The other day I wrote about how much I despise merely using tactic after tactic instead of relying on solid, foundational principles.
Well today I was lurking on Twitter and stumbled on this post:
To be fair the guy might just wonder what on earth this is and if it works.
So no hard feelings at him.
But first red flag? Calling this tactic “clever”.
Anything that’s clever nowadays is associated with shortcut.
With tricking people into thinking you’re smart, experienced and doing things like no one else does.
The two big buzzwords nowadays are “clever” and “contrarian”.
What if instead of wasting all that precious energy on tactics, you’d go back to the principles behind them?
Going back to the example above…
Is using “(Recommended)” in front of an ad clever?
I say it’s stupid.
First, it’s fishy.
Your main rule of doing business should be to create trust. Not to try and be a magnet for ALL.
Create trust and the right people will come. You don’t want ALL people, just the right ones.
Second, and this is the guideline to rule them all…
No “clever” tactic will ever trump the main source of truth for your business.
And that is…
Your market.
Did this company even try to match their prospects’ motivations and intent? Are they using their users’ real language in the rest of the ad copy?
If anything this ad might just be a click dumpster.
Not a magnet, a dumpster.
People, especially the wrong ones might dump all their dirty clicks on it.
You wouldn’t want that would you?
So remember, always research your market, their language and match what’s on their mind.
Tactics will bring you short term success at best, and a whole bunch of dirty clicks most likely.
When you’re ready to truly learn how to read your customers’ minds, let’s talk.
