Courting vs. Seduction in Marketing

You can try to bully business out of clients.

But very few of us would ever actually do that.

However, many of us — often without knowing we’re doing it — try to manipulate and seduce our clients.

If you’re reading this, then my guess is that you hate option one (seduction). So, if bullying is out and seduction is out . . . what’s left? Manipulation?

I want to lift up another option: courting them.

Simon Sinek lays the groundwork for this notion in his brilliant book Start With Why:

Typical manipulations include: dropping the price; running a promotion; using fear, peer pressure or aspirational messages; and promising innovation to influence behaviour — be it a purchase, a vote or support. When companies or organizations do not have a clear sense of why their customers are their customers, they tend to rely on a disproportionate number of manipulations to get what they need. It’s because manipulations work.

If fear motivates us to move away from something horrible, aspirational messages tempt us toward something desirable. Marketers often talk about the importance of being aspirational, offering someone something they desire to achieve and the ability to get their more easily with a particular product or service.