Of Wonder Bread, Wildflower & William Morris

Most people are familiar with the adage, “You get what you pay for”, meaning that while a plethora of inexpensive goods and services exist – a cheap price tag does not equate to quality.   This concept has been kicking around in my craw recently as I’ve noticed some parallels between 21^st century SEM and a design revolution beginning 150+ years ago.

William Morris is generally regarded as the father of the Arts & Crafts Movement of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  As an admirer of Morris, I enjoy reading about the cultural changes and societal shifts borne in response to the automation of the Industrial Revolution. The Arts & Crafts Movement countered the uninspired output of systematic mechanization and placed emphasis on superior craftsmanship, hand-detail, design and quality deliverables.

While automated systems exist for the research, development and management of pay-per-click campaigns – these tools are no substitute for human attention.  A robotic system for kicking out bland landing pages may decrease the time and effort involved in launching the pages, but a human eye (and hand on a mouse) is necessary to produce quality results.  These tools are just that – tools, which can be used to improve efficiencies and decease time spent on rote tasks, but superior strategy, effort spent in customizing campaigns and human management of the campaigns drives superior results.

Here’s an analogy that I believe is comparable.  If I were in the market for a loaf of bread, I have tons of options available to me from mediocre mass-produced loaves like plain old white Wonder Bread to a flavorful, handcrafted, artisanal loaf produced by local master bakers at the Wildflower Bread Company.  Sure, I’m going to pay more for the handmade loaf — but the resources and care that went into making that loaf result in superior flavor and a decidedly preferable product.

To that end, some marketers might consider taking the seemingly cheaper path to lead generation by choosing a service or vendor based solely on cost.  But will this meet their objectives in the end?  A client of mine recently compared the quality of leads generated by Sitewire versus those of a fully automated system.  Guess which leads converted better and a higher ticket value.

While I’m no Luddite or naysayer when it comes to technologies or tools that improve efficiency –the fact that search engine marketing is still both an art and a science — I feel as though human management and attention to campaign intricacies produces superior results.

Which do you think Mr. Morris would prefer: a tasteless loaf of Wonder Bread or a fine artisanal loaf from the Wildflower Bread Company?  You tell me.

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Tagged as: advertising campaigns, Arts & Crafts Movement, Search, Wildflower, William Morris, Wonder Bread

This article is from Josh Yeager

Best known for his cheerful demeanor, Josh believes the best part about working for an agency is that no two days are the same and no two clients have the same needs. Digging in, figuring out the complexities, individual challenges and needs of each client is what he lives for. As an avid fan and early adopter of social media, Josh loves the communities that develop around technology.

Josh has written 10 posts.