When I originally sent the email that talked about the Nightmares Fear Factory attraction in Canada (“What on Earth is Scaring These Poor People?”), I had some subscribers take issue with the marketing message.
Below is my response:
Yesterday’s email received some push-back. And I thought some clarification was in order.
It goes deep to the heart of being a marketer.
Was it unethical for the BluBlocker Sunglasses commercial to not show what the world looked like as viewed through their sunglasses?
Was it wrong to make the viewer so curious that they had to find out for themselves and buy a pair?
I think you know my answer.
It’s a brilliant strategy.
If you don’t think so, let me ask you about another industry that uses a similar approach.
It’s an industry that has you addicted to it every time it appears in your line of sight.
And your kids are most definitely hooked on it, too.
Which industry am I referring to?
The film industry.
How many times have you watched a movie trailer and thought,“Wow! That looks really good! I have to see it when it comes out!”
Does the trailer tell you everything about that movie?
(Some people say a trailer often showed the best parts so they didn’t have to see the movie. THAT’S a trailer that failed. Big time.)
Marketing is all about capturing the imagination of your target audience. It’s about telling a story.
It’s also about using triggers to get people to buy what you’re selling.
If for whatever reason you’re not 100% invested in that intent, then marketing isn’t for you.
I have a LOT of information to share with people who are unhappy with their marketing efforts so far.
Or they know they need to step up their marketing game but not sure how.
If that’s you, welcome! You’re my tribe! (Click the orange button to join my email list.)
But…
if you think marketing and selling are “dirty”…
if you believe that all marketers are liars….
and if you believe that you can just tell your audience about the features and benefits of your product or service and that should be good enough…
…then I wish you all the best but I’m not the one for you.
I’ll leave you with one last thought.
Robert Rose, who is the Content Marketing Strategist for the Content Marketing Institute, wrote a powerful article on truth. I highly recommend reading it, but will include a partial quote from his article (emphasis mine):
We are not in the business of truth.
What I mean by that is as business communicators, we are in the business of appealing to emotion, the business of persuasion. We are not in the business of relaying facts. Therefore, we must use story as our means of that persuasion. We cannot rely solely on facts. We must synthesize facts into creative narratives that convince people to emotionally commit to the approach or idea we are trying to move forward.”
In other words, the goal is to get people to buy our stuff.
Marketers who understand this make scary-good money.
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Photo credit: Danny Perez Photography / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
