Content marketing KPIs (key performance indicators) are metrics that give you a sense of how persuasive your marketing materials are at specific moments and also over time. Different content KPIs can illuminate different aspects of your campaign: Are you reaching the right audiences? Are there obstacles audiences are consistently running into that prevent them from converting to sales? How are people behaving when they encounter your content? How do they find you in the first place? What are they searching for? Once KPIs fill in these blanks for you, you’ll have a much better handle on your marketing strategy.
Keeping an eye on the right content marketing KPIs gives you a performance tracking battery that can guide you as you modify campaigns, launch new ones, and conduct post mortems on past efforts. All of that information can help make your content marketing strategy sharper, clearer and more economical.
But before we get into the KPIs you should be watching in 2025 and beyond, let’s go over some basics, like what content marketing is and why you should be doing it.
What Is Content Marketing?
Before you can measure content KPIs, you have to put out some content! Content marketing is a familiar subject for us here. The term refers to marketing that mimics the kind of content people enjoy consuming during their everyday internet activity, rather than relying on paid ads or other avenues of traditional marketing.
Whereas regular marketing usually involves trying to inject a promotion of your business into other content, or making standalone, overt bids for customer engagement, content marketing aims to entertain, instruct or otherwise provide value to the audience. This offering could come in a wide variety of forms, from reviews by social media influencers, to videos about your company or your team members, to informative articles on a subject related to your business, to an email newsletter, to your own social media posts.
Why Content Marketing Should Be Part of Your Marketing Strategy
First of all, as we’ve said before, content marketing is no longer optional. Over the years, it has started outpunching traditional ads in several respects, and that trend looks likely to continue. That is not to say you should abandon all traditional marketing, though different approaches work better in different contexts. But to cover all your bases, you’ll want to include some content marketing component in your campaigns, and you’ll want to take it as seriously as you do all the others. People respond well to content marketing, and it can sometimes be less costly than other marketing, so why wouldn’t you want your business to take advantage of it?
Through content marketing, you can achieve a number of benefits at once:
- Building trust with your audience.
- Establishing your authority or thought leadership in your space.
- Showing how your company’s priorities align with the audience’s needs and values.
- Building top-of-funnel awareness of your company.
Satisfied? Great. Now we can get into the real reason you’re here: the top content marketing KPIs to measure in the new year.
The Top 7 Content Marketing KPIs for 2025
Content KPIs are a bit like social media trends. They shift with changing platforms, technologies and audience expectations. While some metrics stay consistently useful, others gain relevance as new tools and strategies emerge. In 2025, the push toward AI-driven personalization, cross-channel integration and first-party data means content marketers are thinking more strategically than ever about which KPIs really matter.
Below are the seven key performance indicators that marketers are prioritizing in 2025:
- Engaged Sessions
Page views alone are no longer enough. In 2025, engaged sessions, a metric that captures visits lasting longer than 10 seconds, with interaction or multiple page views, have taken the spotlight. This KPI shows you that people arrived and actively consumed or interacted with your content, indicating genuine interest. - Lead Quality
Generating leads is still important, but marketers are now focused on lead quality over quantity. AI and CRM integration tools can help determine whether leads generated from content are sales-ready or aligned with your ideal customer profile. Content strategies are increasingly optimized to attract the right audience, not just a large one. - Content-Assisted Conversions
Rather than only tracking direct conversions, marketers are now paying close attention to how content supports the buyer journey. This includes identifying which blog posts, whitepapers, or videos were viewed before a conversion occurred. It’s about seeing content as part of a broader narrative that builds trust and moves prospects toward a decision. - Audience Retention Metrics
Keeping people engaged in a landscape dominated by short attention spans and AI-generated noise is more complex and more valuable than ever. KPIs like scroll depth, return visits and repeat content interactions help you understand whether your content is worth revisiting. This is especially important for building long-term brand affinity. - Backlink Velocity
Backlinks still matter in 2025, but now it’s about how fast you’re gaining them. Backlink velocity is a newer KPI that shows the rate at which your content is cited and linked across the web. A consistent upward trend signals increasing authority and relevance in your niche. - AI and Voice Search Ranking
With voice search and generative AI tools shaping how people discover content, keyword ranking has evolved. In addition to traditional search rankings, marketers are now tracking how often their content is featured in AI-generated answers or voice assistant queries. Optimizing for natural language and conversational queries is key. - Social Engagement Depth
Likes and shares are still useful, but in 2025, comment sentiment, saves and DM shares (content sent via private messages) are even more revealing. These metrics reflect deeper engagement and emotional resonance. If people discuss or privately share your content, that’s a strong signal of value and relevance.
Final Thoughts
KPIs in 2025 are less about vanity metrics and more about meaningful engagement, relevance and influence across channels. As privacy regulations shift and AI continues to reshape how content is consumed, marketers must adapt their measurement strategies to reflect how people interact with content without focusing on how many eyes land on a page. The takeaway? Choose KPIs that align with long-term goals and create content that earns attention, builds trust and drives the kind of action that matters.
Develop a High-Performing Content Marketing Strategy With Us
If you’re ready to make a splash with content marketing in 2025, we can help with every phase, including designing your strategy and measuring its effectiveness. Reach out to us here to take your business to the next level.