There’s a trend in marketing right now that’s really not my favorite (one of many, to be honest).
While it’s a current trend that you’ve probably seen and possibly even experimented with (no shame!), it’s also packed with age-old marketing tactics that aren’t the cleanest and definitely aren’t the most effective.
It looks like this:
- Run an ad for a free program, resource, or consultation.
- In that ad, include a shiny success story, especially if it’s a financial claim you know will wow people
- After sharing the success story, let people know that you can show them exactly what you did to achieve this so they can, too
- Get people into an email funnel with persuasive upsells or onto a sales call where you can sell them into something.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with running ads, giving away freebies, funneling people into a sales call, or sharing claims, it’s essential to understand the two reasons why this isn’t working.
First, we’ve been inundated with marketing like this for a while (far too long if you ask most people).
The truth is, most of us don’t want a bunch of free “stuff” anymore, especially when it’s not exactly what we need and comes with a ton of follow-up emails or urgency-based promotions. We especially don’t want it when it’s just a ploy to get us into a sales conversation because we’re all so sick and tired of being sold to at every turn.
Why do you think Apple released the “hide my email” feature on iOs? Or why people use throwaway email addresses for newsletters? We’re tired of being marketed to. We’re tired of our information being sold, retargeted, and endlessly spammed with irrelevant things.
Second, people feel suspicious of these types of claims since more predatory practices in coaching and marketing have been exposed.
These types of claims you’re seeing can activate people’s desperation, insecurity, and sense of scarcity or FOMO (fear of missing out), causing them to purchase from an ungrounded place. When someone acts like they have the big secret others are missing, and they’re only going to dangle the possibility of it in front of their face for the next five seconds, that person is manipulating and pressuring others to act NOW!!
Look, we know that some of these practices seem as simple as traditional marketing, but they raise many crucial ethics questions.
If something triggers panic and unnecessary urgency or activates your nervous system, can you really make the best and right decision for yourself in that moment?
No, not usually.
Your body is in fight or flight, and you’re operating from activated fear, which means physiologically, you’re not in your right mind.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with informing people of deadlines, the number of available spaces, or offering bonuses to early adopters of an offering. But when we use these things in a way that’s untrue and/or unnecessarily activates people to rush through their decision-making process rather than allowing time and space to feel into what’s right for them, that’s not clean marketing, and it’s not harmless sales.
So, understandably, people are getting suspicious.
This is why I find leading with thought leadership marketing over “activation” marketing is better.
This means creating content that answers your ideal client’s most pressing questions in a format they want to engage with. While that content can certainly contain honest claims and success stories, they tends to be better received in the context you create because you’re showing them what you know and how it applies to them.
When done well, this type of content can have higher conversions and shorter sales cycles because it’s not the age-old “I know the secret to this big shiny thing I shared, so you should sign up, or you’re going to miss out.” It’s sharing your expertise in a unique way that seamlessly leads them into the next step. They want to sign up for your program or service (often without a sales call or more marketing) because you’ve established a different kind of trust.
Better yet, you’re not rushing them. You’re not doing anything that can be perceived as a “trick” to make them move forward.
What does that look like?
Instead of a flashy ad with a big, enticing claim, think of a carousel post you want to scroll through or save and go back to read later. If it’s on Linkedin or Facebook vs. Instagram, that single image should be interesting to your audience in terms of design and content, prompting them to click through to a thought leadership piece they want to read and engage with (this could also be a video or a podcast episode).
Instead of a free ebook or program paired with “I can show you exactly what I did to achieve this so that you can, too,” you create thought leadership pieces that meet them where they’re at in their process.
They might be looking for information…
They could be searching for different solutions for their issue…
Or they may be ready to find the right fix…
Whatever they’re at, you’re meeting them in their active search with the information they need. Not behind an opt-in before you’ve given them anything but the promise of something they may find useful.
There’s nothing wrong with freebies.
But if you’re looking to create a marketing strategy and funnel that’s free of harm and attracts more of the right clients and customers, you need to consider stepping away from the old tactics.
Instead of waving shiny claims and promises of having the missing secret to their success, joy, or desires (that they only have five seconds to access), show them you do before you ask for anything in return.
Share your expertise and processes (this is possible to do in a comprehensive way without giving everything away for free).
Give them something they can take action on to see results.
Help shift their beliefs in a clean and non-manipulative way.
Give them context for who you are and what your work is about—real context, not fluff that activates them in an unhealthy way—and then invite them to take the next step without unnecessary urgency.
Your program may actually start tomorrow, and there may really be only one spot left for your package or event, but that doesn’t mean you need to make them feel like they’re missing the boat for good. A calm nervous system is a clear one, and our marketing should always support that.
