I sometimes think we’re a bit mean to our content.
Ask any marketer about their content’s “performance,” and you’ll usually hear a handful of numbers rattled off like some sort of digital report card: views, likes, shares, saves.
Some teams go a little deeper, delving into how many people clicked through to a website page, downloaded something, or, if the stars align, actually bought something.
And those metrics do have their place.
But what strikes me as strange is how often we make a judgement on a piece of content’s success based on its very first hours of existence.
I can’t help but find that a little unfair.
Because if you think about it, we’d never measure an employee like that.
Imagine this happening in real life:
“Sorry, you weren’t popular enough on day one- you're out.”
“You didn’t make a sale in the first five minutes? Wasted hire.”
“Kevin (who none of us have ever actually met) submitted an angry comment about you, so you’d better be on your way.”
You’d never run a business like that. At least, I hope you wouldn’t.
Employees are long-term investments. They’re people we hire because we believe they can grow into the role, bring value, represent our business well, and make us better over time.
And sure, some of them are salespeople- and yes, we do expect them to sell eventually- but even then, we don’t judge them on five minutes of performance.
Content Is About the Big Picture
Here’s the thing most people forget: content isn’t designed to convert every single person the very first time they encounter it.
In fact, in most cases, it’s not supposed to.
Yet we obsess over its early numbers as if likes and impressions were the only indicators of value. That’s why marketers often feel crushed when something doesn’t “perform” instantly.
Because somewhere along the way, we accidentally absorbed the belief that content should behave like paid advertising: fast, measurable, immediate.
But content and ads are different creatures entirely.
Ads are sprinters. Content is a marathon runner.
Ads are your short-term contractors- quick, tactical, results-driven. Content is your long-term hire- slow to show value, but absolutely worth the investment when nurtured properly.
When you think of it that way, content performance metrics start to look a bit… limited.
Even misleading. Because the real value of content shows up quietly, invisibly, and often long after its first day on the job.
Content as Your Portfolio
This is how I’ve always seen content: it’s my portfolio.
When I meet someone networking, I know full well that some of them will go home, stalk my website (affectionately, I hope), read a blog post or two, or scroll through my social media to “check me out.” They’re not necessarily engaging publicly, but they are looking, learning and assessing.
Very few of my clients have outright declared, “I found you through social media”, but I’d bet good money that a decent percentage of them looked at my content after meeting me before they decided to work with me.
They’ve read something I created that genuinely helped them.
They’ve found an explanation that finally made sense.
They’ve seen my name pop up in their feed just when they needed it.
They’ve had a question answered by a post I wrote months ago.
That’s content doing its job.
That’s content being a good employee.
And none of that shows up in the early content performance metrics.
The Invisible Wins That Don’t Show Up In Your Content Performance Metrics
How about the things your analytics can’t measure, even though they matter just as much, if not more?
The prospect who doesn’t like or comment but binge-reads your content in silence.
The person who forwards your newsletter to a colleague because it was useful.
The CEO who sees your post once, remembers your face at an event, and decides to reach out later.
The quiet lurker who’s been “meaning to get in touch” for six months and finally does.
The team who reads your blog post in a meeting and uses it to make a decision.
None of these experiences will ever show up in your content performance metrics, but they’re some of the biggest reasons content drives business growth.
In fact, most content impact is slow-burn, cumulative, and deeply contextual. It’s not built for immediate applause. It's built for long-term trust.
So when we judge content like it’s supposed to produce fireworks within the first hour… well, no wonder so many marketers feel like they’re failing.
Maybe We Should Go Easier on Our Content (and Ourselves)
The truth is, “performance” is pretty impossible to quantify.
Content plays far too many roles- educator, nurturer, reminder, credibility booster, trust builder, silent salesperson- to be neatly summarised by likes on a random Tuesday afternoon.
And maybe, in realising that, we give ourselves some breathing room too.
Not every post will be popular. Not every piece will feel like a win. Not every insight will land right away.
But taken as a whole- your blogs, your emails, your social posts, your guides, your video- they form an ecosystem of trust. A bank of value. A reflection of your brand that grows richer over time.
It’s the big picture that counts.
And maybe, just maybe, our content deserves the same patience, respect, and long-term thinking we naturally give to the people who work for us.
After all, if content really is one of your most valuable employees, shouldn’t you give it the chance to actually prove it?
