Comments on: Using fear, hope and love in your marketing

By: Spreading Seth Godin’s Random rules for ideas worth spreading | The Magnetic Entrepreneur

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:50:34 +0000

[...] As I mentioned on this blog a year ago, the thought leader in the realm of business, sales, and marketing that he is makes Seth Godin the proverbial E. F. Hutton of our day. [...]

By: tshombe

tshombe — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:13:40 +0000

Hi Linda,

I see what you mean, though I’m not sure you are really appealing to fear, unless your marketing gives the impression that if grandparents do not purchase your product, they will not be able to connect with the grandchildren…..or worse, will alienate their grandchildren.

I think of fear in relation to moving (or wanting to move) away from something scary or undesirable (The amygdala’s flight or fight response), whereas hope is something we move (or want to move) toward.

Even the language you use, offering the promise of ‘connection’ is the language of hope rather than that of fear.

By: Aunt Linda

Aunt Linda — Sat, 09 May 2009 23:55:20 +0000

I think fear can be implied by offering a loving solution. For instance, in marketing to grandparents, I can say something like “Here’s a great way to connect with your grandkids who live far away.” The implication is that connection can be a concern, but we’ve got an easy (versus, difficult) answer. My 2 cent!

By: tshombe

tshombe — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:53:39 +0000

Trina, thank you for taking time to thoughtfully comment.

I agree with you: hope and love feels more authentic to me than appealing to people’s fears……although sometimes relief from a certain fear may be what our ideal clients are hoping for.

You make the point that it starts with service to others, which I believe is Seth’s point when he offers that successful companies benefit “by loving their customers in advance.”

To graduate to love, Seth says, we need to first deliver on hope. I think that’s why it’s so important to understand our clients and to know them intimately so that we can authentically and consistently deliver what they want and how they want it.

The absolute easiest way to do this is to ask them!

By: Trina Bol

Trina Bol — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:27:30 +0000

I believe that fear marketing is what most marketing is based on and although it works I don’t want to promote a fear mentality. I believe that building on hope and love is a longer process but it builds a stronger foundation for business and life. As to how to use it effectively….still learning that process but I think it definately starts with approaching business with the concept that your business is the vehicle that allows you to serve others in the world with your skills and talents.