Approaching Social Marketing From A Negative Perspective

Approaching Social Marketing From A Negative Perspective

This practice has grown for some time now.

No doubt you are familiar with The Rich Jerk, and
the plethora of imitators that popped up in his wake.
That kind of in your face attitude in sales copy, as
well as product ideas has been quite possible for one
very good reason...

It stands out!

What is more, it also makes it easy to dismiss
questions that are inconvenient with and
"I just don't care!"

That kind of take it or leave it attitude can be
quite persuasive, and is quite effective at a
time when many are so barraged with information
that they are beset with analysis paralysis.

So blog posts titled "Ten Ways To Fail At X",
or Squidoo Lenses like "How To Guarantee
Failure At Google Adwords" are becoming quite
common.

True these differ from the crassness of a Rich
Jerk approach, but they share a negative
perspective, that is disarming and if not over-
done will get results that a straight ahead attack
on a subject will not.

Another of these tactics is a review of a product
where the email subject or page title starts with
"Don't Buy Product Z Until You Read This"

Be careful though, as your content must indeed
give a valid reason for that "delay" whether it is
a bonus or an alternate product that has more
value, benefits or flexibility.

The psychology behind any and all of these tactics
is valid, and can be utilized in a great many ways
to motivate your readers, prospects and customers.
Just don't overuse any one of them or you risk
losing that effectiveness as it requires at least some
element of surprise. Much in the same way that
old subliminal advertizing starts to fail when your
average reader knows to look for the outline of a
naked lady in the icecubes of a liquor ad.

If you pay attention, you will recognize Diggs, Twitts
and all manner of Social Media posts that take a
negative slant to their tone.

Watch them and see if there is anything you can learn
from them. Try out a Twitt or two before you tackle
an entire page or you may find that you haven't the
voice for it. If you don't then don't attempt it on that
large of a scale. The most important thing to
remember here is that this can't be forced!

Use of a negative perspective in your copywriting and
all of your Social Marketing, Social Networking and
Web 2.0 activities such as blogging and forum threads
needs to be more than just a gimmick.

Useful content needs to be conveyed just as at any
other time you sit down to type anything for online
publication.

Know and develop your voice as you write, and make
sure that you ask others what their impression of
the tone your writing sets is. I can almost guarantee
that is will differ somewhat from your own view.

My own challenges include an over reliance on certain
adjectives and modifiers making repetition a challenge
to avoid, as well as a far more formal tone than I am
aware that I use.

These would never have occurred to me had I not
sought out the opinions of others. You need to as well.

Grab a great Article
Marketing eBook HERE

More soon!

Eat a peach...

Floyd Bogart