Yesterday, I saw a video from Sophie Tangel asking a person across the table:
“Do you wish you were more athletic?”
The athlete across the table looked up quizzically…
You can read the confusion in her eyes, “Do you know who you’re talking to?! Could I BE any more athletic?”
Because the athlete is no other than Simone Biles.
The interesting thing is…
Every time I see Simone Biles leaping into the air – twisting, flipping… flying?! – and landing across the floor with a huge thump. You’ll see fans commenting:
“That does not feel like something humans should be able to do.”
“Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time.”
But at the same time –
There will always be that one person claiming:
“This is boring. This is not gymnastic. All she does is try to pull hard moves.”
“Olga Korbut is still the best.”
Or…
“Nadia Comaneci is the GOAT.”
So, who’s right?
Well… both comments are valid.
(I just blew a bunch of minds by making the claim that there can be multiple sides that are “true” at the same time. It doesn’t always have to be black and white. Right and left.)
The only difference is the metric.
In the past, floor judges favored aesthetic, flexibility, rhythm, and the feminine expression. Now, the judges favor the skills, the difficulty, the height of your jump, and the power moves.
As you can see…
How we measure the scoreboard will influence how the athletes train.
And that is a great parallel for marketing, too.
How you measure your KPI will determine how you strategize.
If you favor open rate and click rate –
You’ll use bait and switch tactics. You’ll use more images. You’ll sprinkle 20 hyperlinks inside one email. You’ll use a big, red button as CTA.
If you favor AOV –
You’ll use discounts after discounts after discounts. You’ll use a countdown timer… pairing with 3 deadline extensions. You’ll use 12 different upsells/downsells.
If you favor CLV –
You’ll focus on relationships. You’ll tell stories. You’ll entertain. You’ll try to make your emails something your subscribers look forward to reading every day.
So…
How do YOU want to measure your marketing results?
By vanity metrics like OR and CR… or short-term results like AOV… or long-term success like CLV?
It’s your choice.
But be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
To your success,
– WYH