ETHICAL MARKETING IN A SCARCITY CULTURE

 Today I want to get stuck in right away and talk a little bit about what it means to market your business, your products, under services in a way that doesn't give the Eck.

The reason that I want to talk about this is because marketing your business especially if you're a woman is really tricky. It can bring up all sorts of insecurities about being visible being seen being heard putting yourself out there etc.

And then when you add in the different methods of marketing that maybe don't feel aligned with our values it's no wonder that we find it hard and it feels gross and we resist doing it often.

I want you to know that it doesn't actually have to be this way. I really believe that when we are honest and true to ourselves our marketing can come from a place of integrity truth value and impact to stop so today I want to talk about some of the more unsavoury ways that I see marketing happening that are usually based in scarcity rather than values.

I want you to know that I'm not saying these things to call anybody out or to position myself as someone who would never do these things because I have.

There are particular things that I'm going to talk about today that I have tried in the past.

There are things that I have thrown at the wall in the name of marketing to see if they actually do work.

But just because something might work doesn't mean that it's aligned.

Just because a marketing tactic brings in sales doesn't actually mean that it truly feels good and is in integrity for you as the business owner.

So I say these things today in the full awareness that we're all just taking a punt and we're all just trying to get our products and services out there where people can see them and buy them and invest in them and try them and use them.

But I also want to suggest some alternatives to some of the marketing approaches that I feel come from a place of making people feel bad, making people feel behind, making people feel less than enough in order to push them to purchase.

 Scarcity marketing tactic number 1:

Countdown timers and rushing

(don’t make people buy out of panic – you can create incentives to buy without unsettling the nervous system of potential customers) Getting people to move faster than they are ready.

Unjustified bonuses for moving fast

Again, stop hustling people. When customers nervous systems are triggered, of course they are going to either move fast or freeze, but what If you didn’t try to move people along faster than they need to.

Yes, people AND business owners need deadlines for their products – we can’t not give deadlines if we truly need them or want them in place. If you truly need a cut off time for getting people to buy or sign up, be up front about it. Share why!

Longer decision making periods (why you need to plan your offers out well) – I had an old boss that used to always say  “A lack of planning on your part does not consist in an emergency on my part”

Plan your offers out well so that you give your customers plenty of heads up to plan their decision etc. Be consistent in how

 Scarcity marketing tactic number 2:

Sales page CRAP

Don’t make people work hard to know what your thing is all about. Stop the overwhelming copy. It’s too much. A sales page is a placeholder for your product, not the nuance and entirety of it.

Also on sales pages – if you are a service based business, using words like ‘transformational’ or ‘safe space’ or other absolutes that you just cannot guarantee is not OK.

These words cannot be used anymore, it’s unfair and unethical.

It’s unfair to make sweeping statements that sound like they are available for everyone when actually there is much more nuance to that. Everyone will approach your product with a set of privileges that will allow them to experience the service at different levels. You cannot promise someone something without knowing the nuance of their situation.

Something else I see on sales pages is people making it all about them

Going through a whole scroll down of their business credentials, history, why their brand name is what it is. Honestly – people don’t care and you are centreing yourself. Keep it simple, short and clear.

To give credibility to your work have plenty of testimonials that place the client at the centre of the work, their words, their experience with the product or service, not you inflating it with elaborate wording.

Be clear. Express the value you imagine it will bring. Speak to how it has impacted other people, how it has delighted them, empowered them, changed things for them etc. Copy doesn’t have to be manipulative when the value is clear and the results of other people do the talking.

Playing on or exploiting feelings/not using FOMO

You don’t need to go hard on the making people feel shit so they buy your product thing. Speak to the feelings that you know your product can bring – don’t make people dwell on the pain points you are highlighting.