Has scrolling through Ads made you feel like crap?…
…This is a deliberate, albeit unhelpful tactic
We’ve all seen at least one ad like this…
There you are, cheerfully scrolling through memes or cute cat vids… (This is me as well!)…
And suddenly…
An ad pops up that says something like, “Still getting ZERO clients?” And goes on to insinuate all the ways you’re doing it WRONG.
Your Marketing is WRONG, your strategy is wrong, your content is not engaging, you are seeing zero dollars in your inbox, and you’re pouring your heart and soul into Content that is an utter failure.
And it’s possible that, as you’re reading, some bits of it are resonating at some level as truthful.
But down in the pit of your stomach, your somatic and emotional experience is pure YUCK, and whilst a moment ago you were joyfully watching kittens knock glasses of water off of tables, you now feel like utter crap about your business.
After all, why didn’t they just keep going, and also mention how your hair looks dumb and your clothes are outdated, and your house is a mess and and and….
They’ve struck a note on an unfortunate habit that most womxn find they’re disgustingly good at — Beating up on themselves and feeling inadequate.
Womxn of the biz world…. This tactic has been used on us FOREVA…. to get us to buy makeup and clothes and skin products and weight loss things and cleaning supplies… for decades… centuries… milennia… you get it.
It’s called…
Drumroll…
Away-Motivated Marketing.
#1 – Culturally & Historically Aimed at Womxn
Away-Motivated merely means that the person is incentivized to make a change that will allow them to move away from something painful.
So some marketers zoom in on the “pain points,” dialing up the memories and awareness of how crappy particular things feel, in order to motivate a person to make a purchase that is pitched as easing that pain.
This is used really often in arenas like weight release, beauty products, and many other markets that have historically been targeted at womxn.
Culturally we are conditioned to be hyper-aware of our flaws, and they are pointed out to us repeatedly over the years. In fact it’s almost societally acceptable to deliberately make womxn aware of every single imperfection (real or imagined) so they can correct it, from an early age.
Even things as innocent as “Your tag is out” are part of this, but obviously there’s the much more nefarious practices of commenting on physical appearance, weight, skin, hair, clothing, state of the home, state of the kids, and… now here we are in the business world, and it’s still happening.
Most womxn are already hyper aware of their perceived flaws. It’s nearly impossible to reach adulthood without this, even if you didn’t experience deliberately toxic environments (like I’ve heard stories of some college sorority initiations where the girl’s physical flaws are circled with a marker — insert retching sound!)
So…some marketers know this, and sadly, use this… even if only unconsciously.
And the tendency we have through years of cultural conditioning to feel “not enough” with an overpowering urge to correct it, can lead to lots and lots of spontaneous “problem fixing”purchases.
#2 – Away Motivated is not the only, NOR the best way
In the NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) realm, we know that “Away-Motivated” is only one of MANY ways that an individual may be motivated towards change or making a decision.
Not only are audiences becoming more savvy to those intentionally toxic, pain-dialing ads, but “Away-Motivated” is actually only a small part of a bigger spectrum of human motivation, and using it leaves out HUGE swaths of audience (not to mention the crappy emotional baggage it carries).
And —
Equally potent, and perhaps even more effective, is “Towards-Motivating” content.
This is feeling excited and motivated towards new possibilities for yourself.
It’s being able to imagine something you would like to grow into, and supporting a “Growth Mindset” of being on a journey that feels like a positive evolution.
And in pursuing more of a focus on “Desire-Based, Towards-Motivated” marketing, the emotion that is created within the audience is higher vibe, it’s a sense of excitement, purpose, possibility, and most of all, HOPE.
And in terms of Efficacy and Building Relationships, and long-term client audience growth, well, people really DO mostly remember how you make them FEEL.
#3 – We can address their Problem without Dialing the Pain
It’s worthy of noting here that there may well be something painful happening for the person, and there may well be something they wish to get away from.
Just to be clear — I’m not suggesting we never talk about or address the problem they are having.
It’s important we show that we “get it,” but do so in an EMPATHETIC, compassionate and caring way that isn’t about deliberately dialing up their pain or making them feel worthless so they’ll buy something.
So while we can convey to aligned clients that we understand the gravity of their situation, and show that we do actually share insight in regards to what they are experiencing, that’s VERY different than intentionally dialing up pain points to make a sale.
If there is something challenging that’s going on in their world, it’s completely fine to acknowledge that, to talk about that, to share that insight so they know that we see them, and understand what it is they’re going through.
At the same time, using it in a toxic way, to make them feel icky so they’ll buy something – Well I would argue that this is unethical.
We can instead paint a picture of the horizon of possibilities that person may desire to move towards.
Because then they can step into an energy of excitement, desire, and getting closer and closer towards all of the things that they’re actually wanting in their life or in their business, in order to feel good, and to really enjoy that life or that business.
#4 – There are other Decision-Style Personas too
“Away-Motivated” versus “Towards-Motivated” Buyer Personas is just form of many different spectrums of Buyer Personas.
There are also spectrums for whether or not we need big picture versus little picture, and whether or not we’re able to make quick impulsive decisions, or we need time to go and do the research and to think about it and reflect.
There are spectrums for whether or not we make decisions mostly within ourselves, or we need to speak to another person.
And all of these things play a role when we are making purchasing and buying decisions.
It can be very helpful for us to understand them in our marketing — NOT because we want to be manipulative and turn certain cogs and wheels, but because we want to create an atmosphere that is safe, comfortable and effective for everyone in our audience.
The goal is to not exclude anyone just because of their buyer persona.
It’s also really important that our sales process is super easy for the person to follow along with. And that it doesn’t require a degree in calculus to figure out how to proceed through the sales and checkout process.
So I always highly recommend that you have gone through that process yourself as a client. Set up a coupon for yourself, make your product or service $0, and proceed through it yourself as a client.
Test it and make absolutely sure that everything makes sense, is cohesive, and the person isn’t left with questions about how things work.
These are just some of many ways that we can make our marketing more magical, our sales process more inclusive, and ultimately create much better future client relationships with the people that we are marketing to!
Quickie Take-Away
Less than 5 minutes.
Quickly jot down 1 or 2 ways you can craft more Towards-Motivated, Desire-Based Content or Copy.
P.S.
Here are some of the tools I use for Marketing and am an affiliate for.
They can help support & simplify your Content Marketing process.
AND if you opt to try one, we may both receive a perk!
- Canva – Craft graphics for Content
- SocialBee – Continuous Social Posting
- BackBlaze – Backup your device files
- Kartra – All-in-1: Email, Products, Courses
- Infinity – Organize Content & Workflows
- LiveWebinar – Plan & Host Your Webbies