Learn about a quantitative maturity model for technical documentation. Use metrics to systematically connect content production to company-wide organizational value. Benefits include better customer experience, cross-departmental strategy, and content ROI that proves the value of a mature content experience. In this session attendees will learn: --The minimum metrics you should be measuring on your content --The difference between leading and lagging indicators --How to make an executive-level business case for content production --How to link tech docs to marketing and sales automation --How to merge traditional tech pubs documentation with more fluid support content --Why content metrics will help you level up

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Level Up Your Content Metrics
Sara Feldman & Neal Kaplan
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Content Metrics

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Goals
1. Make strategic decisions
2. Optimize and demonstrate value

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Senior Technical Documentation Manager
at Splunk
@NealKaplan
linkedin.com/in/nealkaplan
Content Experience Manager
at MindTouch
@SaraContentWise
linkedin.com/in/sarafeldman

5. Outline
● Setup
● Maturity Model
● Next Steps
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A “content” reminder
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Conversions
Micro Conversion
Move towards macro conversion
Macro Conversion
Tied to business objective
Example Micro Conversion Macro Conversion
Ecommerce Subscribe to newsletter Purchase
Content Publisher Click into content Share content
Support site Rate an article Complete guided help

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Vanity Metrics
Page views
Time on page
Number of unique
visitors
Number of active users

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Leading & Lagging Metrics
Leading
Input oriented
Hard to measure, easy
to influence
Insight into the future
Actionable to influence
Lagging
Output oriented
Easy to measure, hard to
influence
Quantify current condition
Confirm a pattern

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Leading & Lagging Metrics
Item Leading Indicators Lagging Indicators
Product
development
--% team availability
--Velocity
--# outstanding bugs
Milestones achieved
Knowledge Base --Articles created/modified
--Time to publish
CSAT, customer loyalty
Content
experience
--# targeted content
deliveries
Upsell, expansion

11. 1. Accept the challenge (this is hard!)
2. Tackle one mission at a time
3. Act like a 3 year old … why, why, WHY?
Game Rules
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Level 1:
BASELINE
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Value
Strategic Decisions
BASELINE
✔ Identify conversions
✔ Current content inventory
✔ Ensure tracking is enabled
✔ VIP content that is NOT
measurable (yet)

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To Do:
Take Inventory
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Who Can Help?
Sales Align the documentation to sales goals
Marketing Align the documentation to the brand
Explain how the documentation can
drive customer engagement
Customer
Success
Explain how this will help them with
customer engagement and retention

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Level 2:
EXPLORE
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Value
Strategic Decisions
EXPLORE
BASELINE
✔ Metadata
strategy
✔ Measure
conversions
✔ Measure all
content
✔ Correlate
vanity metrics

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To Do: FOCUS
● Areas of friction (high customer effort)
● Content placement opportunities
○ High value touchpoints -OR- Easiest to tackle
● Customer Success Paths (not only conversion-based)

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Level 3:
REFINE
(Boss Level)
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REFINE
Value
Strategic Decisions
EXPLORE
BASELINE
✔
Leading
& lagging
metrics
mastery!
✔
$ROI

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Leading Metrics Example
1. Look at new users and new IPs (unauthenticated users)
2. Track which content gets the most page views and time on page
3. Correlate those metrics to determine training curriculum priorities
4. Tie the users taking training to cross-sell and upsell opportunities
# customers signed up for training = leading metric;
renewal = lagging metric
A company using these metrics determined that users who engage with
training have an 80% higher renewal rate

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Boss Level Options:
● Advanced/automated content workflows
● A/B testing
● Personalization
● Predictive customer engagement
● Rinse & repeat (for other “missions”)

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Next Steps: Start with business objectives
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Checklist
Level 1 - Baseline
✔ Identify conversions
✔ Current content
inventory
✔ Ensure tracking is enabled
✔ VIP content that is NOT
measurable (yet)
Level 2 - Explore
✔ Metadata strategy
✔ Measure conversions
✔ Measure all content
✔ Correlate vanity metrics
Level 3 - Refine
✔ Leading & lagging
metrics mastery!
✔ $ROI
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Correlated Trends, KPIs REFINE
Value
Strategic Decisions
EXPLORE
BASELINE
Content-Based Conversions
Prioritized
Inventory
Content
Placement
Opportunities
Metadata
Advanced
workflows
A/B Testing
Personalization
Leading
Indicators
Metrics Momentum

27. Sharing is Caring
Join the discussion on Slack!
https://bit.ly/2EC6EtW
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