Want to Get Started with Purpose-Driven Marketing? Here's How.

Here’s an exercise for you.

Go check out some ads.

It doesn’t matter where. TV. Social Media. Magazines.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Chances are, you come across an ad like this…

“Hey! Yo! You on the couch! Yeah, you with the Pringles! Check out this airbrushed, size-zero supermodel! Look at her frolic on a tropical beach! Her life is better than yours! She can run in slow motion! Bet you can’t do that!

Now check out this chiseled guy with an unbuttoned shirt! He’s riding a white horse without a saddle in the sea! Does your boyfriend do that? What do you mean, no? Does your boyfriend at least stand on top of a cliff facing the wind, with his unbuttoned shirt billowing in the wind behind him?

No? Lol! He sounds like a right buttonup! What’s a buttonup? Oh, it’s an industry term we use for guys who button their shirts up and don’t have a six-pack or ride horses through the sea! Like your loser boyfriend. Pfft. Look at him sat there on the couch next to you, staring at his phone. We can’t believe his shirt doesn’t even billow.

Hang on… What? You guys DON’T kiss underwater in a swimming pool?! Everybody does, no? Are you guys, like, brother and sister? Where the hell is the romance?! You must HATE your life!

Feel like crap about yourself now? Great!

But, wait! Don’t cry! Good news! We have a solution for you! Buy our water, which smells of flowers! You’ll be just like the woman in the ad! It’s only 80 bucks! Your buttonup will LOVE it! And it’ll give him a six-pack and make you lose 30 pounds*! Woo! Magic flowerwater! Buy it! BUY IT NOW!”

*Actual results may vary

OK, so the ads don’t say this word-for-word, but it’s implied.

They deliberately create a ‘problem’ you don’t have.

It doesn’t matter you don’t have the problem, of course. The ad is designed to give you the problem.

The advertisers exacerbate the burgeoning negative feelings with unrealistic images (some of which aren’t even real). They ramp up the feelings of shame, guilt, inadequacy and / or fear in the viewer by pushing a perception of loserness born from comparison.

By this point, the bare-knuckle advertising fist is poised to deliver the knockout blow. But, heroically, they step into the miserable emotional shitshow they’ve created just in time, and offer a solution which promises an end to the problem they just created that you now feel like shit about.

And this is how they make a sale! Yay, advertising!

Shall we try a different way of meeting our customers?

Try this.

“Hey, what’s up? What’s going on with you?

*Listens*

“Yeah? You feel that way about that thing? Far out! Us too, friend! We getcha! It’s normal to feel this way!

You want to change your life? Definitely possible. We can help.

We felt the same way once too - and this thing helped us. Give it a go, and no worries if it isn’t right for you. Send it back and we’ll give you your money back. You should only pay us if our thing provides value for you.”

Not too hard, was it?

What’s the shift? Aside from not being dicks.

Negative emotions > Positive emotions.

The ‘old’ way starts with either creating or playing on an undesirable. Greed. Envy. Comparison. Insecurity. Inadequacy.

“Look at this beautiful person and their life! They’re better than you because your life is lame!!”

Oh. Dammit! 40 seconds ago, I didn’t think my life was lame at all!

They then throw in the one-two-three punch combo.

Shame. Fear. Scarcity.

“You don’t already have one of these?! Lol. Enjoy your beige life. You better get one before it’s too late!!!”

Holy shit! I guess I had better buy one! Take my credit card number because I don’t have enough real money right now to pay for your thing!

You’ve now bought something which will ‘improve’ your life! Dopamine squirt!

Thank goodness that kind company took away your feelings of negativity by selling you the thing.

But can we do this with positive emotions which aren’t focused on making people feel bad about themselves for our benefit?

Sure. Start with empathy.

“We understand you feel a certain way. (But importantly, we didn’t make you feel this way.)

We feel this way as well - or at least we used to.

Many other people feel the same. There’s no shame in it. Don’t worry. You’re not alone.”

Notice the language. ‘We’. Not ‘you’. We’re inviting people to join our shared mission of solving this problem.

Next, entice with possibility. “We can help.”

Look, it’s OK to get excited about your product. Be enthusiastic it might help somebody with their problem. Explain how your product might improve their life. Groove on it. It’s fine to tell people how your product can scratch their itch, and how their life might feel once they have it. But be honest. And don’t cause the damn itch.

Finally, make an offer.

Don’t coerce. Don’t create panic or scarcity. These negative feelings aren’t conducive to positive human connection.

“Want help?”

“We have a potential solution you might like”

“We’d love to help you out with achieving this thing / solving this problem”

Marketing departments speak in war cries - “Kill it!” “Crush it!” “Hack it!” “Win it!”

It shouldn’t be this way.

When you meet your customer, make a friend and treat them as such. Invite them to join your mission. You both want to solve the problem they have.

You’ve asked them to trust you with their time, commitment, money, and emotions. Don’t let them down. But that’s another conversation, of course.

It’s time that we, as entrepreneurs, business owners or marketers, stop with the coercion tactics and manipulation.

Try honesty, empathy and helpfulness and watch your customers become loyal, devoted, passionate advocates for your thing.

(And now I have to be really careful with how I choose my words to invite you to join my mailing list…)