As a marketing guy I like to learn from other marketing people especially if I think what they are saying is credible and, more importantly, if they can prove that the results they get are even more credible. Recently, I guess, because I have signed up for many different marketing programs, yet not followed through on some of them, I have been getting many follow up emails that all have the same message, format and look. It’s like pabulum. It all looks and tastes the same. The marketers secret ingredient is FEAR.
In the biz, it’s called “FOMO.”
Fear of Missing Out.
Here are some of the examples of follow up emails and face book posts I have been getting.
- “Fred, you have only 4 days to get in on this offer or it will be taken down forever and your chances for success gone.”
- “Fred, did you miss this offer?. This is your last chance.”
- “Fred, I want you to listen to my recent success. Here are three people to tell you how they scaled to $200,000 in sales in sixty days. You can too, but you have to act now (before midnight tomorrow) accompanied by a picture of a digital clock counting down.”
- “Fred, The medical establishment doesn’t want you to know this secret to defeat your toe nail fungus. Act today before your toe nail fungus destroys your life. Big Pharma is after me and it’s only a matter of time before I have to take this down…or run to Peru where I will probably still receive death threats!!”
The other day, I read a post on face book, in response to these claims from a woman who wrote back: “B:&**@$&T. Big claims. Where is the real proof? To which the writer responded and sent her to a whole page of testimonials; none of which were real believable. The least believable was the 20 yr. old who bought a Mercedes 500 SL (about $150,000 worth of German metal) after 90 days of following Gustaf’s “magical lead generation system” where he was able to get a constant stream of coaching clients. I was amazed!
Seems that the formulas of the past; the systems of the funnel approach are getting less credible and marketers are scrambling to find new ways to create credibility. As we get more skeptical as a consumer, almost on a daily basis, just having a testimonial is no longer proof.
The problem I have is if you have to CREATE credibility, I guess you don’t have it in the first place.
To get someone to believe in what you are saying or selling, you have to get them to trust you. When we believe in something, we stick with it and share it. That’s what trust is about, isn’t it?
So the first question we must ask ourselves isn’t how to get our idea to spread—it’s how can we do or say something worth believing in.
Here are a couple of ideas
- You can offer all the guarantees in the world. People have come to accept it as a part of the sales pitch. Most of us think that even if there is a guarantee, we will have to go through a hassle to get our money back. But have you ever seen someone say this in a testimonial.
“Yup I wasn’t happy with their party. Center X messed up and I told Pete Proprietor. He gave me my money back right then and there. He looked more upset than I was. He asked me to give them another chance and I said I’d think about it. A week later, he called me and invited me and my wife and another couple of friends to come in and be his guest for a night of bowling, food and beverage. You could have knocked me over with a feather. We had a great time and he really made up for it. I’m going to book our summer picnic with him. He proved he was serious and could be trusted.”
- You never see testimonials like that. Know why? “Cause nobody looks for a bad review, but doesn’t that prove that the owner in this case stood by his word? Didn’t he establish credibility with you?
- How often do you post pictures and testimonials of real people proclaiming your good charitable work, or great service…with the person’s business contact information (if they will let you…some people will). Doesn’t that establish credibility that your message is believable? Wouldn’t you trust that person? Wouldn’t you trust that business more?
- Do you have information about your staff? Who are they? What are their hobbies? What do they like? Where do they go when they want to get away? What other information would they want to share with your customers? This goes for you too. You have to share your story.
- Do people in the community know why you are in the bowling business, besides wanting to make money. Because the more your customers feel like they “really know” you and your staff, the more they will trust all of you and that morphs right over to your business because let’s face it; the service your customers receive IS your business.
Just Sayin’
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