Traffic or engagement
I wrote this for a magazine but they didn’t use it so here it is!
Traffic…
1. No one likes traffic
In the real-world ‘traffic’ is noisy, dangerous, ugly. Perhaps we need to re-think what we mean by traffic online. To me, ‘traffic’ speaks of dumb online consumers, churning their way through life, whizzing, rushing, like clones, sheep, lemmings. Do we really want traffic to our websites?
I don’t think so - I don’t think the CEO, or the CMO, or the Ecommerce Director really wants traffic - they want conversions, results and business.
And increasingly those results that they seek come not from dumb flows of traffic but from real, high-quality engagements.
The first job you have is to start the journey of reframing your team and your agency from the endless pursuit of commoditised streams of traffic to getting everyone understanding the value of the result, and the engagements that lead to that result, over a treadmill like addiction to eyeballs, clicks, and uniques.
2. Make a less leaky bucket
In these uncertain times, one of the best things you can do is work harder with the traffic you’ve already got. Most websites leak results by turning consumers off, who quickly leave for the next competitor’s website.
Through guerrilla user testing, reviewing analytics regularly and using low cost marketing tools like email marketing to drive better results through the assets you’ve already paid for, you can make a less leaky bucket. Instead of buying gallons more traffic, instead get your online assets to work harder for you with the traffic you already achieve.
3. Get others to do the work
The smartest global brands have finally got social media, and often the bit that made the most sense to them was the opportunity to reduce costs AND increase engagement and brand benefits by giving consumers the platforms and permission to do the work for them. With our client T-Mobile we haven’t created (yet) a big fat website to drive traffic - we have instead mapped and then engaged with people online who are passionate about the topics that T-Mobile cares about. The result is that these online influencers take the photos and publish them, create the 30 minute videos and edit and publish them, and create the buzz and interest on T-Mobile’s behalf. Too many online marketers still take too much responsibility, and haven’t realised that the enthusiastic communities’ online want to participate - help them to do the work for you and everyone wins.
4. Fish where the fishes are
If online ‘traffic’ does exist, and we think of it as the combined time spent online of the target market, then it’s clear that this traffic is ‘out there’. It’s in the communities, forums, social networks and other social spaces online. Rather than assuming that to get your desired business results you need them to come to your website (the ‘driving traffic’ bit) why not explore the big brand case studies on how new tools and techniques can drive results out their on the network? I’m thinking of widgets specifically here. Our client Oxfam fished where the fishes are, and enabled Facebook members to install a widget that virally communicated their engagement with the campaign, but also allowed others to sign up directly through the widget. The result happens out there, on the web, not on your website, but does it matter if the goal is met?
5. Always be trialling
In American sales literature there’s a phrase: ‘Always Be Closing’. For online marketers it should be tattooed: ‘Always Be Trialling’. Online habits and behaviour change so quickly that as online marketers to effectively drive traffic and therefore results, we need to be constantly changing the mix. Have you tried publishing carefully tailored RSS feeds? Have you tried engaging in forums? Have you tried talking to bloggers? Have you tried creating a simple widget? Have you tried recycling product photos on photosharing websites? Always be trialling.
Photo courtesy of - http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbrink/752862951/
Will McInnes wrote this on 18.12.08 –
It's filed in the Business, Marketing, Social media, Strategy box
On December 18th, 2008 at 4:09 pm, Roger, Online PR Agency, C&M responded:
hey will. great post. i’d argue that some people LOVE traffic…. if it drives sign ups, sales, and wotnot for things that simply can’t be replicated elsewhere…
what you say is true - traffic isn’t the only goal in and of itself and those big metrics are misleading.
we all could use some more subtle measures of success - some relating to focused ‘conversions’ (on or off site.. for whatever the converted thingamy is), some relating to brand awareness (like comments, mentioned, posts, etc), and some related to co-creation (like how often people did stuff on your behalf).
i’m actually making that last one up as i type…. but think it’d be a nice one. anyways, that’s the job of social media camp anyways, right!!?? : )
anyway - can’t believe they didn’t publish it. i’d write a stern letter to the editor if i were you.
On December 20th, 2008 at 12:18 am, laurent responded:
I like fish where the fishes are; the problem (and big opportunity) being that social media has opened up an ocean that’s many times bigger than what existed before and it grows/changes very fast (traditional media, analysts…). For example I have found 800 blogs the niche of computer security.
Oh and you don’t fish in that ocean like in the others. You can just throw your line and expect the fish to bite. Nope, those fishes are smart and they tell everything to eachother. Indeed, first, you need to follow them for a while then you may want to get closer and closer and closer until they’re used to your presence. Ah but then you just don’t want to fish them anymore, you have a relationship with them. And they tell others in the ocean. You get trusted, liked because in way, you share the same purpose as them.