Keep the Tribal Algorithm

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Keep the Tribal Algorithm by Jason Prescott (below) contains musings on search marketing, web analytics and why we don’t just feed the dog.
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We hear from newbie clients: Their web analytics tell them “this” and “that.” As we hear it, analytics are full of business wisdom, dictating advertising and search marketing decisions … which key word is Good, what distribution network is Better, and what PPC bid strategy is Best.

Take a closer look. Sure, web analytics offer valuable input for trend spotting, understanding user behavior and help measuring marketing success. But the operative word is HELP. Analytics are one tool in the marketing kit bag. And it’s a touchy tool, at that. Web analytics software can be very sensitive programming built on proprietary metrics. The huge data stream that analytics dumps into slick graphic reports demands interpretation, especially when you compare one company’s analytic apples to another’s pomegranates.

Am I saying ignore Google Analytics? Was Yahoo! foolish to play analytical catch-up buying IndexTools in early April to measure web behavior and paid search ROI??

Absolutely not.

All I’m saying here is that there is a Tribal Knowledge Algorithm you can’t ignore: It’s the collected knowledge of people who know your industry or product line, because they’ve worked it. It’s where Gut Instinct meets By-the-Numbers. It’s what still matters in successful business decisions.

Some in the search marketing biz dare to question 3,000-pound gorilla Google because Google relies on tech voodoo and search algorithms. Translation: Google depends on its proprietary search algorithms to go broad, horizontal and massively comprehensive, rather than organize around its users through their interests and their industries. (verticalizing)

Jim Meskauskas, director of online media for ICON International, observed that advertisers need not fear The Google after it acquired ad-serving network DoubleClick. Because marketing and advertising relies on ideas … and only humans have those. Successful campaigns don’t come from a another ad-buying auction technology or yet another intermediary in the ad-buying process. It’s still about the creative tribe and human strategy.

Because we don’t just feed the dog. ??

Says Jim: “If technology and engineering were the answers to all the questions, most businesses would consist of a machine, a dog and a man. The man would be there to feed the dog and the dog would be there to keep the man away from the machine.”

We run a lot of analytics here at TopTenWholesale. But we keep tribal knowledge and experience in the mix. We don’t just feed the dog.