Making Your Clicks Count

Here's a mantra of mine that I want to share: Don't count your clicks; make your clicks count.

It's nothing new. I've been saying it for a while. But the challenge is that many people still want to hold tight to the idea of amassing as many clicks as they can.

But to what end?

Getting 20,000 clicks to your content is great, but if none of those clicks result in a positive business transaction, then what are they really worth to you? And if those 20,000 clicks are solicited through misdirection and erroneous information, then they're actually a negative drain on your resources and reputation.

Yesterday Mashable wrote a piece on Content Marketing's clickbait problem, putting the focus squarely on business' reliance on clicks as the sole metric quantifying success.

It's just another representation of the ineffective but easily affected.

For years, there have been black-hat SEO gurus (or wizards, mavens, sherpas, Grand Poohbahs...) who have bamboozled businesses of all sizes with promises of dramatically increasing certain metrics. Buying followers, padding keywords, and -- now -- linkbait.

But in the end you're left with a bad taste in your mouth. The reason being? Because when you're looking for tangible results into which you can sink your teeth, all you're left with is a puff of smoke.

Sure, having 20,000 Facebook fans may seem great, but if they're all thousands of kilometers away -- and not likely to buy anything from you, what's it really worth? Comparatively speaking, 100 followers may not seem like an overwhelming number, but if they're regular patrons of your establishment, don't they offer you exponentially more value?

If you're looking for metrics that matter, focus on a little QST (Quality, Service, Trust is a good guide in general, but forgive me for conscripting this acronym).

Quantifiable

Obviously measurements matter. Qualitative measurements have value, but they're much harder to prove if they're based on anecdotal evidence only. Quantifiable metrics can be qualitative in nature if you establish baselines -- satisfaction surveys, comment summaries -- but, as a business, you want to ensure that what you're doing has results.

Ideally, you're measuring to see an uptick in sales. But you also need to remember it's a long game. Social interaction A may not automatically equal Transaction Z -- there may need to be multiple steps. But those steps can also be measured -- increased comments, interactions, and shares.

Sharable

Speaking of shares. Click and consume is great. Click, consume, and share with your peers/friends is even better. We know that consumers are far more likely to act based on a friend's recommendation than by advertising, so creating content that gets shared is vital. And to do that you need to focus on quality and meeting people's needs.

Clickbait may get people to your site, but they're not going to pass it on if the content provided doesn't add any value. Ideally, you want to create content that your customers -- both existing and potential -- are going to value, use, trust, and share. Again, it's part of the long game, but if you can establish your bonafides and your customers trust the quality of your content, that's going to benefit you in the long run.

Transactional

Not everything you do has to result in a sale, but everything you do should help create the conditions and environment that will eventually lead to a transaction.

Again, social action A may not immediately lead to money changing hands, but it may be your future customer's first step into the transactional funnel. Whether it's building brand awareness, increasing your position as a leader in the industry, or amplifying your customer's trust and/or respect of your brand, that should be the focus.
Numbers matter, as long as you're focusing on the right ones. Quantity does not always equal quality and focusing on making your clicks count is the best way to measure success.

Your thoughts? Comments are open.