Make Marketing Suck Less

I'm seeing a lot of conversations on Instagram about bro marketing and, you know me, I am totally here for those conversations. A new way to market and sell is emerging. And the more people who are talking about harmful marketing practices, the more it will become status quo to not do bro marketing because, let's face it, bro marketing makes people feel like shit. And it makes us question our judgment when we buy something we don't need for our business. Like, why did I do that? I should know better.

But what I'm also noticing is a lot of misunderstanding about what bro marketing is and what we should do about it from well-intentioned female entrepreneurs thinking that bro marketing is about how men treat women on the internet. And although that's an issue too, that's not what bro marketing is. 

Or people are still actively using bro marketing in their business, so they talk about bro marketing, but then when you look at their marketing messages and how they're showing up to sell, bro marketing tactics are still very much present.

So today on the pod, let's talk about what is bro marketing really, why do I call it that, and how do we divest? How do we get rid of it in our marketing and sales? So that's the topic of this week's podcast. So let's do it.

You’re listening to the Rebel Uprising Podcast. This podcast is dedicated to helping passionate business owners become recognized leaders who make more money and impact the world by turning their messy, complicated ideas in thriving thought leadership businesses.

I’m your host, Dr. Michelle Mazur, and I’ll be your no-BS guide in the art of building a business that gets noticed. Each week, I’ll share strategies, tools, and insights into how to turn your complicated ideas into great messaging and solid business structures. Are you ready to create an uprising in your industry? Let’s do this.

What is bro marketing? Well, it has nothing to do with whether you're a man or a woman. Most people on the internet are using bro marketing. Bro marketing, how I define it, is the use of psychological triggers to shut down thinking and consent, to manipulate and coerce people into buying. Let me say that one more time.

Bro marketing is the use of psychological triggers to shut down thinking and eliminate consent to manipulate and coerce people into buying. And those psychological triggers are outlined in Robert Cialdini's book Influence. And in his book Influence, he calls these psychological triggers “weapons of influence.”

Now, think about that for a hot second -- “weapons of influence.” Meaning these triggers -- which include scarcity, authority, reciprocity, social proof, liking, and commitment inconsistency, and plus some more -- are being used as weapons against you to make you buy things.

I want to be clear that these triggers, well, it's actually not their fault. These triggers are neutral. Our brains rely on things like scarcity and authority and liking to make decisions every single day. It saves our brain a huge amount of energy to shortcut the decision-making process. In Robert Cialdini's book, he calls this shortcut “fixed action patterns,” meaning that there is some trigger in your environment and that sets off a sequence of events. So for instance, there is scarcity. The cart is closing at midnight. It's 11:58 PM. And this is the last time that course is going to be offered maybe ever. And, man, it's going to solve all of your business problems.

Now, as I say this, I'm probably making you feel anxious and overwhelmed and taking you back to a moment where you were very much in this place of that anxiety rising, the fear of missing out happening. Your index finger just hovered over the “buy” button, ready to click and what we do to relieve all of that tension is we click.

So why do I call it bro marketing? Why do I use a gendered term when it is not a gendered way of marketing? Why I use it is because it is really a wink and a nod to the patriarchy. These techniques in online business can be traced back to men, specifically white men, teaching other people how to use these tactics because these tactics are effective. They work. So they taught other people how to use them in their marketing and sales process.

So these triggers, these techniques manipulate and coerce, they guilt and shame. These triggers actively shut down thinking and take our ability to consent, to processing a message away because one we're overwhelmed by all of the feelings going on in our body then these triggers are set into motion. So really, it is this authoritarian way of saying, “I know what's best for you. And what's best for you is to give me your money and buy my product right now. Go get your credit card, input it right away.” And that is patriarchal at its core.

And here's the thing about broom marketing: it is the air we breathe. Most people who are talking about bro marketing are still using a lot of these triggers, these “weapons of influence,” because it's so ingrained in the space. And, frankly, it's not their fault. They don't even know that they're using it because they haven't thought it through.

So how do we as good business owners who want to feel good about how we're showing up in marketing and selling and we want people to work with us who are making a really good purchasing decision… so how do we divest? How do we get rid of these tactics?

The first and the easiest thing that you can do right now is don't buy from bro marketers.

Unfollow them on your social media channels, unsubscribe from their newsletters. If you're not sure they're a bro marketer, but you read their stuff and they're making you feel guilt and shame and anxiety and overwhelm, they're most likely using these “weapons of influence” on you. And so the best thing to do is not to give them your attention and definitely do not give them your money.

The second way we can divest from these tactics is to really understand how bro marketing works, how manipulation and coercion works and understanding these tactics.

And this is for a podcast for another day, but I will be covering this in an upcoming workshop called a Bro Marketing Overthrow, and you can get the details, especially if you're listening to it this week, at drmichellemazur.com/workshop, but we really have to be clear on how these manipulative tactics work so that we can protect ourselves and also protect others.

The third strategy I have for you is to realize your words matter. Your message matters.

I've always thought that bro marketing is the result of lazy-ass messaging. Because with bro marketing, we can just use templates and it's effective and it tricks people into giving us money. In the book Seven and a Half Lesson About the Brain  by Lisa Feldman Barrett -- and if you're into neuroscience and how our brains work, this is a great book. It's a very accessible overview of how your brain works -- what she says is that words impact our physical body and our mind. Words have energy.

If you've listened earlier, when I was describing that moment of scarcity, when the cart was about to close, you probably felt a change in the state of your body because our words impact our brain. They impact how we feel. So pause and think about the impacts of your word, especially if it's part of your core messaging.

And this is related to the fourth strategy I have, is to understand how your message is going to be received by your audience. Think about how those words will impact them. Like if you say to somebody, “Shut up,” and you use that in your copy or your marketing, how does that make people feel? Does it make them feel expansive and heard, or does it make them feel shut down and like somehow they are wrong?

The final piece of this is to develop your own ethical framework for marketing and sales. And when we have guiding ethical principles, a framework, we filter all of our marketing and sales decisions through it so that we have a philosophy that is based on our values about what is right and wrong. It does take some thinking to develop one since this is not something we do in the online business world, but once you have it, you have a filter for all of your marketing and sales.

And to give you an example of what this looks like,  these are my three principles that I put my marketing and sales messages through:

The first one is advocate for agency. My messaging and marketing encourages critical thinking. I always want people to make the best purchasing decision for themselves. And while it might be sad and disappointing to me when somebody says no, as long as I know they're making the best decision for them and in their head that that's the best decision, then I am fine for advocating for their agency.

My second principle is to follow the research. This is because I am a researcher at heart. So all the work I do in messaging and marketing is based in social science research. The Three Word Rebellion messaging framework is based on about nine different theories that I implement with my clients. They don't know it -- thankfully.. it would probably bore them to death -- but I always look to the research to guide how effective different marketing techniques are.

And then finally, your words matter. Words matter. I am so aware of the impact of words and how they can change your body and brain, so I choose them carefully.

So if you're ready to divest from bro marketing, remove it from your email sequences, your copy, your social, and all the places your business communicates, I'd love to get you started on that journey and invite you to a low-cost workshop I'm doing called Bro Marketing Overthrow.

The goal of this workshop is to help you start developing your philosophy so you can make ethical choices when you market and sell. Because when your marketing and sales tactics are aligned with your beliefs and your values and your principles, it's easier to show up consistently, make offers with confidence, knowing you're doing what is right for you and your potential clients.

It's $99 and it will take place on January 26 with a follow-up Q&A on January 29th. And that's in the year of 2021. So for all the info and to sign up, go to drmichellemazur.com/workshop for the details.

And in the meantime, let's do more than talk about bro marketing. Let's actively get it out of all of our marketing and sales because when you do that, you'll feel good about how you’re marketing and it's going to be so much easier to show up and offer what you do.

Thank you for listening all the way to the end of the show. Your support means the world to me. Did you know the Rebel Uprising Podcast has a quiz that can help you pinpoint the number one way to build and audience of superfans while staying true to your unique personality? We do! And it’s called What’s Your Rebel Roadmap to Exponential Impact and Influence and you can take it at therebelquiz.com.

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