Best Little Blog

M&A Postmortem: Everyone Has an Opinion

Obviously, when you announce an acquisition the size of GSI Commerce's purchase of FetchBack, there's going to be plenty of reaction -- both positive and negative. I sent a reply to some opinionated posts here and here that I think is appropriate to post here on BLB too.

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Interesting points from Jeffrey Zwelling at Convertro. First off, I want to say I'm a fan of what he and Convertro have been up to -- tackling some really difficult and key issues and using what I understand is a very slick approach. That said, it's no surprise I have some issues with Jeff's post.

I think Jeff might have confused our company history with someone else. Since day 1, FetchBack has been focused on providing value, from a variety of pricing models (we've done CPA and CPM from the start) to advanced technology delivering dynamic ads, keyword-based targeting, and deep analytics. Our recommendation engine drives CTR higher than any other solution we've seen. The article correctly focused on our A/B testing which gives our clients the confidence that they're seeing the "True CPA" value of their campaigns.

FetchBack didn't do the deal because it had to, or because of a lack of technology or service or competitive pricing. We did the deal because it makes perfect sense -- GSI is an ideal partner for us, since the technology, customer bases, and value propositions are complementary for both FetchBack and GSI.

Our vision all along has been that retargeting will become just as basic a budget line item as paid search has. The question is, what will a successful retargeting strategy look like? Will marketers strike multiple deals with multiple campaigns like they do now with Google, MSN, and Yahoo? Aside from inevitable duplication, it's impossible to calculate the right frequency, right message, right placement using multiple platforms (a point made clearly on the Convertro site). Attribution management becomes exponentially difficult, to the point where some people are confused and jaded and lose confidence in retargeting.

We think smart marketers will retarget through a single, central provider -- like the SEM companies work with platforms like Atlas and Omniture. Retargeting is far from a commodity now -- unless you're talking about tacked-on, sidecar solutions that only graze the surface of retargeting's potential. Yes, it's pretty easy to claim you do retargeting if you're displaying a non-dynamic ad, generic to every user, without smart frequency capping or A/B testing or visibility into the site and network where it's being displayed.

The retargeting space is still in its infancy with more room to grow than nearly any other form of advertising on the Net. We're proud that FetchBack still leads the industry in technology, innovation, and ROI.

Hello, Goodbye ... NEXT!

One of the most significant changes that online marketing has brought to the industry is the ability to track conversion values more accurately. This swing has created a myopic view of the real CPA, which has shielded organizations from focusing on the lifetime value of a customer.

Before, the majority of all marketing costs were lumped into a big bucket and compared against total growth rates. Now, we can track CPC, CPM, CPA, traffic per day ... the list goes on. But how do businesses interpret that data intelligently?

Today I would argue that the standard mode of operation -- driving incremental conversions at a target CPA -- creates a blind spot by being too close to the data. The critical question is, "What's the true lifetime value of your customers?" This is the real number you should be calculating against, not just the single order value.

Here are some suggestions to calculate the True CPA value along with some suggestions to create culture change:

• The obvious first step is discovering the average lifetime orders per customer and what the value is per order. That's the easy part. What's not discussed in this calculation is determining the likelihood that customer will refer someone else. If you don't know, find out! I posted a piece recently, referencing a report in the Harvard Business Review, that states this data point is likely the single most importantfigure to determine top line growth.

• Determine what the likelihood is and use it as a multiplier. If 2 in 10 customers are inclined to create word-of-mouth (WOM) sales, increase your lifetime value of a customer by 20%.

• At the same time, work to find out how many of your clients or potential clients walk away in a huff, upset at your service, product offering or website experience. How likely are these individuals to tell their friends, yourpotential customers, to never do business with you again? As we've all been taught, this person is more likely to create a significant impact on your business than the customer with a positive experience. Subtract this value from your multiplier of positive clients.

• This figure gets much closer to the True Lifetime Value of a Customer.

• Post your lifetime customer value, the "2 in 10" ratio of WOM referrals, the number of negative experiences you have with clients, and post the resulting decrease throughout your entire organization. Discuss it on a regular basis. Tie compensation to increasing these figures or push for it if you don't control it. Customer service individuals should be compensated on increasing the referral rate percentage as well as creating unsolicited happiness from your customers.

• When customer service creates a bad experience, when your Web site has technical issues, when someone returns a product and isn't made happy, don't just say, "Oh well, it's only a $79 sale." Talk about the True Lifetime Value of a Customer -- that's $560 that just walked out the door!

• This all adds up to providing you additional money to drive new incremental conversions. In theory, if the organization decides to drive the same growth rates, your CPA figures will drop as you focus more on your customer's experience. As a by-product of this, the return conversion rate will increase, as will your lifetime customer value. This is the reason companies are able to dominate with their CPC bids on Google (well, excluding those "ego wars"). It's because they have more money to work with, thereby forcing higher growth rates.

These are not simple calculations. They are not simple changes. These are typically a fundamental shift in culture and thinking. It's not about saying, "I have $20 CPA on an average order value of $79." That's the myopic view our industry continues to adopt because we have access to all this data. We need to refocus, and give the True Lifetime Value of a Customer the attention it deserves.

Marketing That's Unexpected

I'm not a big fan of using those little punch cards that attempt to create customer loyalty, like the ones my local rice bowl joint likes to use to make sure I keep coming back. A big part of the problem is I just can't stand tracking the thing. And let's be honest here; the punch card isn't going to change my habits. I'm still going to eat at the place because I like their product.

However, customers that participate in the punch card program will now have a rightful sense of entitlement; should someone not properly punch their card they're going to be upset. Now add in the effort that goes in to tracking and reconciling the submissions for a free meal. It just becomes a big hassle for all those involved.

Contrast this experience with a very similar restaurant. Not my everyday spot, but a new place that I happened to visit due to meetings in a new part of town. The owner decided to take a different path. His idea was to surprise me or maybe he just didn't want to take the time to track those punch cards. I walked in and one of the individuals behind the counter said, "Hey ... I see you in here all the time ... how about we make this one on us?" Wow! What a surprise!

Think about the value exchange here. Instead of me needing to track the loyalty card and getting upset if I forgot it (or even worse, if I lost the thing!), the owners made the process that much easier on me. In turn, they've empowered their people to make decisions on their own to brighten my day.

How much value do you think the owner got in exchange? Is anyone going to blog about a free meal after 10 stamps on their punch card? Or better yet, tell their friends about their experience? Probably not. But people will blog about getting a free lunch, and they will tell all their friends about it. Guaranteed. What should we take away from this experience?

• Be unexpected with your customers via your customer service group. Empower them to make random decisions about providing free "hugs" for their clients. Let them know it's okay and give them a budget to work with. The value gained through customer loyalty and word of mouth is far greater than the costs if you were to analyze it.

• Be unexpected in your advertising programs. Stay away from decision by committee, text laden, uninspired campaigns. Take a look at this display ad. Quick and to the point -- I wasn't expecting that at all. You need to stand out to get attention.

• Be unexpected in your marketing materials. A venture capital friend of mine recently posted a comment on his Facebook page about a sign he saw at a storefront in the Denver airport: "Unattended children will be given a free espresso and a free puppy." Which do you think gets you to your intended goal faster? A note like this or a common, generic "Don't leave your kids unattended" sign? Which do you think has your friend tapping you on the shoulder saying, "Hey, you gotta see this?"

• Be unexpected in your job postings. Your potential customers are no different than your potential employees. While unemployment is down overall, it's not for those people who add real value. It's crowded. You have to stand out, and allowing your culture to show through in your job postings not only helps you gain attention but you also create an automatic filter. Those who are drawn to your culture are likely to be the right employee ... the one that sticks!

• Grab that person that works for you, the one that's doing an outstanding job. Surprise them by letting them know they have tomorrow off, and you've contacted their family to coordinate a day of fun. This goes further than you can imagine than any planned or expected perk.

Being safe in today's market is just the opposite. You might feel you're doing something that will help you retain your job, or reach that next conversion goal. That's not the case. What might feel like a real risk is just the opposite. You can't afford to be safe.

Why I Am Still Upset

It happens to all of us. It's not uncommon for you to spend 30 minutes on the phone with a customer service representative due to an issue (30 minutes you will never get back, I should add), and, typically, you will end the call with some sort of resolution in place. One would think that you would be happy, right?

What if, in this instance, rather than feeling satisfaction, your hands are still clinched and you're mumbling under your breath like a mental patient from frustration. In the past, you've called customer service and it didn't end with a desire to kick the family dog; so why was this call so different? Could it be the mood you're in at the time? Possibly -- but most likely your feelings are connected to something deeper.

Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) is a term that refers to utilizing self-awareness to better communicate with and influence others during conversation. It also helps us to better explain why customers can end some calls and feel satisfied, while other times they end calls and feel infuriated. When it comes to communicating with customers, it's imperative that they feel their voices are truly heard and understood.

So how does one harness the power of NLP and leverage it to ensure customer satisfaction? Here are a few easy ways to get started:

• Mirror: You're on a call with customer service, and the agent you are speaking with says, "I will work to solve your problem Mr. Customer," and then proceeds to ask standard questions about your situation. She communicates to you in an even tone and very matter-of-factly. The customer service agent has clearly expressed her desire to help, but no rapport has been established. A better way to handle that conversation would have been to mirror your intensity, tone and body language. "Geez, Mr. Customer -- that sounds horrible! You must really be upset having to spend time on the phone and away from important things to deal with this!" By mirroring the other person's emotional state, the agent immediately put herself on the same side of the table as the customer.

• Paraphrase: Once a customer has voiced an issue or problem, it's important to paraphrase the situation. "So let me understand this -- you're saying that you've been waiting three days for your bags to arrive and yet no one has called you back to help you locate them. Is that correct?" (pause to listen) "Oh, and Agent Mudder told you that they would be arriving yesterday?" (pause again) "Okay -- I got it -- let me get some answers for you." By paraphrasing, you ensure that you really understand the issue at hand, and you also gain further rapport. Many times it's not the "bags" themselves that's the real issue. It's the fact that nobody gives a damn about the situation.

• Lead by example: If you expect your customer service agents to communicate effectively using these tools, senior managers should lead the way. Ask those on the front-lines to set the tone for the right culture and you're more likely to have individuals that will follow their example and become a true asset to your customer base.

NLP and transactional management techniques go way beyond just these few points I have outlined, and they also go way beyond customer service management issues. These are techniques and tools to be used in everyday communication as leaders, spouses, parents, friends, etc. They place focus on connecting with others and solving problems, and not on making an already emotional situation even worse.

The Best Predictor Of Top-Line Growth

I have two questions for you:

1. What are you currently measuring to gauge if you're on target to meet your marketing objectives?

2. How are you using the data you measure? Is it posted around the office, is it part of regular management meetings? Is it front and center for all to see?

Most in our industry have a myopic view on the front-end of the selling process. All focus is on the customer who comes to your Web site for the first time and purchases on that visit.

This is largely driven by the fact that the online world is able to measure so much data about our marketing and advertising efforts, whereas in the offline marketing world, you don't have as much data to back up consumer behavior to your marketing touch points.

It seems as though because we are able to measure so many details, we tend put extreme focus on the conversion ratio. If you combine that focus with that the prevailing thought process that once visitors have converted, they will always be customers, it would appear that, although online marketers have access to mountains of data, they have a very slim view of what creates growth and success over time.

The Harvard Business Review published a piece a few years back (originally done in 2003) that showed, after two years of data analysis, there was one key figure that was a better predictor of growth than any other. What was that metric? Not surprisingly to me, it was the willingness of a customer to refer a company or service to someone else. It wasn't about customer satisfaction or even loyalty campaigns. The key to growth is all about how willing your customers are to speak up to friends and family about your offering.

Today, it is increasingly difficult to slap together a crappy movie, restaurant, or service and make a quick buck. People are connected! Tools like review services and social networking sites are everywhere. The time when one could provide a subpar product or service is gone. On the flip side, if you provide a product or service that is superior, you have viral and word-of-mouth marketing to use to your advantage. (The best part is that they are free!) If you offer something and it's great, people will talk it up and refer it to others.

Not only can your referral rate be a solid indicator of success, but simply asking questions around it can create a cultural shift in your organization. Here are a few examples:

• Restaurant managers have the best intentions when they stop by your table and interrupt your conversation to ask, "Is everything ok?" This question is a customer satisfaction checkpoint, but does it really go far enough? If they're going to interrupt your meal, why not ask something that might elicit a much more meaningful response, such as, "What would it take for you to refer one of your friends to visit us?" I can see myself taking some time to provide solid, meaningful feedback when asked a specific question like that.

• Imagine a Customer Service agent that didn't end the call with the typical "Can I help you with anything else?" but rather said, "So tell me, Mr. Smith, would you refer us to a friend? Why or why not?"

• You have a receptionist that greets all of the customers that comes into your office each day. What if your receptionist asked, "Would you refer us to others? If so, who and why? If not, why is that?" There is much valuable information to gather from your customers; you'll never have access to it if you don't ask for it!

In addition to asking your customers their thoughts about your product, this is also one of the most important questions for you to ask yourself. Yes, you, the marketers out there. Are you willing to refer your own service/company to others? If not, why is that? Are you able to create change so that one day you will be more willing to answer yes?

If your company isn't bold enough to ask the question because it is afraid of the answer, and if there is no hope for change, you need to find someplace else to work. How can you properly market a company and its services that even you wouldn't refer yourself!?

Start asking for referrals, and even more importantly, start posting your referral rate. Strive to improve the rate and make it part of regular discussions at management meetings. The lifetime value of a repeat customer is key -- not that one-time conversion on the front end.

Enhanced Notice: Recruiting Advertisers Now

On January 27, a collation of online trade groups, including the Future of Privacy Forum and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, released their proposed standards for enhanced notice, which refers to a universal phrase or symbol on ads shown to a consumer based on their demographic or behavioral data.

The proposed logo for enhanced notice is being referred to as the “little i.”:

 

 

Providing transparency and choice has been an area of intense focus over the past year by service providers in the online ad industry. A large part of this focus was gathering data surrounding how consumers interact with enhanced notice touch points, and how enhanced notice can impact the bottom line of both advertiser and service provider.

Last December Clickz published an article that outlined data provided by Google about its initiative around enhanced notice; which was done through Google’s Preference Center.

In this article, Nicole Wong, Google deputy general counsel states, “Of those who visit [Google’s preference center], four times as many people edit their targeting profile as opt out of targeting completely. A good percentage of users are saying they’d rather control [behavioral targeting] than opt out.”

I believe this tells us much about the real story behind privacy concerns. On one side, you’ll find those who constantly condemn service providers about alleged abuses inflicted to consumers privacy online, and on the other side you have data that shows that once consumers have clear notice and choice, they set their preferences to what they are comfortable with versus opting out.

Speculation is just that — speculation, and we shouldn’t be making decisions or regulation that can affect so many organizations and livelihoods without solid information and careful understanding.

That said, I do believe enhanced notice is the right thing to do. I also believe there are other factors driving it other than those who believe that consumers need to know what data is leveraged and how it is used.

This next generation will view privacy in a completely different way than we do. They’re the generation that is growing up posting every tidbit of their life for anyone else in the world to view, and at the same time this is also the generation that is learning how to control what information gets viewed by whom.

The fact that Google sees more people controlling their information preferences versus opting out of data collection shows that the majority of consumers get “it.” Data is going to be collected and used for marketing and consumer experience purposes.

It’s more about the dad who’s worried about what information is Google is collecting rather than the high school student on Facebook who knows how to set privacy settings, and does so accordingly.

I’m not saying that there isn’t room for abuse, there definitely is. This is why it’s important for those companies that do collect data for marketing purposes to open up the books and show us what’s going on. There are rewards when you give users control and visibility.

I implore the rest of the industry to follow suit in respect to enhanced notice and to do so quickly. More specifically, advertisers need to jump on the bandwagon and agree that this enhanced notice the best move in the long run. It’s the right thing to do.

Privacy policies are an antiquated and confusing way to approach privacy concerns. Consumers have no idea why they see the ads they see online, and by not being forthright with them can cause them to fear the worst and opt out.

Companies who are upfront about what data is collected and why will be rewarded. Since releasing enhanced notice ourselves last year, we at FetchBack not only did not see an increase in opt-out rates (just like Google), but also the enhanced notice functionality actually served as education for advertisers as to how targeting like ours works.

Later this year, the Federal Trade Commission could be handed a whole new set of powers and control over issues such as this. It’s important that the industry remain vigilant and keep up the pressure with our peers to adhere to these new standards.

As it’s your “Dad” who’s in control of the FTC, and his lack of industry knowledge, technology and the culture could definitely create problems for everyone. The best defense is a great offense; and in this case, the best offense is enhanced notice.

Shampoo Marketing

I have always found the directions on my shampoo bottle to be humorous.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

I guess I was amused for a few reasons. First, the fact that directions were necessary at all is funny. And now I think about the fact that someone in the marketing department of a company producing shampoo years ago had a moment of brilliance and realized that if you instruct people to use the product twice during each use, sales were bound to increase. And I'm sure they did!

In a similar way, I'm continually amazed at the amount of time, energy and dollars companies spend to attract the next new customer. The new person they don't know. The amount of dollars spent attracting the new consumer dwarfs the dollars spent keeping the ones they've got. I know this is how marketing has functioned for years, but with all the tools and innovations that have since emerged, it's time to diversify a bit. New customers shouldn't get all of your attention -- there are quite a few benefits (for both you and to consumers) when you begin to focus on existing customers.

• One purchase ... is just that The prevailing mentality in online marketing is that once someone has made a purchase or completed a lead form on a Web site is that the job of the marketer is done -- when it's really just the beginning of the hard work. The online marketplace is ten times more competitive than the offline world where comparison shopping is just a click away. Marketers should shift their effort to now forming a relationship with that customer. Offline marketers would kill to have the capability to only target existing customers in a way that builds relationships. There is a reason for that -- it's effective.

• Talk about low hanging fruit The cost of attracting a new customer is far greater than getting a sale from an existing one. These are in-market leads; you have their contact information, so the next step is to get them back. Staying in front of them with an ad or email is highly effective, making a return conversion one of the most cost effective conversions you can have.

• Nothing beats a referral Simply asking a customer if they were satisfied with their experience is irrelevant, while getting a customer to refer you to someone else is gold ... so ask a customer for a referral once they have purchased. You'll most likely learn some valuable insight into your business, customer service, and overall experience based on their response. This allows you to make your Web site more shopable in the future. Plus, once you get the referral, the word of mouth advertising is priceless.

• Higher return visits typically means better customer service The more you focus on increasing customer retention, you'll find yourself focusing more about the customer experience as a whole, and how you can improve it. This is true for all businesses; from the online retailer to the service provider. Sometimes knowing that your end goal is to increase repeat purchases, you'll find that you will place more focus on customer service -- which is a good thing. Keep in mind that Customer Service is not a cost center. It's part of the marketing budget and is integral in customer retention and customer referrals.

Focusing on increasing customer retention is not an easy task. It takes time, research, resources, and typically quite a few conversations internally to get a plan or solution in place. How much of your marketing initiatives are focused on driving the next new customer? How about time focused on increasing your conversion rates from search marketing? Time spent finding the next new source of traffic that hits your metric goals? If it hovers around the average 80% mark, do you think you can drop that to 50%? Even less than that at 30% or 40%? Give it some thought -- there are definitely benefits to shifting resources to focus on client retention verses continuing "Shampoo Marketing" efforts.

5 tips to prevent your pitches from stinking

We've all experienced it.

Your phone rings. You answer, and on the other end of the phone is an eager online marketing vendor. You can't get a word in edgewise while you are being told over and over again why you need to buy what they are selling -- and buy now, not later. That's when you recognize the familiar and overpowering smell that makes you feel annoyed and hassled...

It's the smell of "commission breath."

All too often, those responsible for selling the various services that benefit online marketers are so focused on getting their points across and closing a sale that they forget to listen. The prevailing thought is that the best way to prove a point and gain new business is by presenting. I can say through experience and observation, that this is not necessarily true.

For example, a colleague recently told me about a time he visited a prospective client. He arrived at the prospect's office, and was asked if he brought a projector or computer for the meeting. My colleague explained that there would not be a presentation; rather, he was there to have a discussion about their online marketing needs. Surprised, the potential client sighed, "Thank God!" in relief. The conversion that followed covered all relevant points from my colleague's standpoint, and at the same time he was able to listen to his prospect and find a solution for his stress points. 

Come on, who really looks forward to any vendor coming to their offices and spending 30 minutes droning on about the latest scalable, high-quality, dynamic ad generator whiz-bang thing? Talking at you, while selling, selling, selling? It's obvious when all someone cares about is closing the sale and collecting a check, versus wanting to be a valued partner in your business.

Commission breath is more than the smell you detect on the 29th of the month when your vendor calls offering additional widgets and whatnots if you sign up today; it also speaks to how a person handles the entire selling relationship. At the end of the day, it's about listening, not selling.

The good news is that commission breath is completely curable. Here are some breath mints to help:

1. Diagnose the problem and pain. Spend time understanding the true pains your client is experiencing. What do they currently need? What do they like about their current vendors and what do they dislike? What is their current conversion rate? What are their targets for the year? Simply put, ask questions! The more interested you are in helping alleviate their pain, the less pushy you seem.
   
2. Answer questions they ask. How frustrating is it when you ask a vendor a very specific question that requires a specific answer, and in return you get a boilerplate response that was memorized from some training manual? There's no faster way to reek of commission breath than to avoid questions that are asked, and keep pushing your own agenda.
   
3. Know who you are talking to. Do you have a clue who you are speaking with? How much do you know about your prospect and what they do? I recently received a sales call where the person calling didn't take even two minutes to attempt to understand the retargeting product FetchBack offers. Because the caller didn't know who I was or what retargeting was, he also couldn't explain how their product could help me and help FetchBack. If you don't know who you are talking to (or who you should be talking to), you shouldn't be pitching at all.
   
4. Show the culture of your company. Insider tip: Your prospect isn't just evaluating your product. They are evaluating your company and what it will be like to work with you in the future. The culture of your company is apparent in every conversation you have with a client or potential client. Are you interested in helping them be successful, or are you just interested in the next order? Are you being real?
   
5. Be friendly. Yes, I said friendly. It's a simple word and statement, but it means so much. Friendly isn't just asking how a person's day is, or telling them that their kids are cute. Are you enthusiastic? Are you empathetic when there's a problem? Do you have a sense of humor? All of these help build a relationship, and move you farther away from being only interested in closing the sale.

The next time you are meeting with a client, ask yourself if you may start to smell of commission breath. If the answer is yes, take a breath mint and try again.

Self-Regulation No Longer An Option

It's no secret that the behavioral marketing industry has been working to implement self-regulation policies for the past year. The initial purpose of this was to avoid impending legislation that the government is exploring due to concerns brought forth from advocacy groups about consumer privacy and data protection online. The thought was if we could self regulate, the government would be appeased and the threat of litigation would go away. Well, that really isn't the case. In my opinion it's not 'if' legislation will come -- it's 'when' it will come and 'what' will that legislation be.

Now, I'm not predicting that legislation can come any day now -- this is a complex issue. Complex when you take into account the number of forms of behavioral targeting available, the fact that this is a worldwide issue, and that this legislation needs to take into account how to speak to new and emerging technologies in the mobile and RFID sectors.

While I don't believe we aren't going to prevent legislation, I do believe that can still do something about it.

My hope is that our industry would be open and able to quickly change our position. Will we continue to fight or immediately jump in to help craft it? Remember the telemarketing industry, if you will. They were given some of the same warnings we have received, and they chose to fight legislation until the biter, biter end. I think that if they would have accepted that legislation was inevitable and worked with legislators that things could have turned out very differently for them. I believe the same can be true for our industry.

We live in a new environment, in a world that is leaning more and more towards regulation and legislation. There is no way that those who are pushing for get strict measures in place are going to just go away. In fact, their voices are going to get louder as new and more aggressive forms of marketing come in to play.

Do I think legislation in our industry is going to really solve anything? No, unfortunately I don't. The issue is growing too complex to be dealt with via regulation. I still think it will be up to those in the industry to fight the bad characters that will enter our space, much like we are working to do now with self-regulation. It's the complexity and the confusion that legislation can cause is what is the most concerning. Will the powers-that-be truly understand what is going on inside our industry? Will the future legislation bring innovation to a halt? Hopefully not if we give our cooperation and input into the process. That decision is completely up to us -- and I suggest it's time.

The quickest path to wasted impressions

After reading Seth Godin's blog, I need to thank him for introducing me to the term "scalejacking" (coined by Dave Balter). It's a term that effectively sheds light on an antiquated thought that most marketers entertain at one point or another. This thought leads marketers to believe that it is important to get their display message in front of as many consumers as possible, no matter the cost, no matter their interest level, no matter whether the recipients are even in the right demographic. The hope is that having their message everywhere will generate enough attention, at a cheap price, that they attract and convert (read: jack) enough customers to justify the expense.

If you ask marketers who have tried scalejacking how their campaigns performed, chances are they will say that the tactic was not at all successful. Every once in a while, this type of marketing can work, but that is usually in instances when the rare infomercial-type product is being promoted. The product has to be generic and appeal to the lowest common denominator for scalejacking to be effective -- a mix that is not easily found.

Seth's thoughts on scalejacking were dead on; contrary to common belief, scale (or the quantity of people you reach) isn't what matters. Who cares if a network says it can reach 100 million unique users on a monthly basis? What network doesn't make a claim like that? It's really about depth.

Rather than focusing on scale, focus on going deep in the following ways:

• Go vertical. Scalejacking is a horizontal thought process that seduces you by the thought that after you place your message in front of 1 million people, a click-through rate of .0000001 percent, with a conversion rate of .0004 percent from those clicks, will make the scalejacking worth it. Sound like a stretch? Well, you're right. This tactic won't work.
  
• Boost value. Now that you are thinking vertically, you should think of going deep -- as in going deep in your product offering. What can you do to influence your organization to add more value to the product? The key here is to focus on increasing value, not increasing sales. How deep can the value-add go? Those who try to differentiate themselves by increasing volumes while lowering price end up in a death spiral and rarely position themselves for long-term success.
  
• Define what makes you different. Even the most commoditized of products can do it. It's not easy, but speaking to what makes you different will make you stand out. Figure out what that difference is and use it. Make it a religion in your materials. Trust me -- it's worth the time and temporary frustration in figuring it out. Once you do, it makes all the difference in connecting with prospective and current customers.
  
• Get repeat purchases from your existing customers. Create evangelists that will build your brand over the long term; don't just focus on the next attempt to create a flash-in-the-pan bump in sales. Customer service is not a cost center -- it's a touchpoint with your consumer and a chance to build a stronger relationship. Instead of spending time on the next scalejacking attempt, invest time in making your customer service experience more memorable.

Think about going deep versus scalejacking as though you are searching for your next employee. It no longer works to just place an ad on Monster and hope that the mass amount of unqualified responses you get will result in the perfect candidate contacting you. You have to find that perfect site or networking place where your ideal candidate exists. What's better -- getting 200 resumes from a group of people who don't know how to spell their name correctly or two resumes from great candidates? Running an ad for someone on Monster is, in essence, scalejacking. Running an ad on your local marketing website where experts visit frequently is a much more targeted approach. The results you will yield are far superior than when you cast a wider, less relevance-focused net.

Brands and agencies often ask their vendors, "How many websites will our ads appear on?" and "How many websites do you purchase media from?" As I've just discussed, these aren't the right questions to ask. Those statistics are completely irrelevant to an online behavioral advertising display campaign. The correct questions are, "How many prospects can I reach by working with you, and how many times can I, and should I, deliver an ad to them?" and "How relevant is that group of prospects that you reach with our message?"

Whether an ad gets displayed to a prospect on five sites or 5 million, it doesn't ultimately affect campaign performance. The only thing that matters is that you delivered the right ad to the right person. Worrying about how many sites your ads get placed on detracts from what you should be focused on: relevance.

To quote Seth, "It's about who you're speaking to, not how many." Be wary of attempts to scalejack and start focusing on asking the right questions of your vendors so that you get the right ad in front of the right target the appropriate amount of times.