So you just became a content marketer. Now you have to report numbers

First time someone asked me for a “content report,” I froze. There were so many graphs. So many tabs. I thought I had to track everything. You don’t. The trick is simple. Start with the company goal. Then pick the few metrics that prove you are moving the needle for that goal.

If you skip this step, you end up showing traffic charts to a team that only cares about sales this quarter. That gap is what makes reporting feel scary. Let’s close it.

Step 1. Get clear on the company goal

Ask one question before you open any tool. What matters most right now.

Common cases:

1. Brand awareness: You are new in the market. Or you are rebranding. Or you are entering a new niche. Focus on reach and visibility. Track total and organic traffic, impressions, new users, social reach, and branded search volume.

   1. Helpful links: Search Console overview and the Performance report guide.

2. Demand and pipeline: You need more qualified leads. Track conversions and lead quality. Measure newsletter sign-ups, content downloads, demo requests, and how well those contacts match your ideal customer profile.

   1. Helpful links: set up goals in Analytics, then report on them later Google Analytics goals basics and legacy setup steps if you need them to create goals.

3. Pivot or repositioning: Maybe you are shifting from one audience to another. In that case, raw traffic is not enough. You need relevant traffic. Add checks for fit. Use an ICP checklist to define who you want. Then sanity check sign-ups and traffic against that ICP.

   1. Quick primers on ICPs: Qualtrics, Salesforce.

Tip: If sales need quick wins, report on conversions first. If leadership wants visibility, report on reach first. Let the goal pick the metric.

Step 2. Translate the goal into a tiny metric stack

You do not need 20 KPIs. Pick 3 to 5 that you can influence each week.

If the goal is brand awareness

• Month over month traffic growthAnimalz suggests 6 percent total growth and about 8 percent organic growth as realistic stretch targets for healthy blogs.

  • Source: Animalz benchmarks 

• Impressions and CTR in Search Console to see if people see and click your results.

  • Guide: Search Console Performance.

• Social reach and sentiment:

  • Intro guide: Hootsuite metrics.  

If the goal is pipeline and revenue

• Goal completions and conversion rate

  • Forms, demo requests, downloads, or sign-ups.

  • Start here: Analytics goals.

• Lead quality

  • Compare new leads against your ICP. Keep a simple spreadsheet with firmographic fields.

  • ICP resources: Qualtrics guide.

• Intent and fit checks

  • If you have the budget, tools like ZoomInfo can flag accounts that are researching your topics.

  • A practical intro: Intent with ZoomInfo. Balanced view on limits: Intent data pros and cons.

If the goal is a pivot or repositioning

• Traffic quality: Do sign-ups match your new ICP? Are the right roles visiting?

• Target keyword rankings for the new niche. Free checker and how it works: Ahrefs rank tools and Rank Tracker.

• Backlinks and referring domains in the new space. Starter tool: Moz Link Explorer. Overview on reporting content results: Moz guide.

  
  

Step 3. Core metrics explained in plain English

• Traffic by source: Tells you where people came from. Search. Social. Email. Paid. Use it to decide where to invest next. Handy primer: HubSpot on campaign metrics.

• Engagement: Time on page, pages per session, and comments. High bounce does not always mean bad. If the page answered the question fast, that can be a win. Good refreshers: HubSpot engagement list.

• SEO health: Rankings for your main keyword, total keywords a post ranks for, and backlinks. These are early signs that traffic will grow. How to track and why it matters: Ahrefs, Moz reporting.

• Email performance: Open rate, click rate, and unsubscribes. Benchmarks help you see if your numbers are fine. See Mailchimp’s breakdown and industry stats: Measure email success and benchmarks.

Step 4. Put your report together like a mentor would

Keep it short. Show the goal first. Then show 3 to 5 numbers that relate to that goal. Add one insight and one next step.

Example slide for a team that wants more clients this quarter:

• Goal: Grow qualified leads from content

• Numbers for last 30 days:

  • 1,120 visits from organic search

  • 68 ebook sign ups

  • 22 demo requests

  • Conversion rate from blog to sign up 2.1 percent

• Quality check: 16 of 22 demo requests match the ICP for company size and industry

• What we learned: Posts about “R validation” drove most sign ups and best fit

• Next step: Publish 2 more posts on this theme and add a simple nurture path for sign-ups

  
  

That is it. You can keep a larger dashboard for your own eyes, but your main report should feel like a clear answer to the question they asked.

Extra help when you feel stuck

• Traffic growth benchmarks and what “good” looks like for small blogs

  • Animalz.

• Clear walkthroughs for search data and easy wins

  • Search Console overview, Performance report, and the newer Search Console Insights update.

• Keyword rankings and link checks

  • Ahrefs rank tools, Moz Link Explorer.

• ICP how to

  • Qualtrics guide and Salesforce primer.

• Intent signals for fit and timing

  • ZoomInfo approach, explained by SmartBug, and a quick look at the pros and cons of intent signals today

  • Reply.io overview.