Today is Day 1 of AdWorld, an online stage for highly specialized and highly regarded leaders in the digital marketing world. After my first two webinars, I have a somewhat sour taste in my mouth. It has little to do with the quality of the presentations or the qualifications of the presenters. It's exactly this: the focus of the content (i.e., the objective of digital marketing in general), in its essence, can be somewhat accurately summarized as the art of internet stalking. Beyond that, though, implicit in the overall theme of "converting leads" is a certain brand of ignorance that can come across as unsettling, if not insulting: namely, the idea that buyers need to be coerced into their purchases. In the digital market, the assumption, as I understand it, is that if you can compile enough behavioral data, at some point you'll be able to help "guide" a users behavior in a direction that makes you money.

This is meant, I believe, to be a proxy for the kind of interaction we'd expect to see in a brick and mortar shop: i.e., customer interaction. The problem is that "digital marketing" strategies far exceed anything we would consider "normal" for a brick and mortar store. Asking you, for example, to take a survey and provide contact information so that you can get a discount at checkout would be a somewhat awkward interaction in nearly every physical instance. Stores will invite you to do it after checkout--yes (usually with an online survey)--but imagine someone randomly approaching you in-store with either a clipboard or a tablet: the intrusion on personal space and freedom is one that a lot of sales associates would shy away from (solar and HVAC vendors at Home Depot being the exception). The reality is that most of us find it a complete nuisance to be approached by anyone while we're shopping. This is exactly why most sales associates unassumingly approach with open-ended inquiries: i.e., "Is there anything I can help you with?" or "Are you finding what you need today?" Sales associates understand quite well that you've already made your choice--you're in the store for a reason. To assume that you need, then, to be coerced into buying something is an affront to personal freedom. This is why companies like CarMax and Carvana have been such wonderful successes: traditional car sales methodology amounts to bullying. People just want what they want, and they don't need the hassle.

You can imagine my dismay, then, when this kind of strategy (awkwardly identified in the digital marketing industry as zero-party data collection) was presented as the next big step forward in marketing strategies: an alternative to cross-site tracking and re-marketing methodologies which are now supposedly in their death throws (a. la., GDPR, Apple's iOS update, etc.). "Since we can no longer rely on behavioral data from Big Tech, we'll just have to gather it directly from our users--let's just barrage them with pop-up surveys!" The conversion rates, they say, are much higher this way; once you get the user to engage in the survey, they're much more likely to convert. "Once you get them to engage..." they say. I'd be interested to know, though, what the engagement metrics are for these pop-ups regardless of their ability to convert. Taking digital marketers at their word, let's assume the conversion rate is high--let's say 30% of people who engage in the survey/modal actually go on to convert to a sale; this doesn't count for all that much if a solid majority of people hate pop-up ads.

This innovation, zero-party data collection, doesn't apparently stem from any kind of self-reflection on the part of the marketing industry. No--rather, Big Tech finally got sick of negative PR and decided to set the trend: stalking your customers with cross-site tracking and re-marketing is just plain creepy. "We're phasing it out--deal with it." The answer to this, zero-party data collection, at the surface, seems like a move towards more sensible strategies: rather than foster an industry of third party tracking, let's move towards a model that encourages direct interaction. It's the failure of digital marketers to frame this within the context of physical interaction that highlights their arrogance and ignorance regarding the kind of experience consumers are actually after. It doesn't matter whether it's you or Facebook; if you're interrupting my shopping experience with anything less than authentic interaction, I'm not converting. This is exactly where digital marketing fails: it's up against a tremendous hurdle--the internet isn't a proxy for authentic human interaction. It is literally the antithesis of this. To assume that your customers don't understand this is honestly insulting. This isn't an expectation that any normal human being in 2021 has: no one here expects the internet to be authentic.

While writing this blog post I got a call from my bank. I went into my local branch earlier this morning and the teller had explained that he would be following up on a minor detail of my transaction (something I trusted him to take care of). As a courtesy, he called to let me know that he had finalized the issue, and before hanging up he took a brief moment to wish me a happy birthday (a date he likely gleaned from my account details). It's this kind of authentic interaction that keeps me at my bank. They treat me with respect, they pay attention to details, they engage me at a personal level. This kind of trusting relationship will always lead to conversions. When I open up my bank's mobile app, though, I don't need this experience; I don't expect it. My expectations are quite different: I expect clear navigation; I expect to be able to spend as little time in the app as necessary to do what I want; I expect a seamless and easy user experience. Digital marketers all too often forget that this is what people expect. If you're on an e-commerce site, particularly if you're on your phone, you have even less patience than if you were in a physical store. Pop-up surveys?!? (I have words... they're just a bit too strong to use here)

There was a time when the SEO snake-oil salesmen of the world were pushing a single maxim: "content is king"; whether this is still true for SEO is up for debate. The same maxim is, in my experience, true for marketing, though. Attempts to digitally recreate the human experience are a waste of time. People want quality experiences on the web; they want ownership over that experience. If you're trying to manipulate their experience, rob them of control, or otherwise provide them with an inauthentic experience, people are smart enough to see what you're doing; they will come to resent you. If you want conversions, give your site visitors a stand out experience that aligns with their expectations. When they call, or when they visit, give them authentic interaction and you'll seal the deal.