Case Study: Mailchimp

In just four months, long-form content created for Mailchimp by Compose.ly ranked on Google’s first page of search results. Find out more in our case study below.

At what point can an established brand take it easy with their content strategy? Let it coast, so to speak.

It’s a trick question—for any brand looking to maintain their authority online, there’s generally little or no reason to ever slow down. Why?

The low startup cost of creating a website makes it easy for any new company to enter the arena. In other words, the threat of competition is great. Even for the most established, recognizable brands, a sudden shift in search engine rankings could mean a drastic change in traffic and leads. For this reason, online businesses must focus as much time on maintaining their high search rankings as getting there in the first place.

Mailchimp’s Goals: Making Great Even Better

Few brands carry the same weight and recognition in the email marketing space as Mailchimp. But while best known for its email marketing services, this major SaaS company continues to innovate and develop its platform to benefit even more businesses, particularly those seeking help with marketing automation.

In fact, with plans to build out a new SaaS service in the second half of 2019, Mailchimp knew it needed help in expanding its existing content. Specifically, to continue the brand’s growth trajectory, Mailchimp’s marketing team needed quality content to:

  1. Grow its web presence further, and
  2. Outperform highly established and reputable competitors on Google’s search engine results

In early 2019, they began looking into various content creation platforms. After impressive trial results, Mailchimp’s team ultimately decided to partner with Compose.ly.

The Process

Compose.ly’s client success team quickly identified eight technical content writers in its writing community that were fit for the major undertaking of creating Mailchimp’s content. From April through November 2019, these writers worked in tandem with Compose.ly’s in-house editing team to produce 41 articles targeting highly relevant keyword phrases.

Month Words Commissioned
March 10,000
April 11,000
May 8,000
June 19,000
July 4,000
September 14,500
October 6,500
November 4,000

On average, Compose.ly’s writers produced five long-form articles for each month that content was commissioned.

Results

The content provided to Mailchimp was published shortly after delivery, and though less than a year old, has already begun ranking in Google’s search results.

In fact, in as short as four months, several pieces of content began ranking on Google’s first page of search results for their respective target keywords.

Target Keyword Monthly Search Volume Mailchimp’s Rank
a b testing 18,100 #10
direct mail 6,600 #2
direct mail marketing 3,600 #1
email automation 1,600 #2
e commerce examples 1,300 #8
audience segmentation 880 #1
abandoned cart 720 #8

But beyond simply ranking on the first page for their keyword targets, Compose.ly’s content also began ranking for many more related keywords.

One particular article delivered by Compose.ly, in fact, ranked for as many as 995 keywords in a span of eight months, according to SEMrush.

Mailchimp article 1 organic keyword growth

Others yet ranked for anywhere from several dozen to well over 300 keywords.

Mailchimp article 2 case study
Mailchimp article 3 keyword growth case study graph

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that the potential for an article to rank for more keyword phrases ultimately depends on the popularity and search volume of various keyword clusters. In other words, some pieces of content are more conducive to organic search rankings based on their subject matter.

Nonetheless, the results above speak to the efficacy of Compose.ly’s writers and editors in creating high-quality, optimized content.

Conclusion

Whether it’s Mailchimp or another familiar, established brand, any business can benefit from continually refreshing and growing its content marketing strategy. After all, high-ranking positions in search engine results not only translate into more organic traffic but also more potential leads and customers in the long run. Even as Google’s algorithm changes over time, the value of quality content remains timeless.

If you’re looking to enhance your presence online, get in touch with one of Compose.ly’s specialists today. We’ll work with you to create a custom content strategy to achieve your goals.

Learn how to work with AI tools, not against them. 

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✅ The benefits and limitations of generative AI
✅ When to use AI tools and when you still need human assistance
✅ Tips for writing effective ChatGPT prompts
✅ 6 ways to leverage ChatGPT for content creation
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