As time goes by, more posts emerge – especially on social media – about jobs that will disappear with AI. What no one seems to say is that, not so suddenly, marketing experts keep appearing everywhere.
I don’t like generalizations, so I’ll try not to create stereotypes. Of course there are marketing experts, there are people who understand what consumers want, there are people who understand how to influence consumers, and there are those who pride themselves on their talent for selling ice to Eskimos.
It is quite common to meet marketing professionals who, in essence, are focused on sales, who have as a reference the scene “sell me this pen”, from the movie Wolf of Wall Street, a clear allusion to the creation of a need to close a sale. “Coffee is for closers”, after all.
There is a quote by Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing:
When you look at marketing from a guerrilla perspective, (…) it’s your opportunity to help your customers and potential customers succeed (…). You can help them.
You can show them how to achieve their goals. Marketing is not about you. It’s about them. I hope you never forget that.
It’s this focus on the consumer and what consumers are looking for and what consumers need that has disappeared. And this is no longer part of marketing strategies.
“Creating desire”.
This was the outline of a healthcare marketing strategy that I saw in 2021. Healthcare.
It seems like a lie. But it isn’t.
Whoever created the flashy presentation clearly never needed or had anyone close to them who needed health care.
Looking at consumers as mere numbers that are part of a funnel strategy is what has distorted consumer relations and, if we look closely, will feed any AI tool created from the data we have.
Metrics as we know them aren’t much use.
Let’s analyze some:
Traffic metrics.
One of the strategies to feed or inflate this type of number is clickbait. A few years ago, clickbait was the opposite of good practice, today it is a common strategy. Create a phrase that makes people click, enter, arousing curiosity through an expression that, on many occasions, has nothing to do with what is being sold.
The type of content, even on supposedly journalistic portals, was also distorted. That logic that is learned in college about constructing a news story and respecting news values has been replaced by a generation of doubt or curiosity that keeps the reader hooked for a few more seconds. Even if you end up realizing that it doesn’t have much to do with what you promised.
These strategies are deceiving. They not only deceive by including people who have been misled, but they also deceive by the experience they offer in repelling these people. On the one hand, they get clicks, on the other, they generate repulsion.
Conversion metrics.
The conversion category does not only include those who made a purchase. Conversion includes those who filled out a form or left their email to receive a newsletter.
Forms are very practical for increasing your leads database, but they often contain entries from people who just wanted to receive or have access to an ebook or wanted to request information or a quote.
I will share a very personal example that I had the displeasure of witnessing a couple of years ago. An agency took a contact base of nearly 30 thousand leads and, after 3 months of applying the strategy, delivered a conversion of 50%. Half of 30k is 15k, right? According to the beautiful presentation that was displayed by the agency, the 50% resulted from successive filters, based on who opened, who clicked, who did not complete the purchase. From these filters, a final list of submissions came out, with 8 leads, of which 4 purchased the product. 50%.
Revenue metrics.
I’m not that critical of these types of metrics, just how they’re used.
Several agencies share the success of a given strategy based on ROI (return on value invested in the strategy) or LTV (customer lifetime) or CAC (cost per customer acquisition).
The problem with this approach is the type of business that is used as a reference for a type of potential customer or audience.
Can a restaurant serve as a reference for an oncology clinic?
Can a low-cost online shoe store be a reference for a corporate law firm?
Can an online course like that that costs 10xR$19.90 be a reference for a bilingual school?
I help.
No.
Engagement metrics.
In short: number of followers, likes, comments and shares. Many agencies and pseudo-agencies use social media farms. This more evolved version of click farms already generates comments and shares, without generating real interest or sales. I had the displeasure of witnessing a flood of likes and comments on a given profile, on a given post, coming from a partner profile. It was very clear that the origin of these likes was completely artificial. But the agency that provides consultancy for this profile delivers likes, comments and engagement. But it doesn’t actually deliver anything.
Customer Satisfaction Metrics.
The much sought-after level of customer satisfaction with the company, product or service, which includes NPS (Net Promoter Score), Customer Satisfaction Assessments and Satisfaction Surveys.
Even that is no longer reliable.
Google itself, through YouTube, encourages the proliferation of companies that pay for 5-star reviews on APPs and social networks. The brands themselves offer freebies or discounts in exchange for 5-star reviews. APPs that, immediately after installation, ask for a 5-star rating to be able to use or to have access to certain features.
I could ask if the metrics are reliable or if the funnel makes sense, but the truth is that we know very well that it is all artificial.
The advantage is that creativity has gone out of the picture and everything is too obvious. Despite the naivety and greed of human beings leading to the use of highly dubious betting platforms because they think it is quick and easy money, and leading to the effectiveness of this type of strategy, after all, 10 dollars per evaluation is always welcome, a part of the consumer public begins to have an idea of the house of cards that has been created.
More informed consumers will reject these strategies. Disappointed or displeased consumers will be a force equal to or greater than any seduction strategy.
