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Why do direct marketers have a such a tough job measuring the value of their custom magazines, newsletters and microsites? One reason is that they're often evaluated based on the amount of time a prospect or customer spends with the information in print or online — an inexact science at best.

In the past, DMers used research that was almost identical to readership studies produced by traditional publishers. The time spent on the content was also related directly to the amount of time that person was not spending with the competition.

A better scenario is showing that the time customers devote to an organization's content is directly attributable to either a buying activity or an inclination to buy.

Keynote Systems' senior director Carol Farnsworth presented an interesting study on the value of microsite content at the Online Marketing Summit in February. Unlike traditional Web sites, microsites focus on a key product or industry issue.

Keynote tracked respondents' behavior on three separate automotive microsites. Its research showed the more time visitors spent on a microsite the more likely they were to make a purchase. Even if the prospect initially was thought to be a poor candidate for buying anything, that probability soared after just a few minutes on the site.

More importantly, Keynote found that the microsites' information had a much stronger effect when a prospect was further along in the decision-making process.

There are a couple of important points to note here. First, relevant and valuable online information significantly affects a purchase. Second, a prospect who isn't necessarily ready to buy can be positively influenced by Web content.

And engagement usually isn't a one-time thing. Success with microsites and other online products such as e-zines relies on an ongoing delivery of content.

A look at what Procter & Gamble is doing these days confirms the validity of microsite content. P&G has seen incredible success with two content microsites, homemadesimple.com and beinggirl.com.

Home Made Simple, a Web site that offers household tips, has had nearly 1 million opt-in users. P&G uses it as a de facto online focus group. It's part of the company's product development efforts for Cascade, Dawn, Febreze and Swiffer.

Being Girl, sponsored by P&G brands Tampax and Always, is a microsite and social community dedicated to young women's questions about PMS, dating, and other issues. Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff has reported that Being Girl is four times more effective than a similarly priced TV advertising program.

P&G CMO Jim Stengel recently told PC World magazine, “Time is the most precious asset right now. If we can be worth [consumers'] engagement, that's the highest benchmark for advertising.”

From the looks of its online content strategy, P&G is betting on this, not just by driving traffic to these sites, but the right kind of traffic.

Engagement is important because it either sells product or facilitates the process of turning prospects into active customers. Traffic levels are one thing, but creating relevant and valuable information that gets visitors involvedis another.

There's a vast difference between simple online content and relevant, targeted material. Companies that truly understand their customers' informational needs and develop content to address those needs will profit most from the new media.

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JOE PULIZZI is the founder and chief content officer of Junta42 (www.junta42.com), a searchcommunity site dedicated to custom publishing and content marketing.