I was sitting here, trying to think of an appropriate title of this post. I was thinking that the current title was maybe a bit too harsh, then I realized, I was becoming guilty of the same thing I’m complaining about here.
So while I was brainstorming different headlines, I ended up keeping my original title. If I didn’t, then why should I even be writing this post? Why should I complain about marketers and those in advertising if I was wasting too much time trying to say the same damn thing but in a less offensive way?
Here’s the deal…
If you’re an easily offended person and you’re going to be offended by the title of this post, or anything else inside here, I’m genuinely sorry that you have made that choice.
That’s not a me problem, that’s a you problem.
Why Am I Writing This Post?
Ugh..
I was on Rand Fishkin’s Twitter page, because someone showed me a screenshot of some tweet he made saying PBN’s don’t work for rankings, and the only ones that defend the PBN’s are the ones selling them.
So, I decided to go through his feed to see what other ridiculous things he’s been saying, came across a white board friday episode that was only about 50% accurate, btw, he also says directories, exact match domains, and partial match domains no longer work…
I wish I would have come across that before my rant about SEO Experts Lying To You Over and Over Again. I’ve always liked following him, but man, I guess it’s been a long time since he did anything with clients. That really disappointed me. It’s one thing to recommend against certain tactics, it’s another to ignore the evidence and saying something doesn’t work.
Anyway, I found something interesting. He apparently doesn’t like the way Neil Patel advertises himself.
Him and Dr. Pete had a bromantic bashing session.
Neil Patel is a content marketing and SEO guy, a big authority in the niche and is extremely popular.
Personally, I don’t care for a lot of his content, and disagree with some SEO related stuff he writes about. I think a problem with many people in this industry, is they write and develop content just to push more content, not because it serves a specific purpose. Anyway, that doesn’t matter, I’m not his target audience.
However, I think Neil Patel is a fantastic marketer.
I think the ad he displayed on his site, is perfect.
Is it offensive? I don’t think so, and I don’t care if people were offended by it.
Here’s why the ad worked and will continue to work…
1.) The majority of his audience is male
2.) The ad copy is short, clever, and effective
3.) It’s a celebrity endorsement / Third Party Validation
Is it sexist?
I dunno, is it sexist that Magic Mike was a big hit among women?
Is it sexist that guys with abs are in USweekly, People Magazine, and other advertisements in media or print outlets that are targeted to women?
I guess Sports Illustrated is sexist for having a swimsuit addition. Playboy, Penthouse, Maxim and others are sexist too.
It isn’t sexism…
It’s called doing your damn job as a marketer and understanding your audience.
How To Be a Better Marketer Without Being Wussified
I don’t care what your level of knowledge is, or where you are skill wise with certain tactics. That’s irrelevant to the point I’m trying to make, and irrelevant to your future as a marketer.
There’s only a few different things you need to understand if you want to take it to the next level.
1.) Understand Your Target Market
You guys already know this. It’s been talked about, regurgitated, and vomited back out thousands of times. I’m sure you’re tired of generalized information but this isn’t something you can generalize, it has to be a cornerstone for your marketing efforts.
You have to REALLY understand your target market. I’m not talking about identifying a few business owners that would be willing to pay you for your services, I’m talking about knowing the demographics, where they’re from, are they male or female, what is their political preference, are they married, how much money they make and so on?
What makes them tick? What motivates them, is it fear or hope? Is it greed? Is It to care for their family? Is it to provide for their mistress or side-significant other? What is it?
Does your audience like pictures of women or pictures of men? In this industry, pictures of women are used more often because it works better than pictures of men. Sorry guys, women are just more attractive and easy on the eyes.
It’s not about objectifying… it’s about making money, that’s all.
2.) Crafting The Right Message For Your Target Market
Why are marketers becoming a bunch of pussies may seem to be a harsh title, but it’s the right message.
Visitors to this blog are tired of the BS information being passed around other sources. They don’t know what’s true, what’s not true…and the title I chose for this post, will grab attention, serves as shock value, makes people wonder what I’m going to say and who it’s going to be about.
Is it controversial? Maybe a bit. Will it alienate some readers? It might.. but I prefer to make a stand and take those risks instead of trying to tread water saying the same stuff everyone else says just so they don’t step on toes or offend anyone.
Neil Patel had the right message. A hell of a celebrity endorsement, playmate of the year, says Neil taught her how to make money without taking off her clothes. I think it’s funny, clever, and extremely effective.
The ad works.
It’s the right message for his audience.
Now can Rand and Dr. Pete do the same for the Moz audience? Probably not, since they like to mix politics in with their branding, and they feel cool to be politically correct.
Can I do it? Yeah, I can. I understand that men outnumber women in my audience by 600%. Hell, I bet a significant portion of my visitors have an “Adult” site in another tab when they visit here.
If your target audience has a specific demographic that is a 6:1 imbalance you would have to be a special kind of stupid to allow your messaging to be effected by a less significant number.
3.) Don’t Let ANYTHING Stop You From Accomplishing Your Goals
This is more of a mindset thing right here.
Don’t let what other people think, stop you from making money or making progress in your business.
Go ahead and let the doubters, the haters, and the critics form their opinion but don’t let what they do or say effect the progress you’re making.
At the end of the day, they aren’t the ones that are going to pay your bills. They aren’t the ones that are going to pay the rent or mortgage. Forget them…
I hope Neil Patel ignores Rand and Dr. Pete, and continues doing what he’s doing.
Advertising always has been criticized. This is nothing new.
Communist sympathizers complained about commercialization and advertising back in the 60’s. They thought any advertising was unethical.
The fact of the matter is that in marketing, and advertising, our job is to drive traffic, bring in leads, and control the conversation. Our job isn’t to think about what our industry peers think, they aren’t our market…
In this age, it seems like everyone is concerned with offending someone else. It’s ridiculous.
How Far We’ve Come Along
While some people may be horrified that a woman is used in an ad, lets show how far we actually have come from in the world of marketing and advertising.
I think we’ve come along way…
Wouldn’t you agree?
I think what is actually offensive, is the fact that many people put out information they know is false, but continue to do so anyway so they can keep getting more clicks, more traffic, etc.
I don’t think the ads need to be questioned, I don’t think an ad is going to “destroy the industry”. What’s going to destroy the industry is the nonsense that continues to be spit out into the faces of people eager to learn and wanting to make a living for themselves and their family.
Sure, people like Rand will say, we need to push for progress in this industry, we need to be more respectful as marketers.
I disagree.
Those that are in marketing and advertising, understand that mediums may change, ways to broadcast a message will change, but to be effective your messaging has to be in the age we live in. As society changes, we appeal to their interests, but appealing to their future interest right now, won’t be as effective.
Final Thoughts
The fake outrage is annoying.
You can’t say a damn thing anymore without offending someone it seems. Luckily for us, our job isn’t to be talking head political hacks or politicians for that matter.
Our job is to get attention. Bring traffic. Generate leads. Make money.
If that means having a playmate of the year endorse you, by all means, have it done!
Enough is enough…. if you don’t like the marketing and advertising industries, get out of it.
Those guys just sit with their VC money and they don’t care. I had an “offensive” postcard that got some complaints, but it got me lots of sales too.
Doesn’t matter wtf anyone says, I 100% agree, it’s about generating the leads and sales, not walking on eggshells.
Right on man.
Offensive will sometimes work. You can’t go on a full blown offensive campaign time after time, but it definitely helps mixing in a bit of controversy at times. Either way, if it generates leads and makes money it’s a winner!
Hahahaha yeah, I remember the “Your wife is hot” ad by the hvac company. Bet he thinks that would be offensive too.
Stick with what works. Shock value is a good strategy. Good tips in here, and a great reminder even for me of what to focus on at the core of marketing.
That ad was awesome lol.
Make Marketing Great Again. If we have learned anything from Trump it is that the taste makers are irrelevant.
These SJWs don’t do marketing they sell marketing. A lot of then are corrupt because they take VC money and try to sell crap that doesn’t work.
LOL, yes. I don’t think Moz is selling crap though, I just think it’s been a while since they’ve actually have done something for clients. Excellent point about doing marketing, and selling marketing. 2 very different things.
Another great post Nathan. The only ‘caveat’ I would add is that *ideally*, I like to see ads that don’t ‘walk on egg shells’ but at the same time, are clever. The examples of Neil’s ad or the “Your wife’s hot” example from the HVAC company that SEO Dude mentioned – those are great! Targeting the natural instinct of the appeal of an attractive person (in these cases, women), with a message that makes you think – and makes the message stick a bit more (in my opinion), is fantastic. It’s not always achievable, but worthy of striving for it because it truly disarms the critics (at least it SHOULD). All that being said, even if you can’t be clever, I have no problem with using an eye-catching image of a beautiful woman! 🙂
It reminds me of my stance on legalizing marijuana – I’m all for it, and I would have no problem with using it myself (I have in the past), but for whatever reason, I enjoy NOT using it simply to be able to make a stronger argument with someone about the reasons I think it should be legal. I’m ready for them to say, “You only want to legalize because you’re a stoner!” To which I can honestly say, “No, it’s because it makes sense – and as a matter of fact, I *don’t* smoke it.” It’s similar with the clever ads above – I feel it’s 100% legit to say, “No, it’s not simply objectifying women, it’s a clever message and it WORKS”.
At the end of the day, I don’t disagree that it’s the latter that is most important, (the part about “it WORKS”). Still, extra kudos to those that can mix the two.
PS – Your title was perfect. 🙂 Completely appropriate.
Thanks for the input Rey. When a post of mine gets shared on Facebook, or G+ or anywhere else, if the post snippet displayed on those networks has an image of an attractive female, it gets more clicks than anything else I’ve shared, with the exception of my rant post with people getting flipped off lol.
There’s been case studies with FB ads that show women in an ad will convert better. Objectifying? Or is it using data to increase your conversions?
Agree with you on marijuana legalization, I don’t smoke it either, but I think it should be legal. Cigarettes are much worse than weed.
Thanks for the comment 🙂
That is a perfect ad by Neil Patel. What the hell is wrong with this Pete guy?
I agree…I guess in all fairness, Dr. Pete isn’t a marketer.
SEX!
Now that I have your attention, as I’ve heard before, if you haven’t offended someone by the end of the day you’re doing something wrong.
LOL… that is true.
Excellent post. Glad to see other think like me. How the hell is this possibly sexist? She is a damn Playboy model and beautiful. If she is persuing on line marketing she must be intelligent too. I am assuming your a Brit, with that said shouldn’t it of said a bunch of “cunts”?
I’m not a brit, but I’m not opposed to either term. Both are okay in my book.
oh my oh my… I could show you personal ( professional ) data for weeks that don’t suggest but outright YELL that a young 30 something female ( Sara is 32 btw ) displayed in an ad will out convert anything else you throw in front of people.
There is a bit of a caveat with this.. a brunette would have converted better ( suggesting to Neil, try and get someone like say Kyra Milan next time – for a scientific case study of course )
I truly believe as a marketer, if you are not absolutely familiar with the 7 deadly sins.. and how to use them, you may consider yourself a marketer… but in reality your a person simply stealing your clients cash ( LOL ) Pride, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth and Greed are in parts and in whole everything you need to know about marketing. Its simply understanding which to use and when, and when to even combine them.
Look at Sara above… ( my eyes my eyes!!! ) Lust is obvious… but the text… “How to take money without taking off my clothes” Making money Goes towards Greed… but the more subliminal… “without taking off my clothes” – translates to “Without Working” and that would be Sloth. I think that is the real kicker statement in the ad.
That’s an extremely insightful comment Paul. We all miss your guest posts, I think it’s time to grace us with another one. Great point about the 7 deadly sins, very rarely is that ever talked about. Kyra Milan would be a great choice… for a scientific case study… it’s all for science. I’ve had tests where blondes convert better than brunettes. I’m about to run some FB ads for this blog, and will do a live case study on that.
Lol considering Rand and Dr. Pete haven’t used any of those techniques in the past few years, of course they don’t think that stuff works. Typical Moz.
It really bothered me, because I actually enjoy seeing his thoughts and ideas on certain things. It was a big disappointment to hear about how they don’t think that stuff works. I understand they’re all white hat guys, that’s fine, but ignoring what is really going on in the industry, doesn’t help them and doesn’t help anyone else.
Nathan. Great post, I COMPLETELY agree with you.
Most of the marketers out there don’t have the “Big Balls” that requires to run a business.
Everybody here in Italy is a “wanna-be” entrepreneur but just a few have actually the thick skin to go over strong strategies (like the one you showed above).
Thanks for this awesome post.
Andrea
Thanks Andrea!
Lol “The adult site tab” tho. I’m still recovering 😅