The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs: How Viral Acquisition and Monetization Can Lead to Marketing Success

The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs: How Viral Acquisition and Monetization Can Lead to Marketing Success

In the world of marketing, finding a strategy that works can be a long and arduous process. After months of iterating on different marketing strategies, you finally find something that works. However, the moment you start to scale it, the effectiveness of your marketing grinds to a halt. This phenomenon is known as the Law of Shitty Clickthroughs.

The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs states that over time, all marketing strategies result in declining clickthrough rates. It's a frustrating reality that many marketers face. But why does this happen?

One of the key drivers of engagement in marketing is novelty. Humans are naturally drawn to new and exciting things. Retargeter, a marketing analysis company, posted an interesting analysis on the Importance of Rotating Creatives. They found that keeping the same ad creative led to declining clickthrough rates over time. Humans seek novelty, but they are also pattern-recognition machines. Once they've seen an ad a few times, it loses its appeal.

This brings us to another important point – competition. Any product that is first to market has a limited window of high marketing performance. Once the competition enters the market, everyone's marketing efforts will degrade. The early adopters, who actively seek out new products, will be saturated with ads, and the mainstream market will need a lot of convincing.

Scaling your marketing efforts also means reaching a larger audience. However, more scale does not necessarily mean more qualified customers. In the Technology Adoption Lifecycle framework, the early market seeks out novelty, whereas the mainstream market just cares if you solve a problem for them. As you reach a broader audience, you may find that your marketing performance declines because you are targeting people who are less interested in novelty and more interested in practical solutions.

So, how can you combat the Law of Shitty Clickthroughs and continue to achieve marketing success? Here are three actionable pieces of advice:

• 1. Take a nomad strategy: Always keep developing new creative, testing new publishers, and exploring different marketing channels. By constantly seeking out new opportunities, you can avoid relying too heavily on a single strategy that will inevitably lose its effectiveness over time.

• 2. Double down on traditional forms of online advertising: While it's important to explore new marketing channels, don't neglect the tried-and-true methods like banners, search, and email. These channels may not be as trendy or exciting as the latest social media platform, but they can still be effective in reaching your target audience.

• 3. Discover the next untapped marketing channel: In addition to traditional forms of online advertising, it's crucial to stay ahead of the curve and be on the lookout for the next big marketing channel. Getting in early on an uncontested marketing channel can give you a significant advantage and allow you to capitalize on the novelty factor before it wears off.

Now, let's shift our focus to viral acquisition and monetization. Viral marketing has been a game-changer for many businesses, allowing them to acquire customers without spending a fortune on marketing and sales. Companies like Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Gilt, and Polyvore have all experienced rapid growth thanks to viral marketing.

However, viral acquisition alone is not enough. The best businesses are those that have figured out how to combine viral customer acquisition with a solid monetization strategy. Take YouTube, for example. While it may have achieved viral success, it also faces high costs associated with bandwidth and storage. To make CPM ads a viable business model, a site needs to be in the top levels of traffic.

In the early days of Google, there was no clear strategy to monetize the traffic. However, the discovery of Adwords provided the solution and allowed Google to turn its massive user base into a lucrative business. This highlights the importance of not only acquiring customers virally but also having a plan in place to monetize those customers effectively.

In conclusion, the Law of Shitty Clickthroughs is an unfortunate reality in marketing. However, by understanding the importance of novelty, being aware of competition, and focusing on qualified customers, you can mitigate its impact. Additionally, combining viral acquisition with a strong monetization strategy can lead to long-term marketing success. So, keep exploring new marketing channels, stay ahead of the curve, and always have a plan to monetize your customers effectively.