We typically advise coworking space operators that content marketing is a long game. After all, building your brand and cultivating an audience doesn't happen overnight.

But you can still get a quick read on whether people are enjoying the content you're creating and use that insight to make tweaks and improvements.

‍Here's how to get a quick temperature check on your content.

‍When we work with clients, we create individual email blasts to promote every new blog post we create.

Why?

For one, it's a great way to put your new content directly in front of your subscribers. It's essential to promote your articles rather than just letting them sit on your blog.

But, equally importantly, promoting your articles via email provides you with real-time insights into whether people are engaged with your content.

Here's how we approach this:

• Publish the blog article
• Create an eye-catching email subject line about the article
• Write a brief, compelling email summarizing the article, what people can expect to learn, and how they'll benefit from reading it
• Include a link back to the full blog post for anyone who wants to read more
• Distribute the email to our client's contact list

Then, we wait 72 hours to ensure we've allowed time for every potential reader to open the email.From here, we look at three key metrics:

• Open rate: The percentage of your subscribers who are opening your email. If people are opening your emails, it shows they're engaged with your content.
• Click rate: The percentage of your subscribers who are following your link back to your article. If people are clicking through to your articles, it means your subject matter is interesting to them.
• Unsubscribe rate: The percentage of your subscribers who are removing themselves from your email list with every blast. If they're dropping off of your list, it's probably because they've been displeased or disengaged with your content for a while. Keep an eye out for anything above 0.5% as a red flag. 

For every individual email, we track all of these metrics closely then, at the end of each month, we look back at what performed best.

‍Over time, patterns emerge.

‍It's important to note that your open, click, and unsubscribe rates will be influenced by a number of factors, including (but not limited to) how many contacts you have, how you acquired them, and why they subscribed in the first place.

However, looking at averages in comparison to past emails is where you'll find your insights.If you notice that your open and click rates stay steady or climb and your unsubscribes stay steady or drop, it's a good sign that people are engaged with your content.

And if you notice the opposite happening, it's an important sign that you might need to make some strategic re-evaluations of the content you're creating.

Metrics don't lie. Your email subscribers are the people who have given you express permission to contact them. And the way they react to your content will tell you if you're aligned with their interests.

Remember: content marketing isn't a set-it-and-forget-it undertaking. In order to be successful, it's a game of evaluating your metrics, figuring out what works, and being consistently proactive in creating the best content for your audience.

If you'd like to learn more about how to create content that engages your current and prospective members, book a free discovery call today.