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Content Marketing
ROI
Per dollar, content marketing produces
3 times more leads
YEAR 1
BLOG POST
PODCAST
YEAR 2
VIDEO
INTERVIEW
ARTICLE
YEAR 3
ANNOUNCEMENT
INFOGRAPHIC
WHITEPAPER
EBOOK
The “soft” benefits of content marketing
are obvious: public trust, more engaged
Why content marketing
can become your most
productive channel
prospects, happier clients. But what
about the hard benefits. What about ROI?
“Content Marketing ROI” is the first study to
address the fundamental questions: How much
does content marketing cost and is it a better
financial investment than other marketing
strategies? The answer is, “Yes.” The eBook
explains why. continue reading
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
The New Rules of Marketing
This Study
Content Marketing Analysis
Content Marketing Operation
· Content Plan
· Content Organization: Managing Editor, Organizational Listeners, Internal Contributors,
External Contributors, VP, Marketing, Revised Content Plan
Content Marketing Costs
Content Marketing Benefits
Comparison
· Content Marketing Summary: 24 Months
· Paid Search Summary: 24 Months
Benchmark: Paid Search Marketing
Conclusions
Content Marketing ROI Measures Up
Content Marketing is Not a Campaign
Content Marketing Must Be Managed as a Business Process
Want to get skip ahead to the ROI calculations?
THE ICONOGRAPHY USED IN THIS EBOOK
BLOG POST
PODCAST
MID-SIZED
BUSINESSES
VIDEO
INTERVIEW
LARGER-SIZED
BUSINESSES
ARTICLE
ANNOUNCEMENT INFOGRAPHIC
LEAD
WHITEPAPER
EBOOK
INTRODUCTION
The New Marketing Rulebook
The rules of marketing have changed.
that online display
ads have a click through rate of less than one-tenth of one percent.
Ad Overload:
Real Information is Elsewhere:
The Consumer is in Control:
So what can marketers do?
This Study
Content publishers by industry
Tech
Retail / eCommerce
Financial
Consumer Goods
Manufacturing
Services
Content Publishers by revenue
23
GREATER THAN
12
$100M - $1B
LESS THAN
15
$1B
$100M
CONTENT MARKETING ANALYSIS
Content Marketing Operation
CONTENT PLAN
blog post
podcast
handheld
video
interview
article
media
announcement
5
per
week
S M T W T F S
1
infographic
professional
video
per
month
whitepaper
ebook
CONTENT ORGANIZATION
Managing Editor
Community Manager
Internal Contributors
External Contributors
REVISED CONTENT PLAN
M
T
W
T
F
“CURATION”
“CURATION”
“CURATION”
“CURATION”
MAJOR
PIECE
CURATION
POST
Content Marketing Costs
operation. They are summarized in the following two tables, one for mid-sized businesses and one
for larger organizations.
CONTENT PLAN
Content Marketing Costs: Mid-Sized
PERSONNEL
Managing Editor
CONTENT
Blog Post Costs
Premium Content Costs
TOOLS
Software & Hosting
monthly
$6,667
$1290
$2,500
$1,500
Total Expenses
$11,957
Content Marketing Costs: Larger-Sized
monthly
PERSONNEL
Chief Content Officer
Managing Editor
CONTENT
Blog Post Costs
Premium Content Costs
TOOLS
Software & Hosting
Total Expenses
$16,667
$8,333
$1720
$3,500
$2,500
$32,720
mid-sized
businesses
Fully loaded costs
$80,000/yr
$150/post
$2,500
/premium content
larger-sized
businesses
Fully loaded costs
$100,000/yr
Fully loaded costs
$200,000/yr
$200/post
$3,500
/premium content
Total expenses
for the content marketing operation
Monthly Recurring
mid-sized
$11,957
larger-sized
$32,720
Content Marketing Benefits
quality
SITE VISITS PER MONTH
100,000
larger-sized
75,000
mid-sized
50,000
25,000
Month 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12
13
14
15 16
17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
The chart above shows the traffic calculated for the two classes of operations in this study. Over time,
the greater resources invested in the larger operation yields stronger results.
$25,000
$20,000
larger-sized
$15,000
mid-sized
$10,000
$5,000
Month 1
$500
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12
13
14
15 16
17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
100,000
larger-sized
75,000
mid-sized
50,000
25,000
Month 1
2
3
4
COST PER LEAD
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12
13
14
15 16
17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
$25,000
$20,000
larger-sized
$15,000
mid-sized
$10,000
$5,000
Month 1
$500
2
3
4
5
6
7
In first 5 months
costs/lead drop
80%
$375
8
9
10 11 12
13
14
15 16
17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
The long-term yield of content marketing is illustrated in the chart
above, which shows the cumulative cost per lead over the 24
months, or how much has been spent divided by how many leads
have been generated over time.
$250
$125
Month 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12
13
14
15 16
17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
COMPARISON
Content Marketing to Paid Search
CONTENT MARKETING SUMMARY
PAID SEARCH SUMMARY
Cost per lead: 24 months
$125
mid-sized
paid
search
larger-sized
$109/
paid
search
expenses: $437,376
leads: 4,032
$108/
expenses: $1,452,984
leads: 13,488
$100
Content marketing costs
31% less than paid search
Content marketing costs
41% less than paid search
content
marketing
$75
$75/
expenses: $312,560
leads: 4,172
content
marketing
$64/
expenses: $869,060
leads: 13,569
$50
BENCHMARK: PAID SEARCH MARKETING
What is the cost per click?
Cost per click across several segments derived from Google’s Traffic Estimator tool
life insurance
$16.59
divorce laywer
diabetes medicine
chicago physical therapy
$10.88
$4.74
$4.17
passport services
dallas real estate
$2.50
$2.69
tax advisors
trucking services
running shoes
$3.58
$2.42
mexico vacation
$1.86
$2.14
dvd player
baseball cards
quilting supplies
$0.82
$1.27
$1.22
$4.22
average cost
per click
an average cost per lead of
$109 / $108.
CONCLUSIONS
Content Marketing ROI
Measures Up
Many Factors:
Content Expense
Conversion Rates
Keyword Prices
Content Marketing is Not a Campaign
becoming
owning
The graph below compares the cumulative number of leads generated per $1000 spent from
the study’s content marketing operation (large organization) and its paid search campaign:
36
Once you’ve built your audience, your ROI goes up
since you no longer have to pay rent to the media
31 leads
/$1,000
30
CONTENT MARKETING
24
18
9 leads
/$1,000
12
6
PAID SEARCH
Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Content Marketing Must Be Managed as a
Business Process
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
About Kapost
About Eloqua
About Eloqua & Kapost