I spoke today at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in New York City (you can download my talk on Converting Visitors Into Buyers), and I was gratified by the response to the session, where I presented with a number of experts. Marketing by the numbers is an idea whose time has come. The session was well-attended—I am starting to feel as though direct marketing is finally getting the attention it deserves as the most important piece of any Internet marketing effort. So, if you’ve been hanging back, if you’ve been hoping that this marketing math stuff is a fad that will blow over, you might not to re-assess your viewpoint. Is your company still telling itself that banner ads deliver real brand awareness even when they aren’t clicked? If so, you probably need to take Direct Marketing 101.
Too many marketers are still running by the seat of the pants. A study that I saw earlier this morning shows that many marketers continue to resist personalized marketing, which must be preceded by marketing by the numbers. My suspicion is the math is the problem. Too many marketers are bedeviled by the math and unable to personalize.
For those of you that are struggling. Decide the purpose of your Web site. Calculate Customer Lifetime Value. Commit to testing. And above all, decide to do it wrong quickly.
Make the commitment to begin experimental marketing guided by customer feedback—marketing by the numbers.
