7 More Annoying Marketing Methods You Should Ditch
You don’t want to spoil your campaigns with these annoying marketing methods, even if you learn to not engage in overly aggressive marketing techniques.
Let’s face it—annoying marketing methods are still alive and well, and they can spoil your legitimate efforts to reach new audiences. Earlier we talked about how aggressive marketing can turn your customers off from your brand, but getting in the way of your messages and sales can be just as devastating to your bottom line.
Additional annoying marketing methods some marketers do include:
Make unsubscribing overly-complicated
This annoying marketing tactic usually only inspires hatred from the customer and may cause them to warn others away from your company. The thought for some marketers was “If I make it complicated, they’ll just give up and continue to get my ads.” However, let’s think about this logically: if someone is trying to unsubscribe, they clearly are not interested in receiving anything from you and will not be buying anything, so it is a wasted effort that can only hurt you in the long run in reviews. If you also automatically put them on your mailing list, this tactic will most certainly earn you hate mail and talk of harassment.
Send overly-salesy ads without substance or value
Today’s consumer doesn’t want to hear you say how great your product or service is, plain and simple. What they really want to know is why they should care at all, which can be tricky for some marketers. If an email sent comes off as too much of a sales pitch, many folks would simply delete the message. It’s similar to the difference between “talking at” someone versus “talking with” them. Customers crave real engagement and value through useful content that compliments or educates them about how to use your product or service to solve an issue in their lives.
Actively hide the “X” to get rid of ads for a period
This one is a very annoying marketing tactic and is common among mobile app ads. Just imagine you are reading something, playing a game, or using an app, and then an ad pops up right in the middle of everything. However, you don’t see any means of getting rid of it—no X, no skip button, nothing. Some people may think the app or website has become frozen and exit out of it altogether. If they had waited, they would have realized that the X came much later, but by then it’s too late. The ability to exit the ad should be immediate as it may have a negative backlash against not only you but the app or website itself, in which case your ad might be dropped from the ad rotation.
Cold calling people when they are busy
Another old tactic that has been proven to be ineffective, but some marketers persist with it, so it’s worth mentioning. Trying to cold call is a difficult way to get conversions as many people will be upset at you when you call, particularly if it’s during business hours when they are expecting customer calls, or at someone’s home later in the evening. It’s better to contact people first about setting up a phone meeting so that you are expected and aren’t met with hostility from strangers.
No “opt in” option for receiving further offers
When customers are in check out, many marketers decide to opt customers into email subscriptions automatically. However, this is a broad strategy that may just annoy more people than getting conversions. Placing an “opt in” option during checkout gives customers the choice of receiving your content or not. The benefit to this system is that it avoids upsetting those who don’t want ads and ensures that those on your mailing list WILL be interested in what you send them, thereby increasing sales.
Market the wrong types of things to previous or current customers
Let’s say that a customer purchased something from you recently, and you are banking on that return business, so you ensure that they are interested in receiving messages from you about other products, services, news, etc. However, the ads you send to them is something that doesn’t go along with what they want. For example, if they just bought a computer from you, it wouldn’t do you much good to continue advertising hardware to them because they don’t need that at present. Instead, explore verticals that pair well with the customer’s original purchase; if they buy a computer, offer deals on software, accessories, or warranties that can be used with the computer. This method takes lots of effort to customize offerings for individual customers, so be prepared for that.
Misrepresent your marketing content
This last method can be particularly frustrating because it often imitates critical or important messages. If the subject reads something like “Warning: Immediate Attention is Required,” but the message is about signing up for a newsletter, a “Boy That Cried Wolf” reputation will likely develop among your customers. If that becomes the case, they will probably learn to ignore future messages or unsubscribe altogether. Being honest and upfront with customers will garner more respect than cheap tricks.
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