Can You Really Sell Something Without Embellishing?

I have no doubt you get a bunch of spammy email... it seems we all do, these days.

In the morning when I turn on my computer and start my day, there are inevitably something like 10-15 emails waiting for me, trying to persuade me that their product is the next great and amazing thing on the planet.

The Utility vs Wild Claims Curve?

Because I have always been interested in patterns and pattern recognition, I started to notice something, after a while:

It seems like there is an inverse correlation between the utility of a product, and the hype surrounding it's marketing.

Think about it: A loaf of bread or a quart of milk as useful as you can possibly get... and you don't really see "marketing hype" for them, ever. Period.

Conversely, the hype surrounding some of the most useless products on the planet is such that... well, you'd think you were about to become GOD if you bought those products!

Misleading With the Truth

It's interesting to consider how often sellers of all kids of things can find ways to mislead us with the actual truth.

Consider for example a statement like "make money," used in a vast array of contexts, some legitimate and some quite sketchy. It's actually a very nebulous statement.

When I spot a penny in the parking lot at the supermarket and pick it up, I DID — technically speaking — "make money." And yet, very few of us would actually think about picking up a penny in the parking lot as making money.

Marketers mislead in similar ways by being able to point to the absolute truth of claims they make as a defense for statements that are actually a little on the scammy side.

Is it NECESSARY?

Which leads me back to my initial thought of whether it is even possible to sell something without overstating what we're buying.

Have we grown so accustomed to "hype" that it's impossible to to market anything without it? And, by extension, because everything has to be marketed with hype... does that mean that we (as buyers) have to live in a constant state of "high alert" every time we go shopping... because chances are that nothing we are considering is actually anywhere near as good as it sounds?

Just something to think about.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

How about YOU? Do you think marketing always exaggerates the benefits of products and services? Is ANYthing, other than basically function items, sold without hype? As always, comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20201115 00:17 PST
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