Seth Godin:
Are they Ready to Listen? (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/07/are-they-ready.html)
A simple and at the same time often missed thought, Seth Godin points out the issue of timing in marketing.
To prove his point, he did some field research (impromptu it appears):
"Every single one a demographically perfect match for my handbook. After 100,000 people had walked by and we'd sold only one book, I lowered the price from around $10 to $1 just to prove my point--that it wasn't the book and it wasn't the price, it was the ability of the audience to listen that mattered."
Here he had what was the perfect product, with the perfect audience and his sales were abysmal. Sometimes the market is just not ready to listen.
Oddly, even in search, where someone raised her hand and says "I'm listening", we can see drastic swings in sales or other end metric. Take a look at time of day conversions, time of week, month, year, geography, etc. Conversion rates can vary greatly.
So, this begs the question: When she is ready to listen, do you know what to say?
When a person searches, does she click on your ad because it has the right message, or because nothing is right and she is just hunting down the list? Even if you're the best in a group that is bad, your ad is still bad. Getting the right ad, in front of the right search at the right time is an iterative process. It is not a case of making your ad different for difference's sake, but for the consumer's sake.
The search term (not the keyword), is the key indicator of what the consumer wants to hear. It is the nuance of the search term that needs to inform the messaging. By vigilantly combing the query data, you can identify new ad groups with more focussed messaging and important negatives that will help you ensure that you direct the searcher to the appropriate campaign / ad group. This can be tedious and manual work. But, failure to do this on a continual basis can create mediocre results from an otherwise stellar product.
Further, if you are familiar enough with your consumer, you may know that the same search term has different meanings based on the time of day, week, or month; same keyword, different message. Early in the month may be the time she is collecting product information, while later, she is looking for a reason to buy from you. If you help her in the beginning, you have a better chance of getting her to listen later. Try too hard to sell her in the beginning and you lose an opportunity for the sale later.
Continual copy and experience testing are key to being sure you are ready when the consumer tells you she is listening. Search is about nuance; what the consumer is telling you and, in turn, what you are saying in response. The only way to know if you heard correctly is to test, continually.
In short, by paying attention to, and understanding where, when and how the consumer tells you she is listening, you have a better chance of telling her what she wants to hear... just like any relationship.
