When you’re running a business or providing a service for consumers, you quickly become aware of the importance of time. One aspect that is universal for all businesses and service-providers is Return on Investment (ROI). Your overall success could highly depend on a carefully constructed ROI.

The metric is a mix of financial and social influences. This exchange of capital has to make sense for all parties involved. In short, can you effectively track dollars saved and physical dollars coming into your business? The result of executing this formula should amount to the overall success of your company.

This could mean an increase in productivity, more revenue and overall efficiency. The basis of ROI is the exchange of capital, what do you do with your dollars once they have been exchanged for your services or goods?

For everyone involved in the content business, ROI can also be considered a return on time. In Ahava Leitbtag’s book The Digital Crown, she discusses how proper content management can definitively increase creativity and productivity. This scheme can be applied universally across the board, for as a carefully constructed ROI formula can result in more time and more sales.

Now let’s deep dive into some of Leitbtag’s prized examples with ‘6 Ways To Measure ROI & Increase Productivity’.

Return On Time Examples

• Sales tracking: This is where an efficient sales funnel comes into place. If you’re able to track customers and engage with them based on where they are in the sales cycle you are much more likely to increase overall sales vs. using mass marketing and waiting for customers to contact you. This is a great way to guide people along the sales cycle as they engage with your content such as commenting on social or blog posts, opening emails or subscribing to your newsletter.
• Fewer mistakes: “Success isn’t always about greatness.” Keeping things consistent is an art form that should always be practiced. When combined with organization, this can create a new standard for your content. Less mistakes = more productivity. This is crucial in maintaining a carefully constructed ROI.
• Improved efficiency: Creating a scheme behind your content provides freedom. More time to manage, create and engage with customers. This can be beneficial in a number of ways when measuring ROI. It allows you to cultivate a production cycle for your content which puts you in a position to analyze which times work best for your customers. If you know when, where and how, you are in a better position to be productive across the board.

Return On Investment Examples

• Do more with less: Now that you have a systematic scheme in place. You are in a better position to execute more efficiently within your sales funnel and do more with the extra capital, with the same resources being applied.
• Fewer missed sales: When you are producing quality content, that aligns with your ROI, you are much more likely to produce more sales. Combining the social formula of consistency, quality and organization is a repeatable formula that can get you to the point of exchanging capital between you and your customers.
• Content drives sales: The beauty of producing content and simultaneously measuring ROI is that you have the control to measure and track customers on their journey, that is the sales cycle. This provides great research as you have the opportunity to study which content speaks to your audience and what type of sales tactics work best. This will allow you to further invest in content that will bring you a greater return on investment, in means of time and capital.

In conclusion, and to keep things fairly simple, if you truly aim to calculate ROI (return on time or return on investment) you need to pinpoint exactly where capital is changing hands. Once you have a proper sales funnel in place, you can track your customers along every step. This can include tracking blog posts, social media promotions, email marketing, etc.

If content is KING, then data is the KINGMAKER.