170 Int. J. Internet Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 13, No.

2, 2019

Tracking content marketing performance using web

analytics: tools, metrics, and data privacy
implications

Julia Maintz*
Digital Media Management Department,
Cologne Business School,
Hardefuststr 1, 50677 Köln, Germany
Email: [email protected]
*Corresponding author

Fabienne Zaumseil
coliquio GmbH,
Turmstr. 22, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
Email: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper first compiles content marketing metrics based on an

analysis of content marketing goals. Subsequently, current web analytics tools
are reviewed for their potential to support the introduced content marketing
goals and associated metrics. This results in an overview of content marketing
metrics and additional informative dimensions which can be tracked by
web analytics tools. The tracking of the described metrics and additional
informative dimensions is discussed with respect to data privacy. For this
discussion, the European General Data Protection Regulation enacted in May
2018 serves as reference framework. The findings of this study are based on
interviews with eight experts working as chief digital officers and digital
managers of multinational enterprises as well as managing directors and
content strategists of leading media agencies. Moreover, tools and features of
current web analytics tools have been studied and compared, in order to realise
this study.

Keywords: big data; content marketing; data privacy; European General Data
Protection Regulation; marketing analytics; marketing metrics; personal data;
pseudonymisation; semantic search; semantic web; social graph; social media;
social search; web analytics; web analytics tools.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Maintz, J. and

Zaumseil, F. (2019) ‘Tracking content marketing performance using web
analytics: tools, metrics, and data privacy implications’, Int. J. Internet
Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.170–182.

Biographical notes: Julia Maintz is a Professor of Internet Economics and

International Management and the Dean of the Digital Media Management
Department at the Cologne Business School. In previous affiliations, she
worked in academic and management positions on the topics e-learning/
e-collaboration and innovation processes in collaborative virtual environments
and online social networks for Microsoft Germany, the University of Bonn/
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, the UNESCO-UNEVOC
International Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training and

Copyright © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 Tracking content marketing performance using web analytics 171

Capacity Building International/Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung

gGmbH (InWEnt). She is currently interested in the topics big/smart data and
digital marketing, including web analytics tools and techniques.

Fabienne Zaumseil is working as an Online Communication Manager for the

coliquio GmbH, the largest online medical community in German-speaking
countries. She obtained her Master in International Media and Entertainment
Management from the Cologne Business School.

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Using web
analytics for content marketing performance measurement’ presented
at the Fifth International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues,
Thessaloniki, 21–23 June 2017.

1 Introduction

As early as the 1990s, Kotler (1999, p.206) envisaged that marketers would drastically
have to rethink their strategies and create customer value by different means due to the
ongoing digitalisation. Sheth (2000, p.55) predicted in 2000 that “just as the marketing
function gradually shifted from mass marketing to segmented marketing in the twentieth
century, it will increasingly move toward customer-centric marketing in the next
century.” In the same year, Cannon (2000, p.45) was the first author to make use of the
term ‘content marketing’ in a publication and noted, “in content marketing, content is
created to provide consumers with the information they seek.” The strategy of providing
content for the consumer instead of traditional advertisement has – in addition to content
marketing – been applied under the names ‘custom publishing’, ‘branded content’, and
‘corporate journalism’ [Pulizzi, (2014), p.4]. Content marketing, however, is not just the
digital or extended version of corporate publishing or brand journalism and comprises
more than just the writing of articles. As Light (2014, p.125) writes, brand journalism
“allows for the creation and curating of information, while encouraging sharing and
generating engagement.” Content marketing does fall under this definition, but includes a
more detailed explanation of the nature of the provided information. It’s worth noting that
the definition of content marketing has evolved over the years: In 2013, content
marketing was defined as the “creation and distribution of educational and/or compelling
content in multiple media formats to attract and/or retain customers” [Pulizzi and
Handely, (2015), p.8]. This definition was updated in 2014, highlighting more the
strategic aspect of this marketing technique and placing special emphasis on a profitable
customer action: “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on
creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a
clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive customer action” [Pulizzi and
Handley, (2015), p.8].
Content marketing has developed to a popular online marketing approach.
Performance measurement constitutes a crucial step in the implementation of a content
marketing strategy. Three interlinked goal-related focus areas of content marketing
subject to measurement have been highlighted: brand-related goals, consumer-related
goals, and communication-related goals [Tropp and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13]:
172 J. Maintz and F. Zaumseil

1 Brand-related goals focus on creating general awareness of the brand, in order to

build brand recognition [Kaba and Bechter, (2012), pp.897–898], brand involvement,
and emotion-building of consumers with respect to brands [Tropp and Baetzgen,
(2013), p.13].
2 Consumer-related goals are intended to create value for consumers through targeted
contents (Interview with Content Marketing Specialist at a multi-national
fast-moving consumer goods company, 6 March 2015, p.23) by following the
behavioural patterns of customers [Pulizzi and Barrett, (2009), p.29], by enhancing
the customer experience [Ismail et al., (2011), pp.205–225; Interview with Content
Marketing Specialist at a multi-national fast-moving consumer goods company,
6 March 2015, p.24], strengthening the relationship of companies to consumers,
building trust, and improving their loyalty [Tropp and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13; Kaba
and Bechter, (2012), pp.897–898].
3 Communication-related goals include the enhancement of user engagement [Tropp
and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13].
Gaining a competitive advantage and driving sales are stressed as ultimate and framing
business goals of content marketing [Kaba and Bechter, (2012), pp.897–898; Interview
with Managing Director of a German content marketing agency, 11 February 2015, p.21].
In order to enact the strategic proximity to the consumer which characterises content
marketing, the company needs to be familiar with possible touch points at which the
consumer can be reached (Interviews with Media Consultant at leading German media
agency and Content Strategist at leading German media agency, 9 April 2015, p.52).
In addition to fulfilling the purpose of financial measurement as such, financial
metrics allow for a comparison of other metrics. In general, metrics should focus on both
short-term and longer-term effects [Stewart, (2009), pp.636–642]. With the establishment
of digital marketing, new metrics have been introduced (Interview with Managing
Director of a German digital strategy consultancy, 24 March 2014, pp.40–41). Metrics
are usually “expressed in the form of numbers, ratios and key performance indicators”
[Bekavac and Garbin Praničević, (2015), p.374]. In this paper, Section 2 discusses the
empirical procedure of the study. In addition to metrics additional informative
dimensions leading to content marketing insights are listed in the Sections 3 and 4 (such
as, e.g., chosen entry page of user). So far limited scientific literature on the measurement
of content marketing performance is available. The current study consequently seeks to
contribute a systematisation of content marketing goals and connects them to
performance metrics and their monitoring through web analytics tools (Maintz and
Zaumseil, 2017). In Section 5, associated data privacy implications are discussed
followed by Section 6 which is the concluding section.

2 Empirical procedure

Results are based on interviews with eight experts working as chief digital officers and
digital managers of multinational enterprises as well as managing directors and content
strategists of leading media agencies. The qualitative interviews had an average duration
of 30 minutes and were conducted in 2015. The interviews were recorded, transcribed,
and analysed by theoretical coding (Glaser and Strauss, 1967).
 Tracking content marketing performance using web analytics 173

Table 1 Content marketing goals and associated metrics

Consumer-related Communication-related Framing

Brand-related goals
goals goals business goals
Creating awareness of Creating value for Enhancing user Gaining a
the brand consumers through engagement competitive
targeted contents by advantage
following behavioural
patterns
Brand-related metrics Metrics for describing Metrics for describing Conversion
visits visits metrics
Enhancing brand Enhancing the Metrics for describing Driving sales
recognition customer experience visitors
Brand-related metrics Metrics for describing Metrics for describing Conversion
visits visitor engagement metrics
Metrics for describing Metrics for describing
visitor engagement visitors
Enhancing brand Strengthening the
involvement relationship between
customer and company
Brand-related metrics Metrics for describing
visitor engagement
Metrics for describing Building trust
visitor engagement
Emotion-building of Metrics for describing
consumers with respect visitors
to the brand
Metrics for describing Conversion metrics
visitor engagement
Improving customer
loyalty
Metrics for describing
visitors
Conversion metrics
Source: Own compilation based on Pulizzi and Barrett (2009, p.29), Kaba and
Bechter (2012, pp.879–898), Tropp and Baetzgen (2013), Bekavac
and Garbin Praničević (2015, pp.379–380), Bendle et al. (2016,
p.328); Interview with Managing Director of a German content
marketing agency, 11 February 2015, p.XXI; Interview with Content
Marketing Specialist at a multi-national fast-moving consumer goods
company, 6 March 2015, pp.22–25; Interviews with Media
Consultant at leading German media agency and Content Strategist at
leading German media agency, 9 April 2015, p.52.

3 Content marketing metrics

In this section, the above-introduced content marketing goals will be related to relevant
content marketing metrics and additional informative dimensions leading to content
174 J. Maintz and F. Zaumseil

marketing insights. The following compilation of metrics and additional informative

dimensions is based on metric-related systematisations of Bekavac and Garbin Praničević
(2015, pp.379–380) and Bendle et al. (2016, p.328; comp. Table 1):
1 Metrics and additional dimensions for describing website visits are the following:
chosen entry page, landing page, exit page, duration of the visit, page views/page
impressions, click-through rates, rich media display time, source of traffic (referrer),
and communication channels used. These metrics and dimensions can be used to
measure and optimise the customer experience and to create value for consumers
through targeted contents by following the behavioural patterns of site users, both
consumer-related goals. They can further be used to measure and optimise user
engagement, a communication-related goal [Tropp and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13].
2 The following metrics and additional dimensions can be used for the description of
visitors: number of new visitors, returning visitors, repeat visitors, ratio of new to
returning visitors, number of visits per visitor, recency of action on the site,
frequency [i.e., “the number of times required by a unique visitor to take a specific
action […] such as purchase or download from a site during a reporting period”;
Bekavac and Garbin Praničević, (2015), p.379], communication channels used.
Metrics and dimensions for describing visitors can be applied to measure and
optimise the customer experience, reflect trust in offered products, services and/or
the brand, and reflect customer loyalty. The enhancement of customer experience,
the building of trust, and the improvement of customer loyalty can be categorised as
consumer-related goals [Tropp and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13; Kaba and Bechter,
(2012), pp.897–898]. Moreover, metrics and dimensions for describing visitors can
support the measurement and optimisation of user engagement, a
communication-related goal [Tropp and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13].
3 The subsequent metrics and additional dimensions can be used to describe visitor
engagement: page exit ratio [“proportion of those (visitors; J.M./F.Z.) leaving a
website with respect to the total number of webpage views”; Bekavac and
Garbin Praničević, (2015), pp.379–380], bounce rate, page views per visitor, average
time on site, click-through rates, e-mail click-throughs, downloads, rich media
interaction rate [“fraction of viewers interacting with the rich media”; Bendle et al.,
(2016), p.326], rich media display time, referring domains, numbers of friends/
followers, likes, and shares. Metrics and dimensions for describing visitor
engagement support the measurement and optimisation of the brand-related goals of
brand recognition, brand involvement, and emotion-building of consumers with
respect to brands [Kaba and Bechter, (2012), pp.897–898; Tropp and Baetzgen,
(2013), p.13]. Metrics and dimensions for describing visitor engagement also support
the measurement and optimisation of the relationship between customer and
company, a consumer-related goal [Kaba and Bechter, (2012), pp.897–898; Tropp
and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13]. Finally, metrics and dimensions for describing visitor
engagement evaluate and support the communication-related goal of the
enhancement of user engagement [Tropp and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13].
4 The following metrics can be used as conversion metrics: conversion [i.e., “the
number of successfully achieved set goals”; Bekavac and Garbin Praničević, (2015),
p.380], the conversion rate [“the ratio between the number of realised conversions
 Tracking content marketing performance using web analytics 175

and other relevant metrics”; Bekavac and Garbin Praničević, (2015), p.380], the
abandonment rate [“the rate of purchases started but not completed”; Bendle et al.,
(2016), p.328], the average order value, the numbers of friends/followers, likes, and
shares. Conversion metrics can be used to track the degree of trust in a product,
service, or the brand itself and reflect the level of customer loyalty, both
consumer-related goals [Kaba and Bechter, (2012), pp.897–898; Tropp and
Baetzgen, (2013), p.13]. Conversion metrics moreover reflect the framing business
goals of driving sales and gaining a competitive advantage [Kaba and Bechter,
(2012), pp.897–898; Interview with Managing Director of a German content
marketing agency, 11 February 2015, p.21].
5 Brand-related metrics and dimensions include: searches for/including brand or
product names, overall traffic volume, and the number of visits. Brand-related
metrics and dimensions reflect the degree of awareness of the brand, brand
recognition, and brand involvement. The creation of awareness with respect to the
brand and the enhancement of brand recognition and brand involvement have been
highlighted as brand-related goals [Kaba and Bechter, (2012), pp.897–898; Tropp
and Baetzgen, (2013), p.13; Maintz and Zaumseil, 2017].

4 Content marketing performance measurement using web analytics tools

“Web analytics refers to a combination of: 1) measuring; 2) acquiring; 3) analysing; 4)

reporting of data collected from the internet with the aim of understanding and optimising
web experience” [Digital Analytics Association, 2008; Bekavac and Garbin Praničević,
(2015), p.374]. Focus areas of web analytics tools can be the analysis of:
1 clickstream data
2 social network performance
3 visitor feedback [Bekavac and Garbin Praničević, (2015), p.377].
Freeware, open source, and commercial web analytics software for unstructured data
differ in terms of the compilation and sophistication of tools and features and moreover
the number of analysis steps which can be supported. Some of these tools offer the
functionality to harvest and store social media data. Some tools moreover allow for real-
time data analyses and visualisations.
In the following, an overview of content marketing metrics and additional informative
dimensions is provided which can be tracked by web analytics tools. The overview is
based on an analysis of the freeware, open source, and commercial web analytics tools
Brandwatch, Buzzsumo, Digimind, Facebook Analytics, Google Analytics, Meltwater,
Mentionmapp, Piwik, Quintly, Sysomos, Talkwater, and Ubermetrics (Buzzsumo, 2017;
Digimind, 2017; Facebook, 2017; Google, 2017; Innocraft, 2017; Meltwater, 2017;
Mentionmapp, 2017; Piwik, 2017; Quintly, 2017; Sysomos, 2017; Talkwater, 2017;
Ubermetrics, 2017).
Web analytics tools support the following metrics and dimensions for describing
visits (see Figure 1): in- and outbound links, site traffic, search keywords used, referrer
information, traffic sources (e-mail marketing campaign, search engine, ad), bounce rate,
176 J. Maintz and F. Zaumseil

clickstream analyses for tracking movement patterns through the site and associated
content performance, time spent on webpages, average time on site, top entry/exit pages,
searches realised on internal search engine, page impressions, clicks, mouse movements,
scrolls, ad CTR, file downloads, form interactions.

Figure 1 Web analytics tools track content marketing metrics

Source: Own illustration

The following metrics and dimensions for describing visitors can be measured by web
analytics tools: In- and outbound links, search keywords used, referrer information/
external websites, browser information, user geolocation (access country, region, city,
and organisation), demographic information (if provided by the user), providers,
operating systems, devices used/desktop or mobile access, repeat visits, mentions in
social media posts, top entry/exit pages, searches realised on internal search engine, and
file downloads.
In the following, we list metrics and dimensions for describing visitor engagement
which can be supported by web analytics tools: (numbers of) mentions of terms, product/
brand names and URLs in social media posts; numbers of likes, shares, posts, tweets,
retweets; ratings; hashtags and followers; sentiment of text contributions on social media
sites; trending topics; virality scores of contents based on the analysis of comments,
retweets, and backlinks (can be visualised in network views); repeat visits.
The subsequent overview refers to conversion metrics and dimensions which can be
measured by web analytics tools: Total number of conversions or percentage of users that
converted with respect to a predefined conversion goal, e.g., reach (X people reached) on
social network sites, numbers of likes, shares, retweets, creation of contents, file
downloads, repeat visits, form interactions, online registrations, account creation,
newsletter sign-ups, addition to favourites, numbers of events/specific actions realised
(e.g., video views), social network connections, and successful shopping cart check-outs/
completion of purchases.
Finally, we provide an overview of brand-related metrics and dimensions which can
be tracked by web analytics tools: (numbers of) mentions of product/brand names in
social media posts; numbers of likes, shares, posts, and followers; sentiment of text
contributions of users on corporate websites and corporate presences on social media
platforms, sentiment expressed with respect to products/brands; virality scores of
contents based on the analysis of comments, retweets, and backlinks (can be visualised in
network views; Maintz and Zaumseil, 2017).
 Tracking content marketing performance using web analytics 177

5 Tracking content marketing metrics using web analytics – data privacy

challenges

As described in Section 4, a high amount of content marketing metrics and additional

informative dimensions can be tracked using state-of-the-art web analytics tools. The
tools in principle allow for a seamless and continuous tracing of internet users’
movement and interaction patterns on (corporate) websites, (personal) information typed
in site forms, and moreover details regarding location-based access to these sites.
Content, network, and interaction-related information generated by users of social
media platforms can potentially be accessed via web application programming interfaces
(APIs) of social media platforms, if the API provider grants access to its API(s). Janetzko
(2017, p.147) distinguishes restricted and public APIs. Access to restricted APIs may,
e.g., be granted for data volume related charges. Access to in principle public APIs may
be reduced by privacy settings of users and rate limits [for details with respect to the
public APIs of Facebook and Twitter see Janetzko (2017, pp.153–159)]. In a legally
unregulated context, access to social media data can be granted by providers of social
media platforms. Technically, social data can be harvested and further processed by web
analytics tools. However – as described earlier – access is reduced by privacy settings of
users as well as rate limits and charges defined by social media platform providers. Apart
from the potential external access to and further processing of data generated on social
media sites, the intense social media platform-internal use of social data needs to be
stressed [Janetzko, (2017), p.159]. Processing data for advertising purposes has
developed to a major business model of the large social media platform providers and
other major internet companies.
“Several years ago, Berners-Lee (2010) used the metaphor of a walled garden
to express his concern about social media sites which turn into information
silos that can be accessed from within but not from outside. With regard to
Facebook this metaphor makes some sense. But it is too soft. Even by using a
Facebook account (‘within’) not all data is accessible via API or otherwise. In
this sense, Facebook is a huge walled garden […]. Twitter, by contrast, is not
really a walled garden. […] [T]weets can be accessed from outside via Google.
Moreover, by using a Twitter account most of the more recent tweets can be
reached via Twitter’s open APIs provided rate limits are kept.” [Janetzko,
(2017), p.159]
The practices described above certainly constitute a serious challenge to data privacy.
The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – enacted in May 2018 in the
EU member states – is intended to regulate this data privacy challenge. The European
Data Protection Regulation replaces the previous European Data Protection Directive and
the national data privacy laws of the EU member states. The GDPR defines data privacy
as a basic right. An advanced regulatory framework for the protection of personal data
has been developed [comp. Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 21, 89 GDPR; Meier, 2017; Schmitt,
(2016), p.27; Maintz, 2018]. ‘Personal data’ are defined as
“[…] any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person
(‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified,
directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name,
an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more
factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic,
cultural or social identity of that natural person.” (Art. 4 GDPR; Meier, 2017)
178 J. Maintz and F. Zaumseil

This definition includes the requirement to protect personal e-mail addresses and online
behavioural data corresponding to a ‘data subject’. Any provider of (internet) services in
the European Union has to implement the GDPR regulations [Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 21,
89 GDPR; Meier, 2017; Schmitt, (2016), p.27]:
• “Data subjects need to explicitly assent to the processing of their personal data. They
can withdraw this consent at any time. This includes the right to object to the
processing of personal data for profiling purposes (e.g., in marketing contexts).
• Transparent and clearly expressed information about the intended processing of data
needs to be provided to the data subject.
• The principle of ‘data minimalisation’ applies: It is only allowed to process a
minimum of data which is necessary for the intended purpose.
• Personal data may only be held as such, i.e., allowing for the personal identification
of the respective individual, as long as it is necessary to realise the original
processing purpose.
• The GDPR includes a ‘right to erasure’: If the affected person does not agree to the
further processing of her/his data, the data have to be deleted – if no legitimate
reasons justify their further processing.
• Personal data need to be processed in a secure way and protected against
unauthorised processing and theft” (Maintz, 2018).
Companies exposed to a likewise regulated legal environment which are interested in
practices conform to such data privacy regulations will face a completely different online
environment. Trading with and the processing of personal data without the explicit
consent of data subjects will be illegal. Also the tracing of content marketing
performance related to data subjects will be illegal, if internet users do not agree to being
traced. How can companies react to this refinement of the legal framework in the EU
(comp. Figure 2)?
One option for companies engaged in market research or interested in tracking
content marketing performance would be pseudonymisation (see Figure 3).
Pseudonymisation requires to process personal data without linkage to a specific data
subject. Additional information allowing for the identification of the data subject needs to
be stored separately (Art. 4 GDPR; Meier, 2017). However, pseudonymisation means to
lose the opportunity to (re)target particular data subjects for marketing purposes.
Another alternative would be to integrate user content in the development of business
models. A transparent handling of personal data and the association of the collection and
processing of personal data with product or service offers could lead to the granting and
retention of user consent regarding the collection, processing, and storage of personal
data. Bart et al. (2005) and Schlosser et al. (2006) show that a transparent processing of
personal data leads to an increased interest in a company’s products and services and
moreover to an enhancement of trust in the company.
Differing data privacy laws in different legal environments may result in
complications for multinational enterprises, companies engaged in e-commerce, or
companies storing data abroad (Edler, 2017). Interestingly, data privacy regulations as set
in the European GDPR may hinder the further development and use of semantic search.
Semantic search is based on the semantic web approach, the idea to create a web defined
 Tracking content marketing performance using web analytics 179

by contents connected through semantic interrelations. The identification of semantically

interrelated contents would allow for more sophisticated search results. Semantic search
is intended to provide search results to the user which are relevant to particularly this
individual. This would be realised by integrating contextual information of the searching
user as background information of the search query (e.g., past searches, geolocation,
gender of the user). In order to associate findings with a particular user, a linkage to a
data subject needs to be realised. According to the GDPR, this procedure would only be
legal in the case of granted user consent.

Figure 2 The European GDPR protects personal data

Source: Own illustration

Figure 3 Data privacy friendly approaches to the analysis of user data

Source: Own illustration

6 Conclusions

The provided overview of content marketing metrics and dimensions which can be
supported by web analytics tools highlights the high sophistication level of current web
analytics tools which enable organisations to measure content marketing performance
180 J. Maintz and F. Zaumseil

including conversion- and brand-related metrics and dimensions on an advanced level.

Web analytics tools also allow for real-time visualisations, simulations, and support
prediction. Many of the studied web analytics tools harvest data from social media sites
for own analytics purposes. They may however also serve as intermediary data providers
to other data processing organisations and software tools. The analysis of facial
expression in the context of image recognition as dimension of sentiment analysis is not
supported yet by the studied tools. In general, privacy and security concerns associated
with web analytics obviously need to be stressed. The processing and storage of user data
(including for targeting/retargeting purposes) affords the close monitoring of legal
developments of the users’ access countries and the countries in which user data are
stored. As shown in Section 5, according to the European GDPR enacted in May 2018,
user consent is a prerequisite for any type of collection, processing, and storage of
personal data. Web analytics practices challenging data privacy may finally negatively
impact a positive brand perception [Wedel and Kannan, (2016), p.113], so negatively
influence one key goal of content marketing (Maintz and Zaumseil, 2017).

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