No matter what stage of business you’re in, from new comer to professional marketer, chances are that you hear one thing quite often. You need better marketing. Your system isn’t working. Hire us and we’ll reach more eyes. Well, what if reaching more eyes isn’t what really needs to happen?
A Common Misconception In The World Of Marketing
Back in the April of 1989, one of the biggest myth in marketing was born. The myth came from the movie “Field of Dreams” and is a famous quote that’s still being used to this day. That quote is, “If you build it, (they) will come.” While that may be the case in some brick and mortar locations, the reality is that building it isn’t enough, you have to market it, and you have to market it well.
The truth is that the reason brick and mortar businesses in the right location do so well is because so many people see them. That has led to one of the biggest myths in the world of online marketing today. One that costs companies like Ford, McDonald’s, and other massive names millions of dollars each year. Believe it or not, for the most part, they don’t know it.
The myth in online marketing is that if you take a broad approach and get your advertisement in front of every eyeball possible, your business will do well. A short while ago, I started to study the success, and path to it, of Russell Ruffino. Interestingly enough, his claim to fame has been a more fine tuned way of marketing, and it is vastly more successful than the broad blanket advertising approach.
As internet marketers, myself included, we get so consumed by the idea of getting the most traffic for the all mighty dollar that we don’t give enough time to who that traffic is. We figure that if we can get a click for $0.05, why spend $5.00?
It’s Not The Cost Of The Click That Matters
Ultimately, in my research and resulting case studies, what I’m quickly finding is that the big factor isn’t click cost. No, it’s the click the matters. More importantly, who’s holding the mouse!
Let’s say that you’re in the process of marketing wholesale shingles. Would you pay $0.05 per click if anyone could click? What if 90% of those clicks came from children, 9.9% that didn’t come from children came from people that have a perfectly fine roof and 0.1% came from an ancillary group of people with mostly minimal damages? The return on investment here isn’t going to be all that high.
Now, let’s say that you can refine your search, and sure, you may pay a little bit more per click, but this time, 99% of those who clicked were actively looking to purchase shingles. A good percentage of them are roofing companies that are looking to buy shingles in bulk and may become long term customers. These would be highly valuable clicks right? Well, that’s the name of the game. At the end of the day, the old blanket advertising concept just isn’t working anymore. The best way to advertise is to make sure that you advertise to people that actually want to buy your product or service.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line here is a simple one. As marketers, we’re often told that the cheapest click you can get is the best click. The factor that matters is eyes. However, the truth is very different. More eyes on your website doesn’t always equate to more sales. The key here is to have more people that are interested in a product or service like yours. So, instead of wasting money on the most eyes, it’s time to refine your marketing approach and make sure that those eyes light up when they make it to your website.