We got a rather long, anonymous reply to a recent Gloves Off debate, “Does accountable pricing help SMBs?” with the main contention that it is not pricing model (CPA vs. CPC vs. CPL), but product quality and effective targeting that determine campaign success today.
However, in disputing the need to contrast pricing models, our anonymous poster raises another interesting point: the role of laziness in online marketing. He or she asked the rhetorical question: “Which model allows a marketer to be more lazy and still make money?”
My question for our readership is, is there a role for laziness in online marketing? The obvious, gut answer is “no.” Online marketers have to be vigilant, constantly watching their ROI, their CPA and, thanks to the latest technology, the chatter around their brands and products taking place on blogs and social networks.
But every day releases cross my desk that boast automated platforms for keyword monitoring and bidding or online ad networks that manage media buys based on a preset maximum bid.
As the amount of data available increases and the level of technical expertise for understanding search algorithms grows greater, how can marketers navigate information and price optimization without involving such tools? Is it lazy for them to do this without understanding the back end technology to all of this data processing and at times blindly automate campaigns based on predetermined equations and cost-benefit analysis? This issue becomes crucial when you consider the size of marketing departments for SMBs.
In fact, I think there is a lazy factor in evaluating what model is going to work for your marketing department. By choosing something that is automatic, that you can trust, more focus can go into planning the next push, evaluating the creative, the product, your audience penetration and all of the other valuable metrics that come out of a running campaign.
Join the conversation! Does your department rely on any “lazy” tools, or strategies to handle its day to day campaign maintenance?
