Performance Marketing Myths
Performance marketing is not magic.
Many people believe that performance marketing is a money-making machine; with just a press of a button, I create an ad and generate millions of revenue, right? Unfortunately, a lot of fake online gurus paint this picture, you just have to take my course, and you will be able to achieve $10K a month by doing ads and performance marketing.
Fake news is everywhere, and the truth is performance marketing is a highly competitive industry where competence is rare.
I have spent more than a decade of my life learning and doing performance marketing for retailers and startups, and here is why I believe performance marketing is not magic:
Time is an essential element of performance marketing growth
You can't grow a business using performance marketing overnight.
Despite your experience, each business is different, and each company has its own learning and challenges that need to be overcome.
Let me tell you a story.
7 years ago, I was part of the team leading the growth of a huge African unicorn before being listed on The New York Stock Exchange.
Our budget was huge, and we were killing it; our MER (Market efficiency ratio) was more than 10, which is less than 10% CIR.
I was excited; I managed to get a couple of clients as a freelancer and was shocked.
The strategies I used to use to achieve high ROAS and lower CPA are not working! But how it is the exact same person, with the exact same strategy.
Performance marketing is not magic, and there are a lot of under-the-surface elements that are needed for successful performance marketing.
Spend more time outside the ad platforms.
Many performance marketers are solely focused on what they do; they don't spend enough time to understand the business, and as a result, they see numbers but don't understand the reason behind these numbers.
Instead, I need to understand why a landing page is merchandised a certain way and why we are pushing specific products. Is it the best seller? Do we have a competitive edge? How is the experience on your platform different than the competition? What does your platform experience make the customer feel? You have to be a customer yourself, purchase the product, and evaluate your experience. All of these pieces will help you solve the growth puzzle.
This is not for you to point fingers but to connect the dots.
Finally, here are a few actionable tips you can take with you on your journey.
Tip #1: Understand your business commercial offering. Would you happen to have the best offer? If not, what can you do to compete?
Tip #2: Become a customer. Buy the product, and evaluate the experience; which is better to push PLP or PDP? Is it easy to make a payment? What message do you receive when you abandon the cart?
Tip #3: Read negative customer reviews. It is fair to assume that for every negative feedback there, 7 more disappointed customers didn't share their feedback; going through this will help you understand your business aftersale experience.
There is no magic pill or one size fits in performance marketing.
Don't fall for a Ponzi scheme.
There is a better way; your performance marketing strategy should be tailored to your business challenges.