When an ad account just isn't clicking, it's time to roll up the sleeves and dig in. But what should you be looking for, and where? I put together a customer journey roadmap for my team, and I'll share it in this here...

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*foghorn sounds from an iPhone*

Joe is your next customer.

Joe's scrolling through Facebook, and sees your engaging video ad. He stops scrolling to take in the video.

Measure how effective your video ads are at stopping the scroll by dividing 3 second video views by total impressions. Over 30% = solid

So we grabbed Joe's attention in the first three seconds, but did we keep him engaged? Monitor the average video watch time (AWT) across the different video iterations you're testing. The first 3 seconds are crucial, but the AWT says a lot about how well the video works overall.

Joe likes what he sees so he reads the headline. Does Joe read a compelling reason for him to click? That should be the headline's job: to give Joe a great reason to click.

He might need a little more convincing before he's ready to invest any more than the 7s or so he's already given us, so he reads the copy. Measure your total clicks against your outbound clicks to get a sense of how many folks are losing interest once they read the copy.

The overall effectiveness of the ad at stopping the scroll, getting the user engaged and EARNING the click can be measured by the Unique Link Click Through Rate. Every niche is different, but generally speaking you want to see this above 1% as a starting point.

While you can't always influence CPMs or the conversion rate of your clients' website, the Unique Link CTR is one metric which, as an advertiser, you can look at and say "my ads are *this* good at getting people to the website". Not the be all, but an important metric to watch

What's the first thing Joe does when he lands on the lander? Yep, you guessed it. He seeks re-enforcement of the reason he clicked in the first place. Landing page visitors are hungry for relevant copy. Don't hide it below the fold.

Re-enforce why they clicked in the first place with your headline, and EARN the right to have them read the sub-headline. Every single step in this process must be earned.

A high bounce rate could indicate bad load speed, or a landing experience that doesn't meet expectations

Joe's seen the ad. He's on the lander. He's read the copy. He's aware of the price. Joe is now weighing up [the price of your product AND the perceived pain in the neck involved in ordering] vs [the perceived benefit to his life that will result]

Is your offer compelling? Do you clearly articulate the features and benefits, and contrast that with the pain points Joe's likely feeling now, without the product in his life?

[Sidebar: If your offer is not compelling, stop here and go back to the drawing board. Trying to scale offers that don't resonate is a waste of time, money and energy. That's why we vet our potential clients even more rigorously than they vet us!]

OK, Joe's in. The product solves a problem he has and the price is worth the effort.

But can he trust you?

Joe searches the site for evidence that you are trustworthy and that this is going to go well for him.

The first thing Joe seeks is numerous verified, positive reviews.

The positive reviews are plentiful, and Joe's convinced. He clicks add to cart. He sees a relevant cross-sell popup that increases the overall perceived value of his order. He adds that to cart, too. We want to see a minimum 6% ATC rate, but again, every business is different.

What's Joe thinking right now? Yep. You guessed it. Unless the question has already been answered with a banner or otherwise, Joe is almost certainly thinking "how badly am I going to get screwed on shipping here?!"

If you can make the numbers work, offer free shipping and call it out in a banner. Your conversion rates will thank you. Joe's seen that, so he initiates checkout.

Does Joe have a bunch of unnecessary decisions to make in the checkout process? Is he hit with upsell after upsell? Or can he seamlessly complete his order and head on his way? We want to see 1/3 of add to carts convert to purchases, or we suspect issues with the checkout process

Upon completing his order, Joe gets a confirmation email. Is it a standard template no one has even looked at, or is it the beginning of a wonderful relationship between consumer and brand? The first email Joe gets post-purchase tells him a lot about how the brand thinks of him

A branded email with a personal touch welcomes Joe to the community, and he gets regular updates when his order has been packed and shipped. Joe's confident about his decision and feels like he did a good thing today.

When the package arrives, what's the unboxing experience like? Does it delight? Does Joe feel like a 37-year-old kid on Christmas morning? Or is it just the product in a brown box... no note... no little surprises... nothing? One will make his day, and one will make him say "meh"

The unboxing experience delights, and Joe feels wonderful about his decision to buy from you. He feels like he knows about this cool boutique company HE DISCOVERED on the internets that no one else knows about. He excitedly tells his friends who he thinks might be interested.

Every month, Joe gets an email from his new favourite brand, constantly adding value by showing him new and diverse ways he can get even more value out of his product. The one he gets in November reminds him to purchase from you again as an early Christmas present for a friend.

Joe's lifetime value to your business is now 2x AOV, and the 2x ROAS you got on his initial purchase is now effectively a 4x. You're now scaling your business in the most efficient way possible, with automated marketing doing much of the heavy lifting. Congrats!

If you own an outdoor recreation or sports brand and this sounds like too much work, you don't have the necessary expertise in-house, or you'd just like to make sure everything gets done right the first time, you can apply to work with us at http://www.outdoorecommerce.com 

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Well, let's be real. TED X