Metrics-based Marketing – Still a Phenomenon?
Metrics-based Marketing is still foreign to a lot of companies when looking at the possibilities marketing online. I am surprised at the size and scope of companies who are still trying to figure out online marketing. The resources abound on the Internet for companies to study up and learn the ropes of online marketing – in fact there are very few other disciplines so well documented.
At Downtown Ecommerce sometimes we get so close to our area of focus we forget that much of this is still new to a lot of people. I am of the belief that there is a widening gap between the “have” and “have-nots”. No, this is not a post of our two-class society but I speak of the knowledge of the power of the Internet and its ability to drive business both online and offline.
In fact, it struck me as a little odd to hear that Danny Sullivan (search marketing luminary) coined a new term at the recent PubCon in Vegas – “metrics marketing”. Many of us in the industry have been referring to this term, and thinking in these terms, for many years now. I do whole-heartedly respect Danny’s insights and thoughts, but this one struck me as a step backward. One of the most revolutionary things I have heard about online marketing came from Danny – the reverse broadcast concept of search marketing. This concept is predicated on the fact that traditional broadcast is based on getting the loudest megaphone and shouting as loud as possible and hoping to find the right demographic with the right disposable income at the right point in time. Danny pointed out that Search is the inverse – in Search the right person ready to buy now tells you what they want. To see that Danny thinks “metrics marketing” is the next big thing and what we should now call search marketing is befuddling – however maybe Danny is coming to the same realization that many more people don’t know about how to measure spend, revenue and profit online than do – if so, Danny and I are in violent agreement.
Before we get overly exuberant let us not forget that there is still a ton of marketing dollars out there that need help being educated about marketing online. Those of us who live and breathe this stuff are beginning to run too far afield of our current and future customers. Ask around, especially in the lucrative demographic aged 35 – 55. Here people are in the prime of their earning power and many people of this demo do not know about cookies and that, yes, you can count clicks knowing where they came from, how much that click cost and that you know what they did on your site.
If you need any help figuring out how to sell and market online give Downtown Ecommerce a call. We are happy to help.