Magic Bullet Marketing, Making Friends, and the Art of Not Judging
I was talking to a friend recently who works in marketing; she runs campaigns for a telemedicine startup. There is a competitor in her space that does “magic bullet marketing,” and we ended up discussing the pros and cons a bit.
Magic bullet marketing has three distinct features.
First, you trigger a pain point that people have. It might be something like being overweight or not having enough romantic options. The pain needs to be strong enough for someone to spend lots of money on it.
Second, you hint at some secret you have discovered, some new way of solving the problem. But you don’t really tell what the secret is. This is to create curiosity. “I need to know what that thing is.”
Third, you promise that your secret solution will be effortless. So, with weight loss, there will be no dieting and no tough workouts. With dating, there will be no awkward silences and rejections. The results will just come to you.
When you do magic bullet marketing, it is relatively easier to sell something. I am not saying this to put magic bullet marketers down. There are millions of them out there and to stand out, you have to do it very well. There is an art to it.
Still, if you are a business that doesn’t use these techniques (or doesn’t take them to the extremes), you will initially lose out. The magic bullet marketer will get more clients more quickly.
What is often overlooked, though – magic bullet marketing has an “inbuilt punishment.” When you use dodgy tactics, you will attract dodgy clients. Now you have to deal with these clients.
Just like you triggered their pain, they will now cause you a lot of pain. They will act entitled. They will submit a million support tickets. They will leave bad reviews — even if your product is actually decent.
Why am I telling you this?
Marketing is life. The same principles that apply to promoting and selling something apply to us.
Like the marketer, you have two ways of presenting yourself to the world. You can present an overly alluring front, something people can latch onto.
Or you can try to show yourself as you are, including your shortcomings and controversial opinions.
When you present an optimized front, you will be popular. You will appeal to a large group of people. The downside is that many of these people will be painful to deal with. It’s the dilemma of all politicians.
When you let your guard down, you will be less popular. It means admitting mistakes and weaknesses, and that is not sexy.
However, those few people you still attract will be a joy to deal with. There will be a “substance” to them that can emotionally nourish you for many years or even the rest of your life.
Bottom line — you end up with the people you deserve, both in marketing and in the real world. Depending on how you present yourself, a certain type of person will flock to you.
So, if you are not happy with the people around you, don’t get upset with them. Rather ask yourself what needs to change about your self-marketing to attract the right kind of person.
Now, there is an important modifier to this.
“Showing yourself as you are” is not the same as, “Love me as the unique snowflake that I am.”
In other words, it is not an excuse to stop working on yourself.
I had a teacher in high school who exemplified this (I have mentioned him before). He was my Greek teacher and my philosophy mentor.
I have never met anyone again that learned. It was not just that he had crammed 2500+ years of knowledge into his head. Even more impressively, he was living in line with his beliefs.
He shunned all media, news, and gossip, was constantly studying and educating others, and in many instances, he did so for free.
To top it off, he was kind and hilarious.
But like his hero Socrates, he rubbed many people the wrong way. They felt questioned and even attacked by his way of life.
Yet, he never held it against them.
He didn’t demand, “Love me as I am, and to hell with you if you don’t like it.” He was still sensitive to the fact that others came from different places in life.
He looked down upon the world — but at the same time, he looked down upon nobody.
To sum up — here is how you present yourself to others if you reject magic bullet marketing:
Create as much value as you possibly can
Present that value as it is, without blowing it up or mystifying it
Accept that it is a trade-off; you will be liked by fewer, but better people
Never get angry with those who question your value; try to understand them
The last part is the hardest, I find. Even if you show no outward reaction, you might still get angry inside your head (I still sometimes do). It's a process.
Until next time,
Niels