Content Scorecard

From Reads to Leads is a newsletter for writers who want more. It's about marketing. Strategy. Positioning. Operations. Results. And yes, it talks about writing too. But through a marketing lens. If this was sent to you, subscribe here so you don't miss the next email.

In today's newsletter:

• Obsess over results

• Content Scorecard is based on 2 components

• How to evaluate the value of your writing 

• Get the Scorecard and start auditing your work

Obsess over results, not content

I said that before, and I'll repeat it now: content writing is a dead-end job. 

Nobody needs content. Business needs results. Traffic. Leads. Conversions. Revenue.

If you can’t show how your content can deliver those, why should they keep you around?

Content writers need to think like marketers. 

And that means you need to obsess over your content performance, not over em-dashes, Oxford commas, and adverbs.

Start measuring your content's value (even if nobody is asking you to). 

Because when you do, you can:

• Spot the problems in your content and understand how to improve it

• Market yourself by showing proof of the impact of your work

• Set yourself apart from “just writers” who never make it to the strategy table

Own the numbers. 

How, you ask? Introducing Content Scorecard.

Watch it instead ↓

How Content Score works

Content Score is a 0–100 scoring system that helps you understand which pieces support business goals and which ones just fill the space. It's based on two main components: strategic completeness and performance rating. 

1. Strategic completeness 

(up to 60 points)

Too much content is created with no purpose. It's not clear who it targets, what goal it helps achieve, where it fits in the funnel, and how exactly it's going to be found. It’s content for content’s sake — what I call random acts of content. 

Strategic completeness measures how well a piece of content aligns with a strategic purpose. Specifically:

• Who is it for?

• What business goal does it support?

• Where does it fit in the buyer journey?

• How will it reach the right audience?

I score strategic completeness by checking whether key strategic fields are defined. Each completed field adds 10 points, for a total of up to 60 points.

Field 1: Funnel stage – where this content fits in the buyer journey → awareness, consideration or decision?

Field 2: Objective – the OKR or business goal it supports → lead gen, brand awareness, search visibility.

Field 3: Target persona – who it's for → CMO? CEO?

Field 4: Main CTA – what you want the reader to do → download the guide, book a call, sign up for an email, get template, send a form?

Field 5: Distribution channel – how you’ll get it in front of the right audience → SEO, Google Ads, LinkedIn, Newsletter, Guest newsletter, PR and media, Co-marketing, Influencers, Reddit?

Field 6: KPI – how you’ll measure success → anything from the number of keywords in top-10 to unique visitors, follower growth, lead magnet downloads, and MQL.

If you don't know what persona a particular piece of content targets or what objective it helps you achieve, just leave the field blank.

2. Performance rating 

(up to 40 points)

This is a qualitative 1–5 rating based on how the content is performing (if published) or how strong its potential impact is (if still in planning). I multiply that number by 8 to keep the total out of 40.

To give you an idea, here is how you can rate your content:

• 1 = if it's not working (for published content) or has unclear purpose (for planned pieces) 

• 3 = if it has potential, but needs work

• 5 = if it's high-performing, it has achieved all the results you've hoped for

Your performance rating should be tied to the content’s distribution channel, KPI, and a specific metric tracked over a defined period.

This way, your total content score is a sum of strategy and performance.

Total score = Strategy + Performance

How to interpret results

After you've completed the Strategic Completeness fields (if you don't have an objective, or CTA, or haven't thought about distribution, just leave the corresponding field blank) and assigned a Performance Rating (required for every piece, planned or published), you will get a score. Here is how to interpret it:

• 80–100 = High-performing ✅

The content is strategically sound and delivering results.

• 60–79 = Needs work ⚠️

There’s potential, but gaps in strategy or performance are holding it back.

• Below 60 = Not working ❌

Either the purpose is unclear, the content is misaligned, or it's failing to deliver results.

If multiple pieces are scoring low, it may mean:

• Your content briefs are vague or missing key elements like audience, goal, or funnel stage

• You may not fully understand your audience, or you’re missing content for key stages of the buyer journey

• Content is being produced without any intent behind it

What can you do next?

Once you've scored a piece of content, the next step is action. Right inside the Content Scorecard, note what you plan to do with it based on its score.

Here are some examples of next steps:

• Double down on distribution – it’s strong content that just needs more reach

• Use as a model for future content to replicate great results

• Turn into a series to expand on the topic across multiple formats or posts

• Optimize for SEO – improve rankings with better keywords, structure, or internal links

• Optimize for conversion – strengthen CTAs, flow, or alignment with user intent

• Overhaul – major rewrite or repositioning needed

• Kill – it’s not worth saving — archive and move on

• Write – it’s in planning; greenlight the draft

• Do nothing – if it’s already optimized and serving its purpose

Make sure every piece has a clear next move.

Run a content audit using my Content Scorecard

Use the scorecard to:

• Identify which pieces are strategically strong and high-performing 

• Spot content that needs optimization 

• Prioritize updates based on business impact 

• Build a more results-driven content program

• Coach writers on what "good" looks like

A thorough audit turns random acts of content into a powerful growth engine and transforms writers-for-hire into true marketers.

See you next week

I've finally reached 3K followers on LinkedIn 🥳 But they changed something in their algorithm, so I don't like my feed as much as before. 😏

Kate

P.S. If we aren't connected already, follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. If you like this newsletter, please refer your friends.

P.P.S. Need a hand with content? Fix your mediocrity problem with Zmist & Copy