Content Marketing Trumps Online Ads [Case Studies]

Dean — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:23:33 +0000

Investing in creating great Content to share on Facebook, on your blog or on any number of online channels, may at first seem expensive. However as these case studies show the return on investment ROI far outweighs online advertising even when it’s highly targeted.

Case studies: Media publisher versus content marketer 

 Weight Watchers has a tremendous content marketing operation. It produces high volumes of content about dieting and exercise, most of which avoids any mention of Weight Watchers itself. Let’s compare it with a site like Fitness Magazine, which has similar content for a similar audience.

Fitness likely generates around a $6.50 effective CPM for the ads that it runs, a blended rate for its direct-sold and remnant inventory that is consistent with industry averages. Assuming that three ads are run on each page and that the average visitor visits five pages, Fitness would have an ARPU of about $0.10. 

Weight Watchers, on the other hand, does not run ads, but tries to convert visitors into becoming paying customers. Given its $194 price point and a conservative 2 percent conversion assumption, the ARPU for Weight Watchers is $4. What we see here is a 40X ARPU difference between the media publisher and the content marketer. 
Other comparisons yield similar results. Linux Magazine is a tech site providing content to programmers and system administrators. Given the higher CPMs in the tech industry, its ARPU likely is around $0.15. Rackspace is a major provider of web hosting, and it has a content marketing operation serving programmer and administrator audiences. At a $100/ month price point and 2 percent conversion, its ARPU is $24, an over 100X difference. 

Curbed is a highly successful site providing real estate content with a likely ARPU around $0.15. Redfin provides discounted real estate services and blogs regularly about content relevant to home buyers. On a $300,000 house, Redfin would earn its 1.5 percent, or $4500, putting its ARPU at hundreds of times of Curbed’s even at the most conservative conversion rates.

Read the full article at Why Marketing Will Fund the Future of Content

Develop a Social Media Strategy for your Business or Brand

bnmedia — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:52:04 +0000

Like most things in life, is you don’t have a strategy for your Social Media activity then you might find yourself lost and confused when the excitement of “being social” wears off. The video below is the first in a series of 5 that examines the 4 Pillars of a sound Social Media Strategy and provides a pathway to develop a Social Media Strategy for your Business, Brand or Cause.

Four Pillars of a Social Media Strategy

First Social Media Strategy Pillar – Listen

Understand the conversation in your niche or market before creating any significant content. Understand context and hear the pain of your target audience.

Second Social Media Strategy Pillar – Engage

Uncover your ideal clients/customers/partners in their natural Social Media settings and make contact in a way that enables a meaningful relationship.

Third Social Media Strategy Pillar – Connect

Create or adopt Social Media spaces where your new tribe can connect with your, your content and one another.

Fourth Social Media Strategy Pillar – Share

Having recognised and adopted the first three pillar. Share meaningful content in the right setting and context, that empathizes with the pain being felt by your tribe and demonstrate your leadership.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai9Eg9arZQU

Please subscribe for the next 4 videos in this series of 5.

Byron New Media » Content Marketing