Madison Genthry 
Content is no longer confined to one place. It lives everywhere in websites, social media, mobile apps, emails, even voice assistants. Brands have the opportunity to reach audiences across countless digital touchpoints, however, this omnichannel presence can complicate audience engagement measurement. It’s a challenge to assess how users are responding to content when that content isn’t located in one spot. Marketers must establish new measurement mindsets based on structured content and centralized analytics and integrated data to assess performance regardless of where people are interacting with content.
The Fragmentation of the Customer Journey and the Omnichannel Challenge: Engagement Measurement
When content lives everywhere, customer journeys become fragmented. One consumer can come across a brand on Instagram, read a blog post on their mobile device, and ultimately, check out on the desktop version of the website. Each is a measure of engagement. But separately. Content measurement tools were created for individual platforms; thus, an omnichannel approach championed by fragmented content often prevents marketers from getting a full picture.
Content that lives everywhere requires a significant approach to measurement whereby engagement metrics are combined to show aggregate interest either in branded pieces of content or across the customer segments. Open source WordPress alternatives make this easier by offering flexible, API-driven frameworks that unify content analytics across multiple platforms. Only when true omnichannel content measurement occurs can marketers understand how content creates awareness, conversion, and loyalty across platforms.
What is Engagement? Every Impressions and Click Literally.
In an omnichannel world, measuring engagement is no longer a matter of clicks, impressions, and vanity metrics. Engagement now encompasses impressions and clicks, scroll depth, dwell time, social sharing, repeat visits, comments, and in-store conversions. It encompasses micro-interactions that indicate intent and interest above vanity metrics that mean very little.
A Headless CMS allows marketers to dig deeper into engagement by placing engagement measures into the content pieces where they’re most relevant. Whether through microservice opportunities for product carousels and embedded videos or through standalone projects like blog entries or landing pages, structured data empowers measurement that enables marketers to see the depth of where people engage most across channels. This granularity comes from a Headless CMS.
The Importance of Structured Content in Creating Engagement Measurement When Content Lives Everywhere
When content lives everywhere and is omnichannel driven, measurement is not feasible without structured content. Content created within a Headless CMS has the ability to segment every piece into a structured, modular approach with important metadata tags and identifiers that can consistently measure performance regardless of the location/distribution channel it was sent and viewed through.
For example, an article may exist on the website, the mobile app, and an email newsletter sent to subscribers. The structured data within a Headless CMS allows engagement measurement to remain consistent throughout multiple touchpoints because if people are engaging with the same articles with the same content ID across platforms, then it’s important for marketers to know cumulative performance to understand not only where it’s viewed but also how it helps engagement across the aggregate ecosystem.
API Use for Engagement Data Gathering
Content sent via APIs can also collect data via APIs. A Headless CMS is integrated with various analytical and marketing tools that collect this data in real-time as users engage with branded content across channels. These means of capturing engagement data in a decoupled system bridge any gaps between various systems that might otherwise be siloed Google Analytics, social insights, even CRM data.
With the accessibility of APIs, this means that engagement metrics can all be housed in one location for a compiled view for marketers. Views on YouTube videos, button clicks on site CTAs, and responses to chatbot messages can all be tracked in one portal. Regardless of means of accessing the content and engaging with it through varied devices and locations, it creates the same integrated narrative for marketers.
Measuring Owned, Earned, and Paid Content
Marketers no longer confine themselves to owned content (blog posts, websites, podcasts, etc.) alone; instead, they utilize a combination of owned, earned (shares, organic social posts), and paid (ads, sponsored content) avenues for successful engagement. Although they acknowledge these differences, measuring them separately indicates that marketers fail to see the big picture.
Within a Headless CMS, unified analytics generate an understanding of these three forms of engagement-connected content. For example, a paid ad promotes an owned blog post that features social content created in-house by the team. If all three are measured separately, they indicate low engagement; however, through cross-channel tracking, a higher cumulative metric helps justify such investments.
Event Tracking to Gauge Engagement Metrics
Marketers want to know how many people clicked on a CTA button to leave the page or wrote in with comments after watching a video. Event tracking informs brands about how people are engaging with the content beyond just spinning through blogs or reading pdfs.
In a decoupled architecture, event tracking occurs across all points of content delivery through tags or scripts embedded within the content creation process. Each event belongs to the same structured object meaning what operates as a metric in one channel or means of delivery will remain consistent in others. Such event tracking reveals how people engage what inspires them to click away versus drag their feet or return time and time again.
Having Engagement Metrics Across Different CMS-Based Analytics
When content is disbursed on multiple channels, it’s easy for metrics to get lost in the shuffle. The best way to avoid this is through a Headless CMS that functions as a catchall for everything. Whether engagement metrics API is integrated directly into the CMS, marketers can view the entirety of engagement metrics without leaving the process.
Ultimately, this means that teams can assess performance metrics based on channels and campaigns, determine which content modules are performing well across the board, and adjust accordingly. Instead of guessing what works best or what needs to be adjusted, CMS-based engagements transform awareness into educated assessments based on all levels of engagement, not just those separated by channel.
Connecting Engagement to ROI For Conversion Metrics
Engagement metrics really mean nothing without conversion metrics. A Headless CMS that connects with CRM or eCommerce platforms automatically connects engagement to conversion metrics in order to determine which pieces of content operate as content that facilitates either sales, new leads or new customers and retention.
For example, if a highly engaged landing page operates within a non-sequenced funnel that drives high dwell time, chances are that content is proven. If a link of a page has low engagement, chances are better that it needs to be optimized. By connecting engagement to ROI, marketers can rely on multidimensional assessments to determine true performance value across every platform.
Engaged Content Performance That’s Tracked in Real Time
Engagement performance can change at any moment depending on outside factors. Therefore, assessing what’s engaging in real time makes all the difference since marketers can practically implement insights without waiting for reports to compile.
With APIs and automation, marketers can acquire these real time assessments to know when they’re compiling a digest or publication what’s still gaining traction. For example, if an article goes up and the click-through rate declines, the Headless CMS should be able to inform the user maybe even recommend changing the title or image depending on current trends. Instant insight allows for real time campaign optimization so that marketers can tweak what’s necessary to keep audiences engaged. Instead of waiting for a report after impressions have been made, real time insights allow for engaged analytics to become an ongoing process.
Social Engagement Measurement Without Vanity Metrics
While vanity metrics are nice to have on social media, they don’t paint the complete picture of how engagement can build brand awareness and ultimately conversions. A CMS that tracks social data with content performance analysis allows marketers to gain insight into their social performance in a bigger context.
For example, it’s one thing to see how a social post goes viral. It’s another to see how that viral post translates into more site visits or how user-generated content expands brand reach within a shorter time span. The ability to cement social engagement statistics into a larger portfolio adds precision to content performance history.
Device/Format-Specific Engagement Measurement
We’re no longer a nation of only desktop users. We’re receiving information across devices: smartphone, tablet, voice-enabled devices and even through various content formats. Each offers different engagement metrics, which must be measured accordingly.
Headless CMS platforms allow structured data to assess where engagement levels peak or nosedive based on where users access content. For example, a Headless CMS can show how many more people clicked on “Read More” versus “Listen To” to connect to a podcast episode about an article topic suggesting that perhaps the content should pivot from written to audio. This allows for optimal conversion rates to be ascertained with additional improvement suggestions for accessibility across channels.
Predictive Analytics Measure Future Engagement
Beyond assessing current engagement levels, predictive analytics is a feature that can use historical data to assess what content types or focuses or even formats could generate higher engagement levels in the future.
When connected through a Headless CMS, predictive analytics give brands ways to improve formerly good content into great pieces that maintain audience interest over time and show which engagement efforts might fail down the line so they’re either amended now or assessed before publishing for maximum potential reach. For example, instead of passively waiting for lower engagement levels to occur, predictive analytics allow brands to take action on historical patterns before they emerge, making engagement measurement more of a proactive endeavor.
Creating a Singular Engagement Framework for All Teams
Engagement metrics often cross through various departments marking, design, data, and sales. The only way to make everyone work towards the same KPIs is to create a singular engagement framework that brings everyone together. With all analytics secured in a Headless CMS, every team can access the same information.
Furthermore, when everyone has access to the same information, it fosters better communication and collaboration. Content creators learn what audiences want and designers adapt layouts to reflect high levels of engagement while strategists adjust marketing efforts accordingly. Making engagement measurement a company-wide effort, not just an isolated operation, helps everyone grow from the insights.
Bridging Online And Offline Engagement Efforts
As much as companies are increasingly digital-first, offline encounters still count as engagement efforts. Whether through integrations with Headless CMS and CRM systems or through IoT devices, Headless CMS solutions can empower marketers to link offline and online engagement statistics.
For example, attendance at a physical event can be linked to website visitation afterward or clicks on email CTA’s. Properly tracking this information can allow marketers to understand how every step of the journey plays into the overall engagement effort digital or physical.
Making Metrics Meaningful
Metrics don’t mean much without translation. Marketers often fail to know what to do with engagement efforts; instead, it’s important that a Headless CMS empowers marketers to build dashboards and reports to help make sense of data collected from engagement efforts.
For example, if one specific content type leads to repeat visits while another generates client loyalty via long-term engagement, knowing that helps refine efforts. Thus, actionable insights transform these statistics into something useful for improved performance and engagement ROI.
Future-Proofing Engagement Tracking in an Ever-Connected World
As emerging technologies including AI, AR and voice search enter the scene, engagement tracking will need to adapt. Decoupled architecture future-proofs analytics since new data sources and tools could potentially be added at any time.
Marketers can assess engagement on future channels immersive, virtual platforms or wearables without tearing down systems and starting from scratch. The systems work together and apart to ensure measurement standards remain constant. With structured content and applicable APIs, brands can assess audiences where content may go next without worrying about current setup shortcomings.
Conclusion: Measuring Engagement in an Everywhere World
In a world where content exists everywhere, engagement measurement is not confined to one measurement or one platform but an interconnected, living tool. With the application of structured content, decoupled architecture and subsequent analytics via API, a marketer can ascertain proper insights across every channel.
Where once engagement was fraught with uncertainty, it now becomes crystal clear. Marketers can assess what’s truly necessary; how content fosters relationships, encourages action, and provides value at every turn. In an everywhere world, the effective publishers are those who can also assess intelligently.
