Measuring the Success of a Slow-Growth Model, Part 1

When Food Thinkers first launched in October of last year, everyone in the client’s office wanted to see the traffic numbers and analytics.

As a strategist, it’s my job to look at these numbers, analyze them, and make recommendations based on their insight. I was hesitant to show everyone the visitor data. Looking at initial traffic data within the first few months can be like getting onto a scale in the first few days of a diet (trust me, I know) …

It’s disappointing and demoralizing to see low (or high) numbers at first; so much so that success can seem hopeless, intangible, and ultimately not worth the effort and resources being expended. But in the development of any web channel or platform, traffic will come, provided that quality comes first.

I dream of viral

I had a hand in the creation of Food Thinkers content. I’ll be honest, I wanted the site to catch on like wildfire. I wanted Facebook and Twitter-like traffic.

I wanted that JK Wedding Dance viral hit that so many interactive and creative agencies these days claim to be able to achieve. Web communities are like little balls of potential energy, like a pulled-back rubber band, ready to unleash a kinetic smash of power when properly released.

However!

A kinetic smash of power …

1. Could have been detrimental to the growth of the channel.
2. Wouldn’t have served the goals of the channel.

Allow me to explain …

1. How can traffic be detrimental?

The example I just used, the JK Wedding Dance, may not be the most apt content comparison to Food Thinkers, but it’s the first one that came to mind, so I’m going with the analogy.

That video was the true definition of viral video. It was uploaded to YouTube to fulfill a basic purpose: share a particularly noteworthy wedding event with family and friends on a freely available content-sharing channel. That it was unique, fun, and easily consumable propelled it into the stratospheric levels of web fame. It truly went viral, as opposed to being produced as a “viral video,” which is something that doesn’t really exist. The condition of being passed virally is what makes it viral. Otherwise, it’s just a web marketing video.

Video that goes viral works because it’s not part of a larger strategy. Video that goes viral has no motive to become viral. It is stand-alone content that entertains. That is all.

The importance of building the platform first

Food Thinkers is an evolving platform. If a recipe got a viral hit, was passed around via Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, or whatever, and reached a wide, untargeted audience, the traffic would spike. But few would come back, particularly those not in the target audience. In fact, if someone were passed the content and found it of little value, they may essentially “blacklist” Food Thinkers from their browser and never return, whether or not future content was valuable to them.

That’s why laser-targeting your content to niche audiences for whom your brand can offer unique value is so key to your content strategy.

2. What are the goals then?

All strategies should do either or both of the following:

• Drive revenue
• Reduce costs

Don’t build a digital strategy that doesn’t accomplish one of these things. Whatever the traffic, if it isn’t serving one of these, it isn’t adding any value to the client.

Build relationships

The Tippingpoint Labs value proposition (the one we nicked 100% from custom publishing) posits that valuable, customer-facing content builds relationships that can influence buying decisions, and that drives revenue or reduces costs. A viral hit does not build relationships with anyone. Remember, JK Wedding Dance was stand-alone content. I watched the video, but I don’t know what J or K are up to these days. Though I do wish them well and thank them for the video.

Go beyond the numbers

Seeing a bunch of traffic numbers go up doesn’t necessarily mean that the client is making more sales, especially if the channel in question isn’t eCommerce-enabled (like Food Thinkers).

And besides, relationships — good ones anyway — aren’t built in a day.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 and find out what you do want to measure in the Slow-Growth Model.

About the author

Brad Schwarzenbach -

As an analyst on the Tippingpoint Strategy team, Brad explores new opportunities for clients to build relationships with their customers. He’s always testing new social media channels, poring over analytic data, and identifying emerging trends. He also speaks at conferences & events about uncovering powerful messages hidden within brands' unique values.

Brad’s research has contributed to the development of content & contributor strategies for such clients as Breville, Rodale, Long’s Jewelers, and Fusionapps, as well as being a frequent contributor to the Tippingpoint blog. He’s been “listening” to the way we communicate online since the old AOL People Connection days and watched the way that digital communication has evolved.

An English and Creative Writing major at the University of Connecticut, Brad’s spent most of his career creating web content and becoming intimately familiar with web theory for Bayard, Inc. and TomTom Inc., giving Brad keen ears and eyes to what, exactly, makes web content valuable.

Outside the office, Brad feels most at home with his beautiful wife-to-be Kristina, or on the golf course. “There’s a distinct pace and rhythm to the way people communicate online.  Understanding and taking part in them yields amazing opportunities for my clients to not only grow but to improve their business. I’m constantly looking for those opportunities.”