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# Daily Lab: The views don’t matter
- URL: https://kelfordinc.com/daily-lab-the-views-dont-matter/
- Published: 2023-06-08T10:22:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-27T17:32:05.000Z
- Description: Why views are like packing peanuts.
- Author: Joel Kelly
- Tags: Daily Labs, content, value, signal, myth

I’ve spent about 20 years in and around the content marketing business.

And here’s what I can tell you:

**The views don’t matter and going viral doesn’t help.**

Instead, views are like [packing peanuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam%5Fpeanut).

They’re incredibly useful, and the more the better. **IF** you’re sending out something valuable with them. And **IF** you have a way of recycling or reusing or repurposing them.

**The views, like the packing peanuts, carry the idea, but they are nothing by themselves but a distraction or a waste.**

A million packing peanuts you have no plan for are not helpful. In fact, they may be actively unhelpful, and harmful to you and your environment.

And a million views you didn’t expect, or a million views you can’t repurpose into leads, or a million views on your least relevant content—that’s just going to clutter up your life, distract you from your goal, and probably gain you a lot more criticism and scrutiny than you’d hoped for.

So don’t optimize for going viral.

Optimize for [demonstrating value](https://kelfordinc.com/framework-valuable-content/).

Then, when people notice, they’re noticing more than the packaging.

**They’re noticing the value.**

🧠

This post contains 100% organic content, no generative AI was used in its creation.