The content marketing bandwagon continues to pick up more riders, allowing advertisers to build long-term relationships with customers and prospects based on utility and trust. But increasingly, the conversation around content marketing is less about how it works and more focused on how to make it work for the bottom line.

BrightEdge's CEO Jim Yu estimates that $18 billion will be spent on content this year as marketers try to reach consumers in new ways. With that kind of investment, establishing content's ROI is suddenly in the spotlight.