Does PPC kill innovation and creativity?
You’ve got a great website. You’ve got a switched-on digital team. You’ve got funky ads, and your consumer segment is buzzing every time the brand says something.
But sales aren’t so great, not really. You’re doing OK, but the cost per click is rising, so the budget is stretched and there’s a new competitor on the block…
…which reminds me of a scene from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, where the Messiah says: “Look, you’ve got it all wrong. You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody. You’ve got to think for yourselves. You’re all individuals.”
And the crowd replies, “Yes, we’re all individuals.”
And Brian says, “You’re all different.”
And the crowd replies, “Yes, we are all different.”
And that brings me to PPC
Your team loves the idea of content-based marketing but, frankly, they don’t have the skill or the inclination to write effective content. Your market personas are set in stone because the marketing team says so. So, content creation got farmed out to writers. The contract got you 500 words a week from a Sixth Former who can optimise for search, but doesn’t know one end of your customer from the other.
It hasn’t worked, so your budget’s been diverted into pay-per-click (PPC). Suddenly, you’re first in search for a term you aren’t quite sure you’ve ever heard before, and site traffic is up.
OK, the dwell time is down and the bounce rate is up but they’re coming, right?
Brian: “You’re all individuals.”
Crowd: “Yes, we’re all individuals.”
Brian: “You’re all different.”
Crowd: “Yes, we are all different.”
Single person in the crowd: “I’m not.”
Crowd: “Sshh!”
PPC can keep you at the top of search results. It may pull people in and show visitors what you do – today. What it can’t do is meet your need for differentiation; it won’t future-proof you.
In our blog ‘The business return on intellectual investment in innovation.’ we make the case for stepping back from the routine of daily business. Instead of increasing your online budget, why not consider the root cause? Why not divert a bit of the budget away from PPC and on to creating an innovative view of your business?
room44 is rooted in the belief that innovation, creativity and consumer-centricity set brands apart from their competitors. It takes some compartmentalising at the top of the management pile to trust Marketing to carry on as usual, and take some team members to build out your future vision.
That’s why we’re here:
To introduce a process; to moderate it; to create a roadmap; and to drive the process so you see a plan emerge. A plan that provides you with visibility of a new revenue stream and the strong possibility of generating a return on the investment by:
- Increasing sales through a quicker time to market.
- Increasing sales from having more ‘hits’ as a % of ideas started.
Your choice is to be one of the crowd and do what they do – or be that, while you work on the new innovation.
You can get a copy of our free guide to ‘Seeing it differently – How to sell innovation into your own company‘ by replying to this e-mail address.
Future thinking. Future-proofing. It’s what we do.