Edward Bernays unleashed a powerful force on the world when he unlocked the secrets of modern marketing. As far back as the 1920s, marketing professionals have been capitalizing on emotions, and these tactics have created a hustle-focused marketing culture capable of whipping the world into a frenzy.
How? With more. Modern PR tactics are perpetually training people to want more, and marketers are trained to do more to satiate that rising demand. More subscriptions to purchase. More aggressive marketing to keep subscriber counts high. More personalized products to buy. More targeted marketing to capture those conversions.
What’s worse, the “more mentality” isn’t even achieving the results we want. Though studies do suggest that income can play a significant role in personal happiness, “buying stuff” empirically does not. And, according to recent research, global rates for depression and anxiety are worse than ever—and trending upward. What hustle-focused marketing does achieve is a toxic cycle of consumption driven by rampant dishonesty both in social media and in marketing at large.
‘More’ No Longer Means More
Of course, this hustle-fueled frenzy is often portrayed as a noble pursuit of a more customized experience for the consumer. However, this “customized experience” is no less intrusive, no less frequent, no less dishonest and no less responsible for perpetuating the mentality of more. In fact, the situation is only getting worse.
As if in direct response to this trend, public opinion on marketing is shifting in a significant way. A recent survey about advertising preferences indicates an increased demand for honest messaging and a more punitive public mindset toward deceptive marketing tactics. This isn’t too unexpected when you realize social media use is increasingly connected to poor mental health outcomes for youth, including body image issues, eating disorders and lower personal satisfaction overall.
Consequently, many customers are starting to warm to the idea that “less is more” when it comes to marketing. Adults in the U.S. are increasingly suspicious of marketing professionals. In fact, public opinion about the marketing industry is at its lowest point since 2007. Not surprisingly, the effectiveness of performance marketing is on the decline, and one of the main culprits is a preoccupation with quantity over quality.
Winning Back Trust With Less
The marketing industry can win back trust, and it can do so while simultaneously supporting its clients’ brands and organizations. How? By choosing quality over quantity when it comes to advertising and filling in all that free time with meaningful community engagement. Because you know what never gets old and has a direct impact on brand identification and market performance? Getting more involved with your community. Here are some ideas:
- Give more life to your listening. Social listening tools, such as Brandwatch, Sprout Social or even a moderated subreddit, can help you keep a close eye on complaints and community conversations. From there, you should show that your listening inspires action, such as updating products and services, fixing bugs or modifying standard operating procedures
- Create more shared spaces. Owned communities, such as forums, Discord servers and Slack groups, not only give your customer an opportunity to interact with you but also with each other. Offline meetups, including branded events, casual gatherings and co-working sessions, take things even further.
- Empower your evangelists. Ambassador programs identify devoted users or exceptional clients and give them the best possible platform for sharing their experiences. This could include early access to upcoming products and services or referral perks for sharing their stories.
Two Sides Of The Same Coin
For B2C marketers, this means slowing the dopamine drip. We need to stop building campaigns controlled by urgency and enslaved by an attention-seeking algorithm. Instead, we need to create memorable and shareable moments that reinforce a brand’s values. Simply put, we need to start thinking in terms of long-term benefits and relationships as opposed to short-term conversions and lightning-fast hacks.
For B2B marketers, this means getting off the marketing qualified lead (MQL) hamster wheel. This industry has become so fixated on gated content, lead scores and automated nurturing sequences that it has all become white noise to the real decision makers. These people are craving relevance and real human connections, which means our approach to marketing should reflect that expectation.
Start Getting More With Less
The shift to less-is-more marketing isn’t about doing less work. It’s about doing more of what really matters. The brands that thrive the most in the 21st century won’t be the loudest or the flashiest ones to grab the megaphone. After all, everyone else is already yelling at the top of their lungs. The most successful brands will be the ones that show up consistently, speak honestly and build communities instead of funnels.
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