunities, and protect your brand reputation.

Optimizing your marketing efforts

Since brand tracking provides data-driven insights, it optimizes marketing strategy and allocates budgets accordingly. It makes the marketing activities behind brand growth clear. You can allocate your resources to the initiatives likely to create a large impact and move the audience.

The Metrics for Measuring Brand Tracking

Measuring your brand health with a tracking tool is a way to understand the commercial value of your brand while recording changes and optimizing your strategy. While doing so, you can decide on a timeline for tracking performance efficiency. If you are running a few ad campaigns, it’s a good idea to have more frequent analyses.

You need to measure your brand regularly. This will make it clear the metrics that work best for you over time, enabling you to identify the scope for improvement. However, if you’re launching new advertising campaigns more regularly than this, it’s a good idea to increase the frequency of metric analysis. This allows you to see how they’re contributing to your brand.

Brand awareness

It’s a perfect KPI to measure how many customers know your brand and its offerings. The brand awareness metric is also a reflection of your brand’s marketing efforts toward connecting with your audience. When you can foster awareness, it wins audience trust and ultimately, boosts the sales cycle.

Brand recall

This metric stems from the lasting impression of your brand among your target customers. When that happens, they can remember your brand when prompted or when they think about a specific pain point. With the help of brand recall, you can understand the depth of your brand positioning and the efficacy with which the brand message is retained in the audience. It promotes greater awareness and holds the potential to influence purchase decisions.

Brand consideration

The B2B landscape is highly competitive. Your customers will probably check several options before purchase decision. Keeping tabs on brand consideration will help you assess how potential customers perceive your brand. It also offers the benefit of crafting marketing strategies to increase the chance of being considered for purchase.

Brand preference

There are so many brands in the market and more than one could be offering similar solutions or products as your brand. Your target customers may be weighing these competitors as potential options. Brand preference offers clarity on the chance of them choosing your brand. It gives you an idea about the competitor’s position and your brand. Brand preference also sheds light on the factors that can influence customers’ purchase decisions.

Brand loyalty

To think of it, brand loyalty is the ultimate goal for every brand. If there is brand loyalty, customers are likely to keep choosing your solution or product. The brand loyalty metric gives you an idea of the probability of customers to continue purchasing from your brand. If it is strong, the chances of customers returning for purchase is quite high. This metric is perfect for eliminating doubts about whether a client is there for the long haul or only temporarily. Moreover, you can receive an estimate of the proportion of customers likely to purchase again from you.

Brand associations

As customers continue to choose your brand, they may form opinions and create a perception about what you stand for. The brand associate metric helps you see whether the brand image in the market aligns with how you want to portray it. However, the targets should be achievable, allowing you to measure what makes you unique. Ensure that your strong points are highlighted and if not, there is time to make that change. It’s all about conveying the uniqueness of your brand and letting the customers know your values. A way to execute this could be to measure associations through open-text feedback, which gives you an accurate picture of how your audience feels about the brand and what connects them. You can dive deep into the negative and positive associations and then work on having more positives.

Brand usage 

Your brand is out there and you have a fairly decent number of customers. But how do you calculate their dependency on your brand? This metric will give you a clear picture of how often customers buy your products or services. You can add questionnaires or surveys on your website or purchase page to track user frequency.

Best practices for brand tracking

Although brand tracking may seem like a complicated marketing activity, it is worth your time and effort. This step-by-step guide will help you develop a complete brand tracking report.

1. Define your goals

Setting clear objectives is the starting point for a smooth brand-tracking experience. Focus on improving your brand identity or calculating the ROI from a particular campaign. The idea is to utilize these goals as a roadmap for choosing the right metrics. Your KPI must align with the business objectives and help attain the desired results.

2. Select Your Brand Tracker

Once you have identified your objectives, the next step is to pick the methodology you’ll go by. You may supplement the brand tracking studies with questionnaires, interviews, and digital analytics to collect relevant data. Different KPIs will require different brand tracking tools, thereby providing relevant data. While making the selection, verify whether it supplies the information to calculate these metrics.

3. Collect and Analyze Data

Assessing your brand performance data is a key benefit of implementing tracking. Use the tools that align with your brand to process and download data. As you conduct the analysis, stay tuned to the trends and patterns you observe in the information. You may be surprised to stumble upon some valuable insights.

4. Monitor Continuously and Adapt

Tracking brand performance with metrics is futile if you miss adapting. You can easily accomplish this by setting up automated tools for collecting real-time data. It’s advisable to review these metrics and understand the emerging trends or shifts in customer behavior. The findings revealed in the data can serve as a guide for developing new strategies. But you must be willing to adjust your approach as and when needed.

5. Report Findings and Take Action

And we come to the final step of brand tracking— report what you learned and implement insights-driven actions. To make the most of this step, focus on creating clear, concise reports highlighting metrics and trends. Create a visually appealing report by adding elements, such as charts and graphs for a quick overview of complex data. These insights will drive your next strategic action plan. Don’t forget to measure the impact of these actions on your brand’s overall performance.

Summing up

Branding is all about making an impact on your target audience. This requires tracking how your brand is performing every now and then. Utilize the right metric for getting clarity on how popular your brand is and how often customers purchase. Such details are important to help you understand brand positioning. The insights gained from brand tracking will guide you to making data-driven decisions that optimize your marketing efforts and allocate your budgets more effectively. By understanding which marketing activities drive the most significant improvements in brand performance, you can focus your resources on the most impactful initiatives, ensuring the best possible return on investment.