Every Content Marketer Should End their Year with This

There’s no better time than the end of the year to take a good look at your brand’s performance. In fact, that’s where year-end reviews come from. But rather than just focus on the performance and efficiency of your employees and operations, content marketers should also be extending their evaluations to the strategies and blogs they use.

If you’re like me, the bulk of your day-to-day tasks are likely centered around the content you produce. Whatever processes you have for researching, brain storming, and ultimately drafting for your content marketing strategy, they all will likely benefit from some review. It’s typical for those day-to-day tasks to suffer as the year progresses, and taking the time to go over how you do what you do and how effective it really is can set you up for greater success in 2017. Here’s how content marketers can do a year-end review for their content marketing strategy.

1. Start with an audit.

The best way to start your content marketing review is to gather all your content so you can take a good look at it. I keep track of my published articles in a spreadsheet as well as my Google analytics account. By rounding up all of the blogs, guest posts, social media campaigns, and other noteworthy content production efforts you made in 2016, you can see a complete picture of what your strategy looked like.

2. Look at the numbers.

One of the most important things you can do not just yearly but on a regular basis is see what the numbers have to say. If you’re a blogger, taking a good look at how each different pieces of content perform is a crucial part of understanding how you’re most effective. What does Google analytics show you about the content you produce? Which pieces got the most traffic, and why? Your main objective should be to judge content performance by the data, and use what you learn to strategize more effectively in 2017.

3. Determine what does and does not work.

Sometimes you get comfortable doing the same kind of content over and over and fail to realize that it’s not resonating with your audience. In reviewing your content marketing strategy, be mindful of what simply doesn’t work. Are your listicles falling flat? Are certain topics getting more traffic than others? Try and identify common themes in your most successful and most unsuccessful content, and use what’s working to plan future pieces.

4. Make a plan for 2017.

There’s no point in doing a review of your content marketing strategy if you aren’t going to use the insights you’ve gained to plan for a better year. Looking at your content marketing strategy with a critical eye will show you exactly what you need to focus on in 2017. Even consulting a similar content marketer or someone you work with can help you find the most impactful ways to reach people, and you can tailor your new year of content to better reach your audience.

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