What KPIs and metrics can you recommend to use to measure the demand generation function + content marketing function?

What is the objective that you want to drive? Is it customer acquisition? Is the top of your funnel healthy, but conversions aren’t? Are you looking at optimizing cost and campaign performance?

The answers to the above questions should give you the primary metrics and KPIs that you need to monitor.

Some metrics that will show up are:

• MQLs, SQLs, etc., which help you monitor your customer acquisition strategy

• Metrics like, Sign ups, Meetings completed, Pipeline, Win Rate, Conversion of MQLs to SQLs, etc. can help you focus on conversions and pipeline health

• Tracking Cost per Lead, Cost per customer, etc. are metrics that’d help you manage campaign performance

Content metrics can range from website related - bounce rate, user engagement, leads generated, page views, to time spent on page, etc. But the ultimate test lies in conversions.

Apart from the above, a continuous analysis of campaigns, source of SQLs, wins, etc. channels that are effective, will help you determine areas that are working and areas that need work.

If Demand Generation and Content Marketing were to share a single KPI, Marketing Engaged Leads (MELs)—also known as leads generated or new emails in the system—would be ideal.
MELs provide a clear view of top-of-funnel content performance, it answers which blog posts, landing pages, and ad creatives drive new signups and grow the lead base. This KPI is powerful for understanding if content is attracting the right leads and if Demand Generation can scale paid traffic to that specific content effectively.

However, there are additional KPIs and metrics to consider:

For Pure Awareness Efforts: Content marketing can be assessed through web traffic metrics, such as page views and visits. It’s crucial to exclude any artificial traffic boosts, like those from paid promotion or newsletters, to get an accurate picture. I recall a time when a niche topic seemed highly successful in page views, only to later realize the blog post’s high traffic came primarily from onboarding emails rather than organic interest.

Further Down the Funnel: Content and Demand Gen can align on KPIs like opportunity creation and revenue influenced by content. For instance, did a particular piece of content serve as the last touchpoint before someone started a trial or before sales created an opportunity? This alignment is even stronger when the sales team leverages content in outbound efforts, showcasing its value directly in the sales process.