How To Use Your Audience’s Fear To Your Marketing’s Advantage

For those who play stocks, you might be familiar with this saying.

“Stocks take the stairs on the way up… and the elevator on the way down.”

Don’t believe me?

Just pick any stocks in the market and observe how long it takes for it to reach it’s all time high, and then take a look at the time it takes to drop back to the bottom or at least to half of it.

More often than not – it literally takes the elevator down! Back to square one!

What does this show?

One word – FEAR!

In marketing, we can take advantage of this very fear element of your prospects to your profit.

How?

Remember the following…

The Fear Of Loss Is Greater Than The Desire For Gain

Everyone loves to win something. But they hate losing even more.

It’s all nice presenting the benefits and how your prospects can gain when they take up your product or services.

All well and good. You touch on their emotion. You make them feel positive.

But….DON’T JUST STOP THERE!

Negative emotions work powerfully too!

Induce the fear factor!

Let them know how much they stand to LOSE if they do not take up what you are selling.

Let them know that they are losing out to their competitors…

Let them know they are losing money…

Let them know they are failing in terms of quality…

Just do whatever it takes to tell them they are losing something!

Fear works very well when you want your prospect to ACT NOW too!

When you tell your prospects that there is only a certain amount of quantity left, or that the price will rise very soon after a certain dateline, or that the bonuses are good only for the first 10 buyers, you are making use of their fear of loss to induce an action immediately!

That’s how powerful the emotion of fear is!

Use it. Don’t not fear the fear factor. Profit from it instead – like how the best copywriters and salesmen in the world do.

Just think over it.

As usual, let me know what are your thoughts on this. I’m all ears!

All Success,

[tags]E-MoneyMarketing, fear, consumer psychology, online marketing, business, emotional marketing, emotions[/tags]

I know what you’re talking about ad I think that you right but not completely. Fear factor can so much scare your custome so they would never buy anything fromyou. Yo must be wise using it

Hi badboy,

Scare until the customer do not buy from you? Care to elaborate?

If the product offers good value and it serves as a good solution, and the fear is designed to get the customer more inclined towards the product, I don’t see why it can’t work.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Jag

I like some of your comments. Thanks!

marketers always use don’t miss out this opp or something like that

usually people would be afraid to no buy, that’s how the sales go

You bring up a good point.

If one uses this trick too often, sometimes people will just get immuned to it.

Over-use and it becomes less effective.

Cheers,
Jag

Hey Jag!

Fear is one of human’s greatest emotions. Great ideas.

I know what you’re talking about ad I think that you right but not completely.

I don’t doubt the power of fear. It is a very effective way of marketing. In fact, most sales page will try to put people’s headline in the headline and tell them there’s a magic pill. Sales page that is trying to sell ‘traffic generation ebook’ will show you how bad and such a big problem for not having any traffic. Later on, they will show you their magic pill or solution and show those crazy or sometimes fake statistics (some self-claimed gurus did that very often).

I don’t really like it but it’s effective because it’s like scaring you with horror stories and tell you to save yourself by buying their products.

However, according to some feedback from customers, I realize they slowly resist this way of advertising or marketing because it’s everywhere. They don’t want to listen to horror stories anymore. Some people who see article titles with those ‘fear’ words will probably move on and don’t care about it.

I find heart-warming titles work well nowadays. People are looking for self satisfaction and looking for more positive things to read and listen. I find bloggers or sales letter which build relationships and share their experience authentically are the one who wins. They get higher conversion rates. And these customers who get positive and heart-warming contents will come back and buy again.

Do you think so?

Hi Andy,

Thank you for your input.

You give some good points – about offering value, building relationship.

Fear is a negative emotion. Appealing to a human’s greed and making them happy and hopeful – incites positive emotion.

That works too. Having said that, some people respond more to negative vibes while others more to positive.

We can find a balance. Why not implement both?

Human emotions will dominate one’s thinking. Fear and invoking pain are just two. They will still continue to work.

The key is in the moderation of the use of such marketing techniques and striking a balance.

Cheers,
Jag

Hi Jag,

Your article states,

“Let them know that they are losing out to your competitors…”

Isn’t it supposed to be,

“Let them know that they are losing out to their competitors…” ?

Best,

Ismael

Hi Ismael,

Yep. You are right. Have it changed already!

Thanks for alerting me!

Jag

@Alex – I agree with you. I for one am sick of how some copywriters and marketers take the fear focus to the extreme. It’s good to use fear to grab someone’s attention, or get them to take action, every now and again – but there should be a balance someplace.

Jag is right. Including both fear/pain, as well as gratification, in marketing is the best approach.

Too much on either side and people start tuning the messages out, if it doesn’t appeal to them. So mixing it up is a the way to go.

Quincy

I often go to health seminar and they use fear factor to make people buy their vitamin, change bad habits…
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