The ‘Scam’ Threat Marketing Tactic
May 21, 2009 by Brie
Anyone new to online marketing obviously spends at least a little time reading through marketing forums and joining newsletters, trying to pick up tips and tricks. It’s incredibly overwhelming just how much information is out there! Some of it is really good, but some is just down right ridiculously marketed…
I see people pushing all sorts of ‘make-money-fast-and-get-rich-off-doing-nothing-in-your-pajamas-while-on-a-beach-that-you-drove-to-in-your-new-porsche’ offers. This sort of marketing has been around forever because simply it works. Most people coming across these ads are made to feel they just can’t survive online if they don’t buy it, and buy it now before the price triples (or quadruples, or they lose out on 10 gagillion $$’s worth of bonus products, etc). These kind of scare tactics most likely will always be out there, but it’s a newer trend that absolutely drives me up the wall – the “Don’t Buy X Product Scam – Read This First” type of PPC ad.
Here is a little blurb I wrote a few months ago, taken from the perspective of someone new to online marketing:
Wow…Was I in for a shock. I googled product #1 to see if I could find a review and the first thing I saw was an ad yelling at me that it was a scam. Or was it? I quickly clicked away, proud of myself for not falling for that supposed “scam”. I then googled product #2 and by golly if I don’t see the exact same thing! Blaring warnings that I should not purchase this product until I read something first and another warning that it could be a scam if I didn’t go and read that persons website first too. The same thing happened for product #3 and #4.
This internet place is downright damn scary! It seemed that anything I checked had someone yelling SCAM about it! Can this be right? Is everything for sale a scam?
In my opinion, this type of marketing is NUTS! But unfortunately, some marketers think this is an effective way to market legitimate affiliate products. Scaring potential buyers into feeling they must read a particular website or risk losing their life savings, undershorts AND their first born child, has become the norm.
The norm?! Most people seeking out these products are new to online marketing and truly need help learning. Why on earth would people want to scare the living daylights out of them and make the online marketing industry look like it is completely fully of scammers?
It’s marketing tactics such as this, that bury the real scam reports from being found – the ones that really do take the money and run.
Come on people…Let’s clean up our workplace…
== Joanne ==
Loading ...
I agree fully. I think product owners could consider adding this to their terms and conditions for affiliates.
I already saw one marketer emailing her affiliates asking them not to use the “scam” work to promote her products. Her friends and relatives would come across it and get confused or it would “confirm” their suspicions about online business.
Anna´s last blog ..Two Great Posts for Bloggers