30 October 2020 Riccardo Buson
Journal of Experiences
What is Content Analysis? Is content strategy performance really measurable? Can words and images really be read through numbers?
Yes, even content has its analytical side, and it is extremely important to measure it, by “listening” to what the numbers tell. When mentioning Content Strategy, in fact, we are referring to a set of actions and activities of editorial nature that has an impact on the brand, its awareness and its business. By virtue of this, such an effort must be measured and monitored.
What is content analysis, and what is it for?
Does the brand have a website with an e-commerce and a digital magazine? This means that the Content Strategy of the magazine (as well as that of the other channels of the brand) certainly has an indirect effect also on the commercial performance of the brand itself.
It is therefore necessary for that brand to implement a content analysis activity to carefully monitor the performance of its content, to understand how much it affects sales or leads objectives, and how to intervene to make any improvement.
What does content analysis consist of? In short, it consists in reading and processing data generated by content, through the use of special tools thought for this purpose. More in-depth, through content analysis you can measure the degree of appreciation of a specific content by the people who see/read it, and also the degree of influence that this content has on their choices. However, to ensure a precise and in-depth analytical reading, it is necessary to implement all tracking methods useful to intercept and measure all the actions that take place within the brand’s communication channels.
What kind of insights can content analysis tools provide?
How many people have read this article about the distinctive features of this product? How much time do people spend on this energy company website before requesting a contact? How many people, after seeing this product video on Facebook, clicked on the related link and land on the manufacturer’s website?
These are just some examples of data that can be gained through content analysis. If the Content Strategy is firstly implemented through a digital magazine or a blog, the best tools to be adopted are Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics. These two are pretty essential to understand people behaviors and to track their paths within the website. In the case of an article about a product, which for instance contains a direct link to the e-shop (where you can buy that product), it is important to know how many people read that article, and how deeply they do so (this can be known by tracing the scroll on the page). After that, it will be essential to understand how many of these people click the link and visit the e-commerce, and how many instead go to another page of the website or – even worse – leave the site directly.
Through these tools it is therefore possible to read how people have used the content, then identifying how this has affected their subsequent choices. Furthermore, by working on certain filters made available by analytical platforms, it is possible to perform analysis both at the level of single content and at a broader one.
A fundamental topic: content analysis on social networks
Content analysis should also be adopted to measure the success of a social content strategy. On these channels we can first investigate the number of people reached by our content and the degree to which it stimulates people to interact. Above all, by moving within an integrated strategy through multiple channels, using in synergy the classic tools of content analysis (mentioned above) and the insights of the various social channels (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in primis) it will be possible to obtain an overview of how people behave within a brand’s ecosystem.
As consultants, our goal is to convey the importance of a structured analysis of all digital marketing actions (and channels) activated by the brand. In fact, the content – whether considering articles on a blog or posts on social network – can hardly provide significant information if taken individually. At the same time, content analysis is an activity with a specific weight that is relevant only if it moves along brand and business strategies, to be also able to identify where to intervene in order to improve business performance.