Negativity is never acclaimed as the best source of attraction. It gives a feeling that the brand or company lacks marketing strategies. Other possibilities of negative marketing are related to the reputation forced upon negatively.
But there are certain ways to handle the mess. In digital marketing, if someone goes wrong. It can surely be fixed. Unlike pizza turning out bad and not been eaten. There are ways to sort the issue.
The question is, how can a digital marketer deal with the “negative impact”?
In this article, we are going to cover the following areas. That is so that you are fully aware of the scenarios happening in negative marketing.
- What is Negative Marketing?
- Setting Goals to Combat Negative Marketing
- Leveraging the Power of Negative Words
- How to Reduce Negative Marketing: 5 Tips and Techniques
- Conclusion – Negative Marketing Is Used to Make a Positive Impact
What is Negative Marketing?
Negative marketing is more than just painting your competitors in a bad light. Any marketing tactic that taps into people’s negative feelings to provoke a response can be categorized as “negative marketing”.
Negative marketing may seem like an unethical tactic to get customers talking about your products, but it doesn’t always have to be this way.
Do you want to get a bit of publicity without hurting any other brand’s image? Worry not! We have got you covered. This article will show you how a little bit of negativity can positively affect your brand image without hurting anyone.
Setting Goals to Combat Negative Marketing
Following are the goals you should keep in mind when planning out your negative marketing strategy
- Understanding and sympathizing with the struggles of your customers.
- Addressing problems that are prevalent in the industry and building your brand’s reputation as a change maker.
- Resonating with the customers by cutting out through the noise of neutral messaging.
Accomplish these goals to make your brand rememberable and help it in standing out from the competition.
Leveraging the Power of Negative Words
In this day and age where online customer reviews act as a testimony either in a brand’s favor or against it, a couple of negative comments can become a marketer’s worst nightmare.
Unfortunately, many aren’t sure how to respond to this kind of feedback, and they let these comments be. But doing so can damage your brand’s reputation.
Have you ever felt like blocking a reviewer from your social media after reading their malicious comment?
No matter how angry you are, you’ll have to take the “customer is always right” approach.
Responding to these comments in a way that tells other viewers that you care about every customer is the right way of moving forward. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t be a little grumpy sometimes.
Don’t hide your inner grumpiness anymore! Use it for doing something good for your business.
How to Reduce Negative Marketing: 5 Tips and Techniques
Here are some ways in which you can leverage the power of negativity for breeding a positive outcome.
- Identify Customers You Should Avoid
Knowing which customers, you do not want is equally if not more important than attracting the right kind of customers. In many cases, it is plainly a case of mismatched needs (of your customer) and provided solutions (by your business).
In other cases, acquiring some customers can be too costly for your brand, making that audience segment unprofitable. Whatever the case may be, knowing the kinds of customers you do not want is necessary to avoid wasting your marketing budget.
- Stirring up Controversy
A little controversy will get people talking, but you should be prepared to handle this conversation with your audience by keeping the emotions from getting too heated.
Don’t take up serious subjects like religion or politics. Rather keep it light. Such as a comparison between McDonald’s and KFC. Or something like Instagram vs. TikTok.
Before posting anything, decide which side you are on, if any. You can also stay neutral by acting as a moderator of the discussions that are occurring.
If you work for any company that you are using to stir up this debate, you will automatically take its side. But if you have connections with both these brands, stay neutral and let the customers share like or dislike for the said brands.
Choose a topic that customers are passionate about and use it to generate buzz and organic traffic.
Here’s an example for you
Pepsi vs. La Croix
Which soft drink do you think contains more sugar?
Healthy eating is a hot topic these days. Getting people to talk about how unhealthy Pepsi is will convince them to switch to La Croix because there is no added sugar in it.
- Creating a Relatable Negative Experience
There are some things that customers and brand owners mutually dislike, like obnoxiously loud neighbors, traffic jams, long waiting lines, and bad customer service.
Sharing something negative that people can relate to will humanize your brand in their eyes. If you talk about long traffic jams in busy London streets, your audience will think of you as more than just a product or a service. This will help build your business’s rapport and increase engagement.
To avoid a full-blown rant, always end on a positive note. For example, after complaining a little about the traffic jams in London, let your customers know that you love the charming sights of London city too much to live elsewhere.
- Explaining Why Some Things Simply Suck
Explain to your audience why some products or services are simply not the right solutions for their problems. While doing so, you can build yourself as an authority, especially if you successfully convince your readers with your carefully crafted words.
When you explain why a product or service sucks, you’ll have the chance to offer your product or service as an alternative without sounding manipulative.
For example, if you sell healthy carbonated drinks, you could discuss why sugary drinks such as coke and Pepsi suck and how badly they can impact one’s health. From there, you can talk about your healthy beverage, which contains no added sugar or artificial flavor.
- Using Negative Headlines
You may have noticed that videos with titles like “worst gadgets to buy in 2021” are crowd pullers. Not many can resist knowing if any of the gadgets they own are included in this list or not.
This technique is a lot similar to one we discussed earlier because, in these kinds of posts or videos, you’ll discuss why certain products suck and are not worth the money they are priced at.
After that, you can post a video titled” top 10 gadgets to buy in 2021” and add your product somewhere on this list. The audience who enjoyed your first video is likely to watch the second one as well, and you can market your product to them without being too obvious.
Conclusion– Negative Marketing Can Be Used to Make a Positive Impact
A little negativity can generate positive results for your business. Negative emotions are natural. Forced positivity has never done anyone a favor, so instead of avoiding negativity, use it to stir up productive conversations and debates. Build a connection with your audience and show them that you are more than just a product or a service.