We've come up with a way to visualize the total cost of online marketing in the context of the funnel. We've highlighted cost centers in the graphic—and most importantly, the paths to increased online marketing performance and significantly higher ROI.

In the pre-click world where we seek to optimize click-through rate, the two primary performance drivers are targeting and creative. In the often under-served post-click world where we seek to optimize conversion rate, the two analogous drivers are message matching and creative. And yes, those are essentially the same drivers in both the pre-click and post-click worlds — just slightly different takes.

So the burning question remains: Why is so much effort put into the pre-click piece and so little effort put into the post-click piece? It's one puzzle after all. Remember, landing pages are sexy, and you have a five- to 30-times gain by paying closer attention to them.