| Anyone who’s played their hand in the digital world knows that generating leads and conversions is the name of the game.
And the never-ending challenge is finding quality traffic. So, our knee-jerk reaction is to do what we’re told to do: drop some moolah on the usual suspects who own the traffic.
We go to Facebook and run paid ads . . .
Spend money on clicks with Google . . .
Sign up for affiliate programs . . .
List our products on Amazon . . .
All the while, somebody’s getting their cut of your business.
On top of that, we invest heavily in optimizing our websites to appease the search engine gods so we can collect free traffic. Newsflash: That traffic ain’t free, because you have to pay someone to do that work. And good SEOs aren’t cheap.
Real quick note here: I know this sounds all doom and gloom, but the fact is everything I’ve mentioned thus far is part of a balanced, sound marketing strategy—provided you know what you’re doing.
The word of warning here is simple. All of the traffic sources I mentioned are forms of digital sharecropping.
You’re helping Google, Facebook, Amazon, affiliates, and so on build their businesses with your dollars.
And the real threat is when they change the rules. Because they can change algorithms, suspend accounts, drop your rankings, or render your marketing obsolete overnight.
That means your traffic is potentially at risk on any given day.
Scary, right?
The solution to this is simple. It’s all about hedging, much like an investment portfolio.
Because the last thing you want to do is have all of your eggs in one basket. Instead of building your business around Facebook, for example, take control of your most important assets and make them bulletproof.
What do I mean by that?
Own the relationships with your customers.
Invest in a user-friendly, informative website that’s sticky. Blog and share helpful content. Build your email list.
Do the things that an algorithm change or increase in advertising competition can’t touch—or at least mitigate the risk of losing a huge chunk of traffic overnight.
I’ve seen it happen. And it’s part of the symbiotic risk-reward world we live in.
But at the end of the day, shouldn’t you own the relationship with your customers on your terms anyway?
I’ve got a ton to say about that later . . .
To Your Success,
Paul Hanson
P.S. Stay tuned because I will be offering a webinar on traffic and best practices to a new concept called Data Aggregation. To get plugged in, start with our Masterclass on digital and affiliate marketing by registering here. See you on the inside.
|
|
|
