Social media - how much is a <<friend>>?

Online marketing has made significant contributions to the "vernacular" ;~)

Going back many decades, the "program" is much the same although the media and players have changed a bit. At one time, anyone selling directly to consumers got a list and made phone calls or used postal mail. Sometimes in addition to other ad channels; sometimes as the only approach.

Calls are made or mail delivered. There is a known percentage of folks who (on average) actually listen to or read the spiel. Another percentage of those that listened or read respond in some manner and become a "qualified prospect" meaning they may have the money and some interest. A final percentage actually makes a purchase. Of those, there is a percentage who will buy again as well as a percentage who provide the sales person with referrals. And the cycle begins again. Internet sites typically refer to this average thing in terms of "conversion rates."

It's pretty cut and dry. The "business model" is based on achieving large enough numbers to work those averages and make it profitable. Effort is also applied to gaining better averages or conversion rates. Duh: Hardly an earth shattering concept.

Well, that's the "program." Yes, it's the "ultimate secret revealed." That's what all those "whatever" marketer folks are selling.

So, go ahead, send me twenty bucks for revealing "THE ULTIMATE SECRET TO INSTANT SUCCESS!" If you send me forty bucks I'll send it to you twice but call the second package something else: THE NEW ROAD TO INTERNET RICHES ;~)

There is great competition among "list" providers with some price differential. Most often, the price differential is based on "targeted" and "opt-in" lists but sometimes the track record or reputation of the list provider is a factor as well. The more targeted and specific, the more the list costs. There are all (and I mean all) kinds of lists available and not all are spam lists.

It's been a while since I did this kind of stuff but I seem to remember 3% being a nice response rate for direct mail. In reality, response rates and average sales vary with the list (e.g. targeted or not). So the marketing folks purchase a mailing list (qualified or targeted or not) for $XX. For every thousand they mail at $XX cost (production and mailing), they get (average over hundreds of thousands of mailers) some percentage of responders converted to sales worth $XX profit. If the profit dollars are greater than the costs, it's a success.

Even though the language and the media are different, the "program" remains essentially the same and it works because some percentage of folks do respond although I have no idea what percentages are expected through internet marketing. Might be similar to other media; might not. At any rate the "secret" is still the same: Generate enough numbers to make the percentages profitable.

These folks have with grim, single minded determination over many decades plastered our windshields, decorated our door knobs, stuffed our postal mail boxes, rendered useless our telephone numbers, jammed our email in-boxes, and clogged the pipes on the internet with sites, blogs, and spoofed search engine results. In most cases, they are anything other than what they appear.

Now they flood our current sacred cows -- the social sites -- with snake oil, hooey, bunkum, and hogwash. Mostly selling programs (secrets; always the secrets) enabling others to fuel the internet flood even further with more snake oil, hooey, bunkum, and hogwash in a dazzling display of circular illogic.

It's about 10% products or services, maybe 5% branding, and the rest of the junk is selling the "program" to others. In other words, 85% useless crap.

I gag a bit every time I see the word "secret" these days. Ditto for these phrases: Network marketing, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, law of attracting, personal branding, the "fill-in-the-blank" trick, or anything similar.

Bleh,

William W. (Woody) Williams
Project Management Consultant
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