Don't Make Them Cry to Get Them to Buy!

Pain point marketing is marketing that highlights a problem your audience is experiencing and positions your product or service as the solution.

It's easy, creates an urgency, lack, need, and reminds them of just how badly they hurt!

Pain point marketing works and often grabs attention or raises alarm, but at what end?

In this episode, I share my own thoughts on pain point marketing and why I don't rely on making them cry to get them to buy.

Inside this episode on pain point marketing: 

• Why pain point marketing is perpetuated and used often 
• My issues with pain point marketing and ethical red flags
• How to balance emotions, benefits, and empathy in your marketing without tapping on pain points 
• and MORE! 

👇🏻 EXTENDED SHOW NOTES 👇🏻

Why Pain Point Marketing is so prevalent:

1. We’ve been taught that pain point marketing leverages human psychology.
2. People tend to be more motivated to avoid loss, pain, and discomfort rather than pursue gain.
3. Pain point marketing taps into our primal instincts: pain = death. Don’t die.
4. Highlighting problems is a relatively easy formula: You identify the pain points, exaggerate the impact, and position your offering as the clear way out. Easy peezy.

 Pain point marketing works. At least. In the short term…

It often grabs attention charges emotions, and triggers a reaction.

It’s widespread and often used because the perception is that it delivers fast results and urges people to BUY NOW.

Why Pain Point Marketing isn’t always the right choice for businesses: 

1. Fast results can equal short-lived results. Often those who buy based on urgency and pain are more likely to be in search of fast solutions. They may be resentful down the line when the solution barely scratched the surface of fixing their problem. They may be less committed to the process and less likely to play an active role in achieving results. 
2. Benefit-focused marketing, relationship-building, marketing focuses on transformation, future outcomes, and positive changes. In most cases, this leads to stronger and better, long term relationships and longer-lasting success.
3. Feeding fear, urgency, and lack isn’t how I want to be showing up in the world. I don’t enjoy reminding people of their pain, using fear, frustration, anger, or stress as a motivator. People are in enough pain.
4. As consumers get savvier, pain point marketing becomes more and more outdated. We know when we’re being marketed and sold to. More than ever, people are looking for positivity, honesty, and authenticity from brands and businesses. Pain point marketing is a tired approach and many people will skim right by because it blends in with everything else.
5. It raises an ethical yellow flag. Blurry at best, pain point marketing can get dicey and sheisty.

Resources and Links Mentioned:
Alice Karolina's episode on She Built This: How We Sell Matters
Content with Character episode on Features vs. Benefits

Let's Connect!

I’m Emily Aborn, I’m a Small Business Copywriter, Content Marketing Consultant, Speaker, and Podcast Host. I live in the backwoods of New Hampshire where we spend time hiking,  reading, and playing Crib Wars (IYKYK).