Let’s talk about the trickiest thing in marketing: figuring out why someone actually buys something.

Sure, you can dive into your Google Analytics dashboard, click through some UTM links, and feel very data-driven and powerful.

Maybe you even track conversions with military precision. Love that for you.

But here’s the truth: sometimes the reason someone buys has nothing to do with the clicks.

Sometimes it doesn’t start in Chrome. Or Safari. Or anywhere near a website.

Sometimes the journey started a week ago... on a park bench... after a friend whispered, “You have to try this.”

Or maybe it was a TikTok you liked in passing, forgot about, and then circled back to at 11:37 pm on a Thursday. (No judgment.)

Not everything can be tracked. Not everything makes sense in a spreadsheet.

For example, my pink-powered book purchase

I thought I was over the fake dating trope in my romance novels (even though, let’s be real, they’re always amazing). So I skimmed the description of Summer in the City and went, “meh.”

But then I kept seeing the author pop up on social media. Doing the cutest stuff. Wearing adorable outfits. Giving off full-on Elle Woods energy in the best way.

At one point, I’m pretty sure I saw her outside a hot pink food truck.

The next thing I knew? I bought the book.

Not because of the plot. Not because of a retargeting ad. But because the PR was vibes.

Unless I told her, the author would never know. Her publisher will definitely never know.

I literally bought a book because the author was wearing the perfect pink outfits on her book tour.

And then, to really commit, I bedazzled the book. (It’s giving ✨brand loyalty✨.)

So here’s the takeaway:

People don’t always buy because of what you said in an ad.

They buy because of a feeling. A vibe. A moment. A mood.

And that mood might’ve been set by something totally untraceable in the world of analytics.

So keep showing up. Keep being your brand. Keep doing cute stuff.

P.S. If you’ve ever bought something for a completely unhinged (but valid) reason, I wanna hear it. Seriously. Hit reply.

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