Indeed there is. I thought I’d compile a bunch of the best metrics in a chart, split across four areas.

Click on the image for a full-size version, and see below for a few explanatory notes.

Basic Metrics

These are the immediately obvious ones and are typically easy to measure. Depending on your business – or your mood – you might file some of these under ‘vanity metrics’. They’re not throwaway by any means, but I think there are more interesting things to look at.

Engagement Metrics

You are probably sick of hearing the word ‘engagement’, but it actually means something… it isn’t just a lousy buzzword. These metrics can provide you with valuable audience insights. From where I’m sitting, premium shares and comments are a much better indicator of content quality than page impressions.

Positioning Metrics

What terms do you want to rank for on the search engines? How would you like your audience to describe and perceive your brand? Does your content stack up against the competition? All of these things can help you to finesse your content strategy, to better align it to your objectives.

KPIs

These are the real deal. KPIs are the killer metrics that keep the CEO awake at night, and you should definitely try to figure out how content moves the needle in this area, and how it compares against other channels. Your content marketing strategy needs to support your overall business goals.

Notes

  • As ever I will have left a few things out, and probably by accident. Do let me know what I have overlooked in the comments area below (or via Twitter).
  • Metrics are not equal! Some are much more important than others. I like the idea of scoring metrics, to give them different weightings.
  • To prevent this chart from burrowing into the core of the earth I decided to group a number of metrics together (e.g. ‘retention metrics’). You can unbundle these groups (so, for retention, you might want to look at your loyalty rate, satisfaction, purchase frequency, etc).
  • This is the third content marketing visualisation that I’ve created. If you haven’t yet seen them do check out the Periodic Table Of Content Marketing and the Content Marketing Team Matrix.