How to make porn: keep A/B testing

“What we know is that if you A/B test a website enough times, it will turn into a porn site. Because when you A/B test, you will end up with clickbait. You will end up with prurient images that people sort of click on in the short run because… ‘ehh.’ That is no way to do the work that you care about.”
–Seth Godin (in this podcast episode)

I’ve spent the entire year making short-form content. I’ve almost made 300 videos so far this year, and I’m on pace to publish more than 400. 

Along the way, almost on accident, I’ve learned a thing or two about optimization. (It’s more fun to make videos that perform well on Instagram than it is to make videos that tank.) A few years ago, I scoffed at creators who posted little dancing videos with trending audio. The past few weeks, I’ve made little dancing videos with trending audio. Why? Because they perform well and drive book sales. 

On one hand, I’ve stopped viewing my social content as “so precious.” I save that energy for my writing. But on the other hand, isn’t this how every concession in the history of concessions was made? Through little justifications like that? 

If you’re a creative and you work with brands in the modern age, they will inevitably ask you to A/B test. They’ll ask you to try things that will perform a little better. They’ll ask you to sacrifice aesthetics and storytelling for algorithms and performance. 

Much of this is good. It gets us out of our boxes, forcing us to make work that actually works. But at some point, creatively, you need to put your foot down. You need to protect the brand. You need to respect your audience and bring real value. Because if you really wanted to maximize clicks, you could be making porn. You could be publishing “Doctors hate him for this one weird trick” articles and serving them to boomers. 

But you’re not. 

You’re doing work that’s more important than that. As Godin says, “work that you care about.” And it’s your job as a “creative” to steer the ship of creation. Ad buyers are judged on ROAS. Direct marketers are judged on clicks. Social media managers are judged on account growth. 

But creatives? We’re judged on our work. 

All that’s left at the end of the project is the work. How does it look? How does it feel? Are you proud of it? 

Keep fighting the good fight for good creative. 

It’s worth it. 

P.S. After mulling this idea over the past few weeks, I’ve decided to launch a subscriber channel on my Instagram. I’m using it to publish video content that’s more helpful, even if it doesn’t perform in the algorithm. This week’s video breaks down my entire personal productivity system, and gives you templates to steal it for yourself. For $10 a month, you can join us here.