Vanity Metrics vs Real Engagement - what I learned from writing a blog every day in January

Have you ever written a blog every day for an entire month and measured the results? I have. This January, I challenged myself to write one blog post each (work)day and aimed to analyze the results in detail - what worked, what generated the most engagement and so on.

At first, I was focused on hitting refresh on my browser regularly, measuring the likes, shares and interactions that came from my posts. But after a while, it all started feeling like vanity metrics - what was I trying to achieve by refreshing my screen every few hours? I was getting some great DM's and leads through my site, so did the metrics matter?

The answer is simply no.

What mattered was personal connection

What really mattered to me was connecting with old industry friends, some I haven't seen in almost three years, working on my SEO skills, and new skills I could apply to my client's work.

My content ranged from informational pieces to opinion content and amusing anecdotes (did you read the story?) with a few infographics thrown in too — anything that struck me as relevant or interesting to share, I created. I didn't put a content plan together for this month as I wanted to focus on writing whatever I wanted and trying lots of different tactics. For the next phase of my writing, I'll get back to my content plan and perhaps share how I'm putting that together too - if that's helpful for you to read.

As far as SEO goes, it allowed me to experiment with various keywords and phrases related to the events industry and my copywriting services whilst also connecting with people who shared the same interests as me - I've made some awesome new connections with creative people, which has opened up a new path of collaboration that I hadn't thought of before.

These conversations were invaluable and ultimately helped shape how I approach blogging in the future. 

Whilst writing every day was hard, I think my latest post of the day was close to 11 pm after a day of meetings in London, it was a challenge well worth doing as I've ended up having my best month of the year so far ;-).

Would I do it again? Perhaps if I've got a specific story to tell, but for now, I'll go back to my weekly musings when inspiration strikes and my content plan kicks in.

Have a great weekend, we'll be back next week.

Matt