How to Tie Content to Revenue: A Marketer’s Guide

Content marketing has always been close to my heart, even as my career has evolved to focus more on revenue and growth marketing. One surprising observation from leading marketing organizations is how often people underestimate the connection between content, brand, and revenue.

While content and brand efforts are traditionally measured by KPIs like engagement, reach, and share of voice, their role in revenue generation is undeniable. After all, every lead begins their journey by interacting with some form of content—whether it’s a social media post, blog, whitepaper, ebook, or even a Google search or AI recommendation.

It’s time to change the narrative around content and brand efforts. This guide will help you tie tangible KPIs to your content strategy, enabling you to showcase its impact on revenue. While specific implementations depend on your tech stack, these actionable steps will set you on the right path.

1. Give Your Content a Purpose

Creating content without a clear purpose is a wasted effort. Every piece of content should align with your objectives and key results (OKRs)—whether brand-focused or revenue-driven.

In my teams, content ideation and strategy are always integral to campaign planning. This ensures that every blog post, whitepaper, or social media post supports broader business goals, from driving awareness to nurturing leads or closing deals.

2. Busting the Myth: You Can Track Content

It’s a common misconception that content performance can’t be tracked. In reality, you can—and should—track content to understand its influence on the customer journey.

When I began leading teams, I delved into opportunities and wins to identify where customers converted and which content resonated with them. This helped me build a business case for enhancing our content strategy and scaling the team.

Getting Started:

• Manual Tracking: When I first started, I used a simple Google Sheet to track performance.
• Content Hubs & CMS Platforms: Modern tools make this much easier. For example, HubSpot allows you to host your website, manage campaigns, and track performance in one place. Simply create a campaign in HubSpot and associate your content with it to maintain a single source of truth.
• UTMs for Granular Insights: Use UTM codes to track content shared on social media or email. For instance, tie a blog post or case study to a specific campaign using UTMs. This ensures that both the campaign and the content receive proper attribution.

For HubSpot users, hosting your website on the platform is ideal. If your site is hosted elsewhere, ensure your team properly tags content in HubSpot to support email nurturing and account-based marketing (ABM) strategies.

3. Build Momentum with Consistent Reporting

Regular reporting is essential for understanding content performance and assigning attribution. Knowing which content pieces leads interacted with—and whether they influenced opportunities—can highlight the value of your efforts.

Best Practices for Reporting:

• Create custom reports in your CRM to track content performance.
• Differentiate content types (e.g., blogs, case studies, whitepapers) to spot trends.
• Review performance data monthly, quarterly, and annually to identify long-term patterns and wins.

4. Leverage Insights to Drive Growth

Recognizing how content drives growth and impacts revenue is a game-changer. Not only does it boost your team’s morale, but it also provides actionable insights to refine your strategy.

For example, by identifying high-performing themes or formats, you can replicate their success across future campaigns. Use these insights to guide resource allocation, campaign planning, and content production.

Prove Content’s Value to the Bottom Line

The next time someone claims that you can’t tie content to revenue, you’ll have the data to prove them wrong. Content isn’t just a supporting player—it’s a revenue-driving force. By tracking performance, reporting consistently, and leveraging insights, you can showcase the tangible impact your content team has on the organization’s success.