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Strategy

We Can't All Be Chuck Testa

The holy grail of content marketing is viral success.

It’s not necessarily a realistic goal, but it’s not impossible. To receive millions of hits or views, you need to generate very unique content that is funny, thought provoking, and resonates with a wide audience.
Take, for instance, Chuck Testa and Ojai Valley Taxidermy, a small taxidermy business in California.

Testa, the owner of Ojai Valley Taxidermy, starred in this commercial created by comedy duo Rhett & Link. It’s well written, well produced and it’s absurd.
While 16 million views is a lofty goal, content marketing can still generate some pretty powerful numbers.
Diamond Candles, a retailer that offers candles that may contain a gemstone, reached a respectable audience of its own. The company has more than 222k hits on a YouTube video and 56k followers on Twitter, and has been featured on the TODAY Show and NBC.
Without sales metrics, it can be difficult to determine what qualifies as content marketing success. From a small business point of view, though, there are some telling numbers.

  1. According to statistics on SmartBug Media, companies with blogs have an average of 434 percent more indexed pages on Google. Businesses that produce 15 blog posts per month average 1,200 new leads in that timeframe.
  2. According to Business2Community, the average visitor spends 88 percent more time on a website if there’s video. Videos about the business and and products will entice visitors to stay longer. However, length is also a factor. According to Wistia, more than 80 percent of people watch videos that are zero to 30 seconds in length, while only about 60 percent will view videos that are four to five minutes long.
  3. Email newsletters are another outlet for content marketing. According to statistics on Campaign Monitor, businesses are six times more likely to get a click-through from a consumer through an email than a tweet. Email boasts the highest conversion rate (66 percent), and is more effective than direct mail, social media, and other marketing tactics.
  4. Paid search engine marketing is a viable amplification method. According to Onboardly, B2B and B2C marketers reported that paid SEM was the single most effective way to promote and deliver their content to consumers.
  5. Social media investments should start with Facebook. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 66 percent of B2C marketers reported that Facebook was the most effective social media platform in 2015.

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