Questionable Marketing: It's a Bad Idea in the Design Industry...and Everywhere Else

There are a lot of competitors in the online design community. Many of them using marketing techniques that  we choose not to employ. In any environment where these is a lot of competition there can be a lot of pressure to bring in leads. Some of our competitors are using some eyebrow-raising techniques. Do these techniques work? Is it worth the effort?  If  you are looking for fast short-term results in might be worth the effort. However, these marketing strategies tend to irritate and/or insult potential customers. Over the long run these efforts can prevent you from developing brand loyalty -- which can be a critical blow to your firm. 

Types of Marketing: 

There can be several ways to use this type of marketing: they almost always come down to two methods: bait & switch and hidden/add-on charges. 

The chart below gives some examples of misleading promotions used in the online design field. Our favorite is #3, Designs: Start for Just $99. Is $99 the total amount? Look deeper into the web site and you will find that this is just a down payment. The real amount is actually $295. We've had a couple of people come to use who had just called this competitor and they were angry. Anyone who has ever purchased a car knows what can happen with last-minute add-on charges (undercoating, etc.). The car salesperson in this case will make a higher commission doing this, but will the client come back to him/her for their future purchases after they feel that they have been misled? 

Examples of Questionable Marketing:

This is a bad strategy in building your business. This is one area where you really do need to look at the long term rather than short-term results.

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