What Would You Pay For a Customer?

That's not a question we ask ourselves much in marketing. We ask ourselves what we'd pay "per lead" (per click if you're online) or per pair of eyeballs (read: impressions). But we don't usually ask what we'd pay for a customer because - let's face it - you can lead a horse to water, blah, blah, blah.

And yet, the next big thing from Google asks advertisers just that: what would you pay for a customer? And rather than paying "per click" you'll have the ability to bid "per action." In other words, you define the action: "Customer buys this red sweater," and decide what you'll pay for Google to get someone to your site to do just that.

If this works, all the guys who said Google was little more than a big billboard company can pack up and go home.

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