Long-term success in performance marketing
We provide recommendations on how to be successful with performance marketing in the long term
I'm not an opponent of performance marketing and Namics also offers such as part of marketing operation. However, at the GfM Marketing Trend Conference I critically examined the following two questions in the context of the article "Long-term successes in performance marketing":
- Does the customer want to be "converted"?
- Do I sell the right product?
What does the customer want?
The classic understanding of performance marketing is to design the target funnel in such a way that a better conversion is achieved. Be it via clever segmentation or via personalization. Progress in machine learning opens up new possibilities here. But if the buyer wants to be converted, what does he think about a brand that does so in the long run?
As an example of a lateral thinker, I told the story of the Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, whose company became known especially for the campaign "Don't buy this jacket". Three days before Black Friday they promised to donate 100% of their sales (stationary and online) to 1% for the planet. Altruism? At SEF 2017, he clearly answered the questions: Good Business. The cost of the USD 10 million daily turnover is about USD 4 million (note the margin) and 60% of the buyers were new customers. A very good business and also excellent for the brand.
This is how companies should (also) think about performance marketing!
Is my product suitable for the digital world?
Communication has changed, not only between young people but also between my grandmother and her grandchildren. One is tempted to think that the organisation of the company and the way of communicating with customers has to change. Yes, but this is not enough. Products and services also have to change, they have to be thought "digital first".
As an example I mentioned again the oh so anachronistic credit card with relief embossing, signature of the holder and a three-digit number on the back (for security!). Nobody wants this stupid piece of plastic but everybody wants to be able to pay.
In other words I should only want to sell what fits into our world. So not lipstick on the pig but a digital princess, they all want to have ;). Then performance marketing is also fun or maybe it is like Karin Bertschi from Recycling-Paradies said before me: "If the services are so good, then the business runs itself ".
Theses and tips
And of course I tried to answer the title of my paper with the following theses, followed by tips:
- Thesis 1: In the long term, products and services that are designed from the customer's point of view and "digital first" will win.
- Thesis 2: Mathematics is the new sexy - also in marketing.
- Thesis 3: The era of lateral thinkers has dawned.
Tips for long-term success in (performance marketing):
- "Digital fitness"
- Evaluate all key figures in monetary terms
- Communicates honestly and at eye level
- Segmented (and therefore also the messages) are data-driven and small
- Employees and existing customers are valuable
- Planning, pricing and optimization are dynamic
- Has follow-up sections ready
And here are my slides for download: Long-term success in Performance Marketing.
The slides and the recording of my presentation can be found here:
