Are you documenting and measuring your content strategy? If not, according to new research from the Content Marketing Institute, you could be missing an important trick. According to the research, 88% of B2B marketers now use content marketing, but less than a third felt their use of B2B content marketing was effective. And staggeringly, 55% of B2B marketers said that “it is unclear within their organization what an effective or successful content marketing program looks like.” It’s hard to imagination another area of the business – and indeed another area of the marketing and communications plan – where so little measurement might be demanded, especially for something that can be so resource hungry.

So why the disconnect?

Well, while adoption of B2B content marketing within overall marketing strategy is now more widespread, it also takes on many forms. This means there may be several people across the business ( in many cases in different departments) who produce content in one form or another, resulting in a lack of cohesion. For example, content from a CEO’s Twitter account which has the same ultimate purpose as the business development department of attracting new customers, may not be included in the “official” content marketing strategy at all.

As ever, the key to success is communication, which starts with establishing clear goals and responsibilities. As a benchmark, an editorial mission statement should be created, documented and shared with all employees whether they are involved in the creation of content or not. From there, a detailed publishing calendar should be created, listing every platform to be reached (social media, trade publications, blog posts and so forth), and assigning responsibility. At ARTÉMIA, we advise creating themed content on a weekly or monthly basis where possible. On social media especially, the lifespan of content can be so fleeting that it makes sense to create content that supports, and occasionally references, similar-themed content to build momentum. To ensure the publishing calendar remains a ‘living document’, plan regular editorial meetings with the content management team or, if there is just one person creating the content, a meeting to update key stakeholders on latest plans. This also allows you to stay relevant and agile enough to respond to, and comment on, topical events as they occur.

Finally, consider using management tools to help you more effectively measure the impact of your B2B content marketing. At ARTÉMIA, we are big fans of Hubspot, but there are lots of alternatives out there to suit your company’s requirements. Content marketing done right can be a powerful marketing tool – it’s time to give it the structure it needs to be so.