Authentic communications are honest, transparent, and customer-centric.
If those standards aren’t upheld, then they’re likely deceptive, untruthful, and company-centric.
I occasionally rant and rave about things that irritate me.
Communications that are purposefully misleading are one of them.
I hope your company never engages in such communications. (You won’t after reading this message, right??)
Inc. Magazine’s Deceptive Promo
The other day I received identical email offers from Inc. and Fast Company magazines (they’re owned by the same company). What I say about one will apply to the other.
For the sake of typing less characters, I’ll focus on Inc.’s offer.
Here’s the email copy:
SUBJECT: Cyber Monday Extension! Do not miss it!
Inc.
Last Chance!
CYBER MONDAY EXTENDED
JOIN TODAY FOR $1 [HYPERLINKED BUTTON]
[INC. MAGAZINE IMAGES]
Cyber Monday Extension!
Cyber Monday ends in a few hours, and so does this second chance to get full access to Inc. Premium for just $1, and unlock the reporting, founder lessons, and practical perspectives leaders use to navigate uncertainty and make grounded decisions.
Don’t miss your chance, try Inc. Premium for just $1 and get the insights you need to move faster and lead with confidence.
JOIN TODAY FOR $1 [HYPERLINKED BUTTON]
Satisfaction guaranteed. Cancel anytime.
[IN TINY TYPE, HALF THE SIZE OF THE BODY COPY] Offer applies to the first month of your subscription. After the trial, your subscription renews at $29.99 per year. Savings based on the regular one-year subscription price of $29.99. Cancel anytime.
The Hyperlinked Content Makes it Worse
Click on one of the two hyperlinked buttons, and the deception continues on their website (see image above.
If you truly have a quality product, why do you have to try to trick consumers into buying it?
These marketers are acting desperate for sales.
Here’s my spin-free, honest critique of this promotion…
The 7 Critical Twisted Ploys of Inc’s Promotion
If I was a truth advisor to Inc. magazine’s executive team, here’s what I would want to tell them (NOTE: I would use a lot more finesse if I was actually speaking to a client):
- Desperate (and negative) subject line – Didn’t feel like you deceived enough people on Cyber Monday so you had to extend your deceptive offer? Let me also give you two pieces of copywriting advice. This doesn’t fall under the deceptive umbrella, it’s simply poor copywriting. First, using an explanation point after each sentence decreases its effectiveness. Second, “Do not miss it!” is a negative sentence. Leave out the word “not” and readers see, “Do miss it!” Whenever possible, it’s best to write your CTA (call to action) using positive language. In this case, I’d suggest “Respond by midnight” or something like that.
- A $30 subscription dressed in $1 clothing – It’s only a dollar to join. Wow. Cheap! Woo-hoo! Anyone can afford that. It’s a no-brainer, until you read the tiny words that say it’s $1 for the first month, and THEN the regular annual subscription kicks in…
- Hiding the truth in tiny type – I’ve ranted on tiny type before (click here). Putting the truth in type about half the size of the body copy is, in my book, deceptive.
- The deceptive “9” pricing strategy – I’ve ranted about this before (click here). I despise the number 9 pricing strategy. The deceptive ‘9’ pricing strategy preys on psychology – $29.99 sounds dramatically cheaper than $30, even though it’s a penny’s difference. I despise the number 9 pricing strategy, but at the same time I know psychologically it works because $29.99 sounds SO much cheaper than $30. My mission is to help rewire brains worldwide so the strategy stops working.
Now let’s look at the online offer (after you click the hyperlinked buttons)… - Overemphasis on the $1/month offer – This offer is repeated three times. It’s the last occurrence I find particularly troubling: “$1.00 / month” That makes it sound like it’s only $1 every month. But then…
- Return of the hard-to-read tiny type – “Renews at $29.99/year” is in a point size about ¼ the size of the line above it. Why try to hide this annual subscription price, especially when it’s still only $2.50/month?
- Trustworthiness lost – After this onslaught of deception, further down on the online offer they state, “When subscribing to Inc. Premium, you can expect practical, no-nonsense advice for every stage of your business journey.” Here’s how I would rewrite that: “When subjected to Inc. promotions, you can expect nonsense marketing designed to deceive you at every stage of your reading journey.”
The 3 Big Takeaways
- Be transparent in your promotions. Make the truth as easy to read as your offer.
- Tiny type and “9” pricing strategies are low-quality marketing ploys. You’re better than that.
- Deceptive marketing strategies = bad PR. It’s not worth trying to trick consumers into biting on your offer when it hurts your company’s image.
After reading this message, what do you think now about promotions like this? Do share!
Communicate authentically, in ALL your communications!
Jeffery E. Pizzino, APR (seen here in a vintage photo circa 1983 serendipitously doing a Clash impersonation in a since-forgotten location) is a spin-free public relations pro who is passionate about telling the why of your story with clarity, impact and authenticity. He began his PR career in 1987 at Ketchum Public Relations in New York City but has spent the majority of his career as a solopreneur. He’s the Chief Authentic Officer of the Johnson City, TN-based public relations firm, AuthenticityPR. He also functions as the fractional CCO for technology startup Converus.
Jeff has an MBA in Management from Western International University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications — with an emphasis in PR — from Brigham Young University (rise and shout!). He’s a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but also holds an Italian citizenship. Jeff and his storyteller wife Leticia have four children and four grandchildren. In his extremely limited nonwork hours, he studies italiano, practices guitar, write songs, gardens, disc golfs, reads, listens to New Wave music, serves in his church, watches BYU football, and plays Dominion and Seven Wonders. Email Jeff.
