So many marketers are focused on clicks today that you would think that its "all about the clicks". Well, truth be told, clicks are pretty much worthless. Strong statement? It might be, but its the age old argument of creating awareness.

It's difficult or near impossible to run a business on awareness alone.. you need conversions. When it comes to the marketing professionals who say, "You need to create awareness", I say, "What's the point"? Awareness that doesn't generate a transaction isn't worth the web page its printed on.

Tonight I was driving by a billboard and thought to myself what a waste of marketing dollars. I tried to think of at least 3 billboards I remembered seeing ever. I'm embarassed to say that I could only recall three - but that's not the point (for the curious mind the three were for Kisimee St. Cloud, Miller Light, and Hair Loss). I could go into significant details as to why I remember these, but I'll keep it brief:

• The Kisimee billboard was available on a roadside every mile for 20 miles driving through Florida.


• The Miller Light billboard had a beautify woman in a white bathing suit pictured with an ice cold Miller Light


• Hair Loss - it was a cute billboard and since I'm starting to thin out, I thought it was a timely message.

Okay, so I remember about 3 or possibly 5 billboards I've seen in my lifetime but the real question is, did I take ANY action? I know this is market research of one, but I didn't make a single phone call, visit a website, or make a purchase as a result. Did it create awareness? Sure it did, but awareness without action is meaningless!

The same holds true for pay-per-click advertising. So your getting clicks - good start... are the clicks converting into sales? If so, how many clicks and at what cost does it take to generate one sale? If your expense is more than your revenue, you're losing money.

Focus on your marketin return, not on clicks... clicks are pretty much meaningless. Do you agree? Leave a comment.