Most of the marketers I see online make me shake my head in disbelief. I can\u2019t believe that some of the biggest and brightest names in the internet marketing industry can be so xxx when it comes to marketing tactics in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
Marketing \u2013 much like the internet itself \u2013 is always changing. You can\u2019t take a technique that you learned five years ago, implement it, and expect the same success you had when marketers first learned about it. That\u2019s not to say five year old techniques don\u2019t work, but it certainly isn\u2019t as effective as it was then.
\nThe problem is, all but the very best internet marketers are refusing to evolve. They\u2019re selling tired products, using the same gimmicks, and even marketing the products the same way that you would several years ago.<\/p>\n
This is the age of social marketing. The marketers that build a name for themselves over the next five years are those that are actively engaged with their audience. They aren\u2019t \u201cselling\u201d products, they are solving problems.<\/p>\n
Here are a few things marketers are doing wrong\u2026<\/p>\n
The Hard Sell Is Dead
\nStop pitching products as if I were the last person on earth. If I want to buy your product, it\u2019s going to be because it fits a need, or sells me on a goal that I may express publicly, or hold somewhere deep in the recesses of my own mind.<\/p>\n
The hard sell is dead, but it appears it isn\u2019t going anywhere because some of the sales-turned-marketing gurus don\u2019t realize that when a salesman pushes, clients now have multiple options. Rather than pushing back, negotiating, or even making excuses, it\u2019s easy enough to just walk away and look for a similar product.<\/p>\n
Those that still try the hard sell on the masses, who are faced with multiple buying decisions daily, are missing the point. You can\u2019t pressure someone in the digital world. There are simply too many options. Although this isn\u2019t completely ineffective, you\u2019ll continue to see its effectiveness drop as those pesky millennials reach consumer status.<\/p>\n
Forced Urgency Is For Suckers
\nAm I really to believe that \u2013 even though your countdown clock says I have 16 hours \u2013 if I come back to your site in three days I can\u2019t get the same \u201clower price?\u201d Of course, I\u2019ve been burned by this once before, but by an atypical marketer.<\/p>\n
In general, we all know that the urgency you are trying to create is the work of a countdown script that\u2019s just going to reset next time I visit the page, or every few hours\/days. I don\u2019t need to buy your product now, and I\u2019m certainly not going to if I feel like you are trying to create an urgency for me to buy.<\/p>\n
There is no urgency to buy. The urgency is a hunger in your pockets and it can only be filled by lining it with my cash.<\/p>\n
What You Can Do Differently
\nBe honest. Be genuine, and have faith in your product.<\/p>\n
Good products are, for lack of a better term, good products. These products have value, and this value sells itself. That\u2019s not to say you don\u2019t need to give your customers a little nudge every now and then, but you certainly don\u2019t need to wear a polyester suit and wear the persona of the used car salesman.<\/p>\n
Create quality products and engage your audience. They\u2019ll tell you what they want. Deliver that, and you have a customer for life. Simple. Right?<\/p>\n