Last week, I got served an ad for yet another marketing guru's free lead magnet.

I'm a marketer. I build these things for a living. I can see through these guys a mile away.

But I really liked his transparency in the ad - he literally said, I want you to download this free thing so you'll buy my stuff - and so I decided to take the dive because some people binge social media and I binge other people's funnels. 🤷‍♀️

Well, sure enough, after a few emails over a few days, he got me hook, line, and sinker to buy his next offer of a high-converting email template for just $7.

(Spoiler alert: It was mediocre.)

Anyway, after I hit the "purchase" button, I immediately got hit with not one...

not two...

not three...

but FOUR upsell pages.

(If you don't know what an upsell is, it's when companies will try to get you to buy more related products or services either right before or after you check out.)

What was crazy was that the first three of those upsells were all for the same product - he just kept dropping the price each time you'd say no.

What's even crazier? I was so annoyed by all of it and yet...

...it almost worked.

When I got to the third upsell page, I literally had an argument in my head about whether or not I should do it because it was SUCH a great deal (half off!!)...

...from a guy whose stuff I'd found mediocre

...who I KNEW was just using price anchoring to try to sway me, and it was working.

I didn't end up purchasing, thankfully, but was shocked by my intense psychological reaction to the promise of a deal even though I knew exactly what tactics he was using.

So yes, as a consumer...I kind of hate marketing.

(Don't worry, I still love it professionally.)

I hate that ads have taken over my social media feed.

Repetitive upsells at check-out fill me with disdain.

I despise pop-ups with a passion. (There's also a professional reason for that - they can damage your SEO - but I also just find them really annoying as a consumer.)

And yet...I've bought from ads before.

I've actually taken advantage of (tastefully done, not overwhelming) upsells before.

I've put my email into a pop-up.

And most times, I've actually loved what I received (this guy's stuff notwithstanding).

Why? Because I don't have to like marketing for it to work.

Now, you know that the way we do marketing around here is different. We find a way to blend psychologically-proven marketing strategies in a way that's helpful, tasteful, and Biblical.

You will never hear me telling you how to manipulate or pressure your audience into engaging with you.

But I think that because we personally hate a lot of marketing that we see out there, we feel like all marketing is bad.

Let's use an example: There's been studies that sending 7-10 emails on the last day of a launch or sale is what will get you the best results.

That's...a lot. I can't foresee a world in which I'd encourage you to do that.

But we can see that and think, "I'd find that annoying, and I don't want to annoy people, so I won't send any reminders."

As with any good thing, we're striving for moderation here, not complete abstinence.

Yes, seven might be obnoxious to your audience.

But one or two? Honestly, people would probably be pretty glad of the reminder. And they almost certainly wouldn't be annoyed by that amount.

Especially because, if you've been following the way we do marketing around here, you'd have already shown them that you care about them beyond just their wallets, and so they'd see it as a service (hey, thanks for the reminder, I did totally forget!) and not a money grab.

Kind of like how we believe that Jesus often gives people one last chance to repent on their deathbed - it's a service because He cares about our eternity, not a manipulative grasping at a "last chance."

So just because you see bad marketing out there doesn't mean all marketing is bad.

Knowing and using human psychology about purchasing decisions is valuable, even encouraged, when you know that what you offer to people will change their lives and souls. We'd be remiss NOT to do everything we can to convince them.

But the Golden Rule applies here too: Market unto others as you would have marketed unto you.

Because the fact is, you probably don't actually hate being marketed to when it's something you were actually looking for, consciously or unconsciously.

You just don't like sleazy marketing, being overwhelmed, and feeling manipulated.

And thankfully, that's not necessary.

So here's how I see it:

You don't have to like Catholicism for it to be true.

And you don't have to like marketing for it to be effective.

We just have to use it the right way - His way.

For His greater glory,

Emily

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Free Subject Line Tester Speaking of marketing strategies I don't love, I was on a webinar the other day that was basically just a free sales pitch BUT they mentioned this great free subject line tool that's definitely worth checking out. Gives you a score AND how to improve it. Try SubjectLine.com

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Curious About Upsells? Here's more information about what an upsell is and why they're so effective. I'm not against upsells at all - in fact, I think they're crazy effective when done well - but I would stick with one or two tops. After that, you just get annoying and it screams looking a gift horse in the mouth. I'd personally focus on one upsell that would either help enhance the product/service or help them get towards a free shipping threshold. All About Upsells

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