The delicate art of keeping score

To sum up, the scorecard suggests assigning content ‘points’ based on how prominently it features the company and the importance of the media outlet(s) it makes its way into. Thus an op-ed written by a senior executive that runs in the Financial Times, say, would score far higher than a press release picked up by an obscure industry journal.

This seems sensible enough, especially if, as the author states, content marketing and traditional PR are pretty much the same thing. But we’d argue they’re not -- and that a ‘score’ assigned to content based on these metrics may fail to reflect its value, for a few reasons:

• Media mentions are the holy grail of most PR campaigns, but that doesn’t have to be the case with content. Star billing in the likes of a Bloomberg TV piece is always nice, of course, but the whole point of the web and social media is that companies no longer need to rely on media outlets to publish, distribute, or connect with an audience. Compelling, informative content (not blatant sales pitches!) will travel.
• If you’re creating content yourself, you can include, exclude, praise or blame whoever you like. However that shouldn’t be seen as a license to bar all references to the competition. Including balanced information on competitors in a thought piece or interview suggests confidence, and that the content represents a broader statement rather than the (probably biased) views of a single organisation.
• As Contently acknowledges, assigning a value to a media outlet is difficult because it depends almost entirely on context. For companies in specialised sectors building credibility with a limited number of influential experts is probably much more important than connecting with the mass market reached by the likes of CNN.
• Content campaigns are primarily about building a recognisable persona in the marketplace, and loyalty with existing and prospective audiences or clientele. These processes touch on the intellect and emotions, and can’t be wrapped up overnight since they require a sustained voice. Excessive concentration on numbers in the early stages can therefore be counterproductive -- and demoralising -- since they might convince a company to abandon a content program before it has any real shot at making an impact.

All that said, we’re in full agreement with the need for any content marketing drive to have clearly defined goals, and to be measured against them. But these goals will most often have to be worked out on a case-by-case basis, and standard formulas will be difficult to apply.