Set it and forget it. Forget it.

This Thanksgiving week I have a lot to be thankful for — my family, friends, colleagues and a growing business just scratch the surface of my list. One of the more in-the-weeds things I’m thankful for is that we’re seeing the post-click myths busted more and more often. This is great news for the industry.

Common myths I’m hearing less and less

• “People don’t want to click”
• “Landing pages aren’t important to my success”
• “I need a set it and forget it black box solution for optimization”

While I am thankful to be hearing these less often, I just heard the last one yesterday.

I’m not surprised that the idea of the ‘black box’ of conversion optimization remains attractive to consider. I wish there was such a thing. But there’s not. And the reasons why aren’t technical. They’re contextual.

There may be a black box of short-term conversion improvement. But improvement is not the same as optimization.

The environment for online marketing is volatile. In 15 years, change is the only constant I’ve seen. The pace of this change, its impact on users, an advertiser’s relationship to those changes, and their competitor’s pro- or reactive adjustments make for an ever-shifting landscape. The context of the message is always in flux.

The relationship of content to context is what makes an experience more or less effective. Content doesn’t mean keyword, image or headline substitution. It means having a real connection to the needs and intent of the person who you are attempting to engage. Relevance for people comes from people. This is clearly borne out in successful social marketing. 

The crux of the ‘set it and forget it’ myth is that a result in one timeframe is predictive of future success. The truth of the matter is that today’s tested champion will likely be displaced tomorrow by a more relevant challenger. I’ve seen this play out across hundreds of industries, customers and conversion goals. It’s survival of the fittest and everything’s evolving.

The mythical ‘black box’ represents less effort. Its results are similarly less dramatic. If your objective is to redefine what’s ‘normal’ for your campaign results, forget the black box. If you’re happy with some incremental gains on your current average, then set it and forget it. But not for too long. Remember, everything’s changing.