A lot of us that deal in clicks and impressions and conversions have a tendency to get lost in the numbers presented to us. Seeing as we don’t function in a vacuum, you have to take into account a lot of what ifs when determining cost per conversion and return on investment numbers. What if someone clicked my ad and bookmarked it to make a purchase later? What if they saw my ad and called in an order? What if they saw my ad and then came to the store?
Recently I lived out one of those untrackable what if conversion tracks and thought it would be a good example of how there is more value to your advertising than what is tracked in your Adwords campaign.
I have what I would categorize as a slight internet addiction, and a taste for hard to find products… luckily these are complimentary problems. Being bald and Californian, also complimentary problems, necessitates the acquisition of a good hat… unless you look good with a red, peeling scalp. Since I have a general distaste for regular baseball hats, especially seeing as any team I like is pretty much horrible (Milwaukee Brewers anyone?), I’ve made a move to fedoras. So far I’m a fan, they’re fun and different, keep my head and ears (bonus!) covered, and …if I may say so myself… look pretty suave on me 🙂 Here’s the problem, when’s the last time you came across a fedora store in the last 40 years? Yeah me neither.
So here comes the internet to the rescue! I did my initial Google search for Fedora and got all kinds of Linux related stuff, not helpful. So I expanded it to Fedora Hats and hit pay dirt. I clicked on one of the Adwords ads and found a site that I really liked. It was easy to navigate and had a good selection. Problem was I didn’t feel comfortable dropping $200 on a hat I couldn’t try on first. Feeling somewhat defeated, I proceeded to sulk through their site a little more. Eventually I came across their Location page and realized I was going to be in their state and driving past their store in about a month, problem solved! I bookmarked their page and printed directions on Google Maps of my little side trip before I flew out.
Fast forward about a month and there I was about 2000 miles from home in their doorway with cash in hand. Unfortunately for your friend and humble narrator, they were closed… and I burnt my head sitting on the 3rd base line of a Cubs game the next day.
So there are 3 lessons to learn here… One little click can do more than you think! Make sure the days you’re open on the website actually correspond to how locked your doors are on the day a bald guy shows up from half way across the country to buy a hat. And finally, Lesson 3, if you’re bald pack sunscreen irregardless of your destination.