Category Archives: Strategy

Killing the Paywall

Posted on Monday, 12 August 2019 7:56 am by

Tom Goodwin’s recent article, “Why making content on the internet free was our biggest mistake… and how to fix it” is required reading for all marketers in publishing. I’ve felt this way for a long time. Mr. Goodwin only wrote … Continue reading →

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USPS 3685 and the State of Marketing

Posted on Tuesday, 23 April 2019 7:00 am by

Sometimes reading the USPS-required Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (form 3685) can reveal a lot about the state of one’s industry. As a direct marketing and postal junkie, I find USPS forms fascinating. (I don’t get out much.) I … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Education, Marketing, Strategy | Tagged , , ,

First Mile Problems

Posted on Thursday, 18 April 2019 7:30 am by

I was recently interviewed by Tim Furey, CEO of MarketBridge, on The Last Mile Podcast. Among our discussion of SAC, CAC, LTV, ROI, other three-letter acronyms, we also spent time on “first mile” marketing problems. As a practicing performance/direct response … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Response, Marketing, Media, Philosophy, Rants, Strategy, Tactics | Tagged , , ,

Algorithms: Recipes for Disaster

Posted on Thursday, 22 March 2018 8:15 am by

When we purchase digital advertising, we place our faith in the algorithms–a fancy word for “recipes”–used to determine things like the final price of the inventory, which creative is shown, and the frequency at which those impressions are shown. There’s … Continue reading →

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Media Whitewash

Posted on Wednesday, 21 February 2018 8:29 am by

The ever thought-provoking Don Marti wrote something in “This is why we can’t have nice brands” on February 17th that reminded me of a standard direct mail practice: “Twitter has a solution that keeps its ads saleable: just don’t show … Continue reading →

Posted in Branding, digital marketing, Direct Response, fraud, Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy | Tagged , ,

Name Those Ads

It’s been two days since the Super Bowl. Quick, and without thinking too hard, write down: The ads you saw on the Super Bowl on Sunday The digital ads you saw this morning as you read the news with coffee … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Tuesday, 6 February 2018 8:52 am by | Tagged , , ,

Remove Tracking Pixels, Secure Your Data

Data leakage from publisher sites results in loss of data revenue for the publisher. An unsophisticated buyer would never buy premium first-party data from the publisher, when they can buy “the same” stuff for pennies on the dollar from vendor … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Friday, 26 January 2018 8:29 am by | Tagged , , ,

Digital Marketing Tips From El Al

Posted on Wednesday, 24 January 2018 8:57 am by

El Al airlines has never been bombed and only hijacked once. This in spite of being a constant target for well-funded and persistent criminals. An enviable track record. How do they do it? Isaac Yeffet, El Al’s former head of … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, fraud, Media, Philosophy, planning, Security, Strategy | Tagged , , , , , , ,

No Real Marketer Wants Their Budget Increased…

…properly-trained marketers focus on improving business performance. A bigger marketing budget might be a second order effect.

Aside | Posted on Wednesday, 24 January 2018 7:10 am by | Tagged , ,

Publisher Advice From a Buyer

Posted on Friday, 12 January 2018 8:31 am by

Dr. Augustine Fou wrote a brilliant article yesterday, Five Unintended Consequences, Counter-intuitive Outcomes that Publishers May Not Have Thought Of,  that got me thinking about the advice I’d give publishers as a buyer. Here they are: Remove all the tracking widgets … Continue reading →

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