Advanced Ch. 3: Strategic Objective Design — Objectives as Strategy
1. Warning: Algorithms are “Blindly Obedient”
If you tell Google PMax or Meta Advantage+ you want “Clicks,” it will find people who click on everything but buy nothing. If you want “Purchase,” it will find buyers. But not all buyers are equal.
2. The Three-Way Fight: Revenue, Profit, Growth
- Revenue: Scale at any cost. Good for IPOs or supply chain leverage.
- Profit: Every cent must count. Good for tight cash flow or mature products.
- Growth/Market Share: Grab land now, collect rent later. Good for network-effect products (SaaS, Social).
3. Acquisition-focused vs. LTV-focused
If you know a customer buys $100 today but $500 over the next year, you can pay $150 to get them today. To your competitors, you look insane. To yourself, you are locking in future profit.
4. Brand in Action: Amazon Prime’s “Negative Profit” Strategy
Amazon sacrificed single-transaction profit to lock in LTV. Prime members spend $1400/yr vs $600 for non-members. Their marketing objective isn’t “sell a book”; it’s “convert a member.”
Lesson: The highest level of marketing is sacrificing local, short-term profit for global, long-term dominance.
Next Chapter: Advanced Ch. 4: Budget, Rhythm, and Risk Management. Spending like an investor.