Need to figure out why nobody’s reading your content marketing? Maybe you should take a lesson or two from a YouTube-sponsored boxing match. Wait, what?

Logan Paul v. KSI fight ends in draw reports the BBC.

Yes, you read that correctly. The world renowned British Broadcasting Corporation provided minute-by-minute updates of an event precipitated by online beef between two of the world’s least likeable YouTube personalities: Britain’s favorite budding misogynist gaming vlogger KSI and esteemed Japanese corpse voyeur Logan Paul.

Still, say what you will about the stars of the fight, the event raked in some serious numbers. The official pay-per-view Youtube stream brought in almost 800,000 viewers, whereas pirated broadcasts on twitch garnered an even larger audience – up to 1 M by some estimates. All of this is to say nothing of the 15,000 tickets purchased to view the event live in Manchester. That’s a lot of revenue for a bout between two men who are not, in fact, fighters.

But, Why the Online Marketing Success?

Logan Paul and KSI are polarizing figures. They both have die-hard fans and die-hard haters. In the new landscape of influencer media, they’re also far from alone. SoundCloud rappers, gaming streamers, and even prominent bloggers have repeatedly become the center of controversy over recent years, inspiring levels of hatred that was in some cases justified and other times bafflingly irrational.

It could be that the appeal of new media largely rests in its ability to promote personalities in a more intimate and less-polished way. This presentation is much more prone to exposing flaws and uncensored opinions. It could be, on the other hand, that long-standing morally complex geopolitical conflicts have strained our convictions to the point of a cultural obsession with antihero stories that has started to bleed out into the real world. Or perhaps these instances of division in everything from the highly political to painfully mundane are a symptom of underlying inequities across the globe leading to widespread growing tribalism in every facet of life.

Who’s to say? There is, however, one thing that’s certain.

Controversy Sells

To draw from the wisdom of Abercombie and Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries,

“Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody…  But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.”

As the CEO of a company that went from irrelevant to pulling in $2 B in annual sales at its peak – the same company that navigated multiple lawsuits related to discrimination – Jeffries knows a thing or two about both alienating and exciting people.

But the truth is that it isn’t even necessary to violate the moral sensibilities of the general public to become divisive or polarizing in your brand. In 2011, Kraft realized that people get quite heated over their sandwich condiments. Some people really like miracle whip. Others will straight up fight you for putting it in a Po’boy. Aware of these divisions, Kraft launched an ad campaign with polarizing reality TV stars to promote and capitalize off of the polarized opinions surrounding Miracle Whip, a strategy that provided a 631% surge in social media posting and 14% increase in sales.

Miracle Whip made bank by owning the fact that its product is polarizing. The marketing campaign brought attention to its divisive nature and, in the process, inspired deeper brand loyalty among motivated buyers.

How Your Content Marketing Should Capitalize

Most content marketing and blogs are boring and predictable. Heck, some of our stuff isn’t exactly emotion-packed, either. It can be risky to take a stand and potentially push away some readers.

Just wait til you see how much these two names fire up your readers.

But when you take a stand that ruffles feathers, you center the conversation around people who care enough to have an opinion. You can accomplish this by being provocative and bold, or you can simply embrace that what you offer isn’t going to be for everyone. Content marketing efforts, especially company blogs, traditionally strive to avoid polarizing statements in the interest of avoiding risk, but the unanticipated loss here is a statement that’s bland and unmemorable.

You have an opinion. In fact, I guarantee you that if I came up to you at a networking event and asked for your honest opinion about some industry-related controversy, you’d have no problem telling me exactly what you think. Yet, when you blog, are you pulling your punches? Why? Have you lost your passion?

Moderately pleasing people who never had any interest in buying your product or service isn’t exactly a winning strategy. Cementing a connection with your core demographic on a stirring emotional level is the real aim of any kind of marketing campaign. In order to make that connection, you have to take some risks.

The Fight Rages On

The Logan KSI fight is scheduled for conclusion in a rematch while the world waits with bated breath (and slight amusement). Commenting on the success of the event, the fight’s promoter noted in a statement to Polygon that “fans just want to see YouTubers — and want to see them do anything.” And he’s right. Influencers aren’t going anywhere. Neither is the provocative and controversial branding of New Media personalities. The take-home message for campaign visibility is simple.

Be provocative. Be bold. If you want to be heard, make a statement and ditch the boring blogs.