Electronic document optimization from marketing

In order to maximize the effectiveness of their electronic document distribution campaigns, marketers need to

  • measure how readers use and interact with documents
  • adjust style and content elements of documents accordingly

In recent years it has become very common for business-to-business marketers to distribute content in the form of PDF files. Electronic documents are now a cornerstone of many market education and demand generation strategies. Marketers have embraced PDF as an efficient and effective tool for achieving two key goals:

  1. Deliver content to readers.
    Marketers hope to reach
    • readers within a specific target audience
    • as many readers as possible within that target audience
  2. Engage readers with content.
    Marketers aim to provide documents that are
    • relevant to their target readers
    • compelling, informative and well-presented

Optimizing document performance

Marketers who wish to ensure that their content is achieving these goals with maximum efficiency and effectiveness must test their documents and measure reader behavior in order to answers to key questions like

  • Who is reading the document?
  • Do readers look at the whole document or just parts of it?
  • How many readers look at the document once and how many open it repeatedly?

By answering questions of this type, marketers can identify and adjust the parts of their documents that are not engaging the target audience to a satisfactory extent. This applies not only the text itself but also

  • Design and layout (appearance and positioning of text, graphics etc.)
  • Distribution (how the document is delivered to readers)
  • Interactive elements (forms, surveys etc.)

Setting document goals and objectives

In order to determine which elements of reader behavior should be measured, marketers must set clear goal and objectives for their documents. Marketers publish various types of document, each of which has a broad set of goals and objectives associated with it. The following examples illustrate the goals and objectives of three common document types.

  • Data sheets (product specifications)
    • Key goal: educate prospects about a product
    • Specific objective: provide readers with product information that is easily comprehensible and engaging enough that they read the entire content
  • White papers (educational thought leadership pieces)
    • Key goal: generate and qualify sales leads
    • Specific objective: engage prospects with relevant, interesting content and encourage them to provide their contact and demographic data
  • Case studies (customer success stories)
    • Key goal: demonstrate the value of a product
    • Specific objective: use compelling examples of customer success to convince prospective customers about a product's usefulness

Document analytics solutions for marketers

It is important to remember that the specific elements of reader behavior that should be measured will be different for every document. No two documents are alike, so the effectiveness of each must be judged according to its own unique objectives.

In order to optimize documents, marketers must collect different reader engagement data from each and every document. Unfortunately, the standard PDF technology does not have any features that help marketers to measure reader behaviour in this much detail.

Vitrium Systems has designed docmetrics to fulfill the need for electronic document optimization software. To learn more about this unique web-based system and how it can benefit your business, simply click on the link below.

Learn More About Docmetrics

Copyright Vitrium Systems, 2008

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