In our course, The Digital Frontier, we spent the last week attempting to learn the value of conversion marketing and web analytics. On Monday, we listened to Robert Parker speak about web analytics in the digital world, and on Wednesday, group 2 presented on how to actually use the web’s analytical tools.
…and what did I think of conversion marketing? It is a tool for tools.
I made this connection after reading the following quotes:
- “Conversion marketing is when the consumer takes the marketer’s desired action.” from How to quantify and evaluate your online presence by Daniel Byon
- “Consumer marketing involves the customer performing a certain action directly resulting from marketing schemes….You may wonder; how exactly will the blog lure them in? The Gainesvillains will soon offer an irresistible downloadable mix tape.” from What Do You Want Me To Do? by Jackie Arellano.
It makes me sick to read what these students wrote. This causes me to see conversion marketing as manipulative and unethical.
Fortunately, a handful of students did provide value in their analysis of conversion marketing.
- “In order to see his unique visitors tally climb ever upwards, the smart blogger must add content that is interesting, relevant, and regular.” from What Are Your Book Marks by Allan Long
- “I don’t care about conversion optimization or any other strategy that derives its basis from convincing people to give you their time or money. Learning about these terms and ideas makes me feel greedy; the words seem soaked in do-anything-to-make-money avarice.” from Baptizing the Heathens With Commercial Marketing by Nate Stein
Now let’s make sense of these opposing views…
My take is that there is a conflict of interest in applying the funnel towards gaining sales. This is because, in many situations, application of analytics increases company sales at the expense of wasting the non-purchasing visitor’s energy. It is unethical to apply the internet in this way because it is a win-lose situation. It is only ethical if these new visitors, on average, actually find new value by stumbling across your website. A great example of this would be applying analytics for Citizen Co-op, so that organic growers can find a community business that care for their success (not for their money).
Success on the internet will only come to those whose goal is to create value for their customers.
Think about it…
Popularity: 8% [?]
Wow. First, I’d like to thank you for calling me a tool, questioning my morals, and saying I have no style or imagination ALL in one post. If you had a problem with my blog, it would’ve been more appropriate to just comment directly on it. Instead, you chose to bash me in an extremely public manner. I believe you misunderstood me completely. The weekly downloadable mixtape will undoubtedly create value for visitors to the blog. In that sense, I do not believe it is unethical or manipulative.
Of course everyone should strive to create value for customers, but it is impossible to create a website or marketing strategy that gives value to everyone and wastes no one’s time. In the cases you mentioned, there is definitely possible value to be found for consumers. (ex. the mixtape) Maybe you should let the consumer decide if there is value. Getting consumers to take the “desired action” is not always a negative thing, and almost always, the consumer is finding some value in that action. Otherwise, why would he/she take the action? I’m sorry that this type of conversion marketing make you feel sick, but maybe you should read some of Adam Smith’s work.
Business and the prospects of making money are tricky issues; we all want to contribute and express ourselves to the world, but we also need to earn money to thrive. Unfortunately, sometimes this sides are mutually exclusive.
It personally makes me feel materialistic to market myself, but this is, admittedly, a slanted view of the world. Who am I to say that advertising myself to earn money is unjust? Some people measure their worth by counting their successes and failures: I try to measure my worth by my happiness and life satisfaction. Personally, I do not derive happiness or satisfaction from business and other people do. No one is wrong on these opposing sides.
Jeff was trying to create controversy and feedback with his post and he definitely did that; he did not mean it as a personal attack, just as a clear and distinct explanation of his story.
Nate, it was never my intention to create controversy. This controversy actually created itself naturally. I will repeat what I wrote in my blog post above: It is unethical to advertise your business to make money if your business is not actually creating value for the people who visit it. Whether she realized it or not, this is exactly what Jackie has been doing.
Jackie, it’s actually taken me two posts to adequately “call you a tool, question your morals, and say you have no style or imagination”. I’m guessing you forgot about my comment on your last week’s post? (see below)
http://www.digitalfrontiersuf.com/2010/02/facebook-is-dead-blog-instead/
You will notice that I had a problem with your blog post, so I commented directly on it. You even thanked me for providing my feedback. Unfortunately, you did not pick up on the point I was trying to make. The Gainesvillains blog has provided me with far less value than what you caused me to expect. I read your post thinking your site is like “Facebook’s news feed” and that it would allow me to “stay up-to-date with local entertainment and be the first to know about upcoming events”.
The Gainesvillains blog has provided NO SUCH VALUE, yet you continue to use a Google Ad to put money in your pocket. The fact that you are planing to use web analytics and have been scheming to lure me in with some irrestible mix tape is OUTRAGEOUS. I’m a big fan of disco and house music. Stop ruining it for me.
Jeff, you know your intention is to create controversy.
It is quite nice to know that you think I’m so manipulative and unethical based on your misinterpretation of two blog posts. Of course I didn’t forget your comment on my last blog and yes, I did thank you for your feedback. Also, I wrote that blog post before we finalized our marketing PLAN (I hope I’m allowed to use the word “plan.” Is that better than using the word “scheme”?) so I apologize if it was misleading. At the time, we thought entertainment would be the main focus of the blog. This is entirely different from you merely responding. This was nothing short of a personal attack and you just confirmed that.
Do you realize it isn’t even my business? I’m not pocketing any money so I don’t know why you are directly attacking me in the first place. I didn’t even take into consideration the fact that Shaan has a Google Ad up on the blog because he said that he hardly makes any money from it. In fact, I believe he said after having almost 2,000 hits they’ve only made $2.50. Surely they must divide the “revenue” by the 3 creators, so if anything Shaan has made $0.83. They didn’t even break-even. I NEVER had the intention of making money off this blog. I even said it wasn’t our goal in my post. We are concerned with INCREASING DAILY HITS as STATED and building brand awareness. As I said, and I will stand by this, by offering the mix tape, the blog will provide VALUE for visitors. You are skewing my perspective by picking out bits and pieces and meshing them together. Stop accusing me of being unethical because it’s simply unsubstantiated.
Scheme is defined as “a plan, design, or program of action to be followed; project.”
I see nothing wrong with using that term, though you are CHOOSING to misinterpret it. I did not mean for it to be understood as an “underhanded plot.”
Overall, I think the main point here is that you’re grossly exaggerating the DICTION I’ve used in my posts. Obviously, I have to be more careful and not use words like “lure” and “irresistible.” I was sadly unaware that someone would be scrutinizing every word and taking everything so literally. I’ll make sure to use a thesaurus next time to avoid being called a tool.
My goal for this course is to be an active participant in the learning process. We learned that if a customer is unhappy with your company, then it is only to your benefit that that dissatisfaction be brought to your attention. You are a representative of the Gainesvillains, and I am a dissatisfied customer. It is my job to express my opinion, and it is your job to address it.
You and I apparently have different perspectives on this matter. Does anyone else want to share their perspective?
Jeff,
I’m not going to argue with you, because I don’t think that’s necessarily going to be productive, but I just want to say that I don’t think it’s fair that you implied that my use of the funnel in my post and my company’s use of the funnel is in any way negative. I mentioned the funnel because it’s a basic concept of conversion marketing. Some company’s may use the funnel idea to gain sales, but (if you take the time to actually read my post and the comments beneath it) you can see that that’s clearly not the motive of my company.
All I’m asking you to do is please take the time to make sure you have all the facts straight before you start calling people/companies “unethical” or imply that something they’re doing is wrong.
Sorry, my grammar was off in my last comment. I meant to say “some companies may use the funnel…” not “some company’s.”
Hey Kendal,
Thanks for joining in!
I did not mean to imply that your use of the funnel is unethical. I linked to your blog because I wanted to provide my readers with a good explanation of how to use the funnel for conversion marketing. Now that I have read your post in further detail, it is also a great explanation of how to use the funnel in an ethical manner.
I think the bigger question raised by Jackie’s comments isn’t whether SHE intended anything; clearly they were hyperbolic. The question is why did she choose those words? Why a word like “scheme” and “lure” be suitable hyperbolic words when speaking of conversion marketing. Because, as Jeff has pointed out, conversion marketing, much like anything business related, can be and is exploited by companies who really are out to scheme and lure. Sometimes the scheming isn’t super evil or hidden. For example Apple’s iTunes rips CD’s into AAC files which can conveniantly only be played on iPods. It’s essentially an elaborate scheme to force you to use more Apple products once you use one. Schemes and lures are what marketers love to use, and it’s sad I have to see blogs and facebook get taken over by them.
Exactly, Matt. I used those words carelessly and clearly didn’t think about how they could be interpreted. It was inappropriate to use those terms in the context of conversion marketing, and I see that. I admitted that I have to be much more careful next time with my diction. I was just surprised that someone who doesn’t know me could judge my character based on a few adjectives and nouns I chose to use in a blog post. Oh wait, that’s right… two blog posts and counting. Lesson learned and the wheels keep turning.
[...] line. Just look at the contrast of tones from my first post, Who is Jeff Goetz?, to one of my last, Conversion Marketing is a Tool for Tools. You may have also have wondered why I chose to discontinue my weakly posts, earning zero credit [...]