Are You Setting the Wrong Expectations with Your Marketing?

A little while back I was on a long plane flight from the east coast, and happened to catch the last movie with Steve Carrell—Dan in Real Life.
To be honest, when I had seen the ads and trailers on TV I wasn’t all that interested in watching this flick. But I was stuck on an airplane for five hours and the earphones were free. So I figured what the heck. Even bad movies are better when you’re stuck on an airplane.

To my very pleasant surprise, I discovered this is a really charming little movie. In fact I’d give it a A-. What was really interesting is that the ads for the movie didn’t give you a realistic look at what the movie was actually about.

My suspicion is that the reason this movie didn’t do well at the box office was the ads didn’t set up accurate expectations of the movies content. Heck, they were almost ads for a different movie with the same actors.

Had I seen an accurate ad for this movie, I probably would have paid to see it at the box office. And I suspect a lot of other people would have too. Instead, those who did see it were likely disappointed because they didn’t get what they were expecting. And the rest of us just didn’t see it.

This same thing often happens with marketing products or services. How many times have you gotten an email with a juicy, curiosity inspiring headline, then opened the email to find out it’s just another pitch for penis enlargements? Happens to me all the time.

And I see it with other types of products and services as well. What I believe happens is that marketers come up with a headline or hook that will draw prospects in. Then figure they can explain the rest once they have your attention.

The problem is, anytime the product or service you are selling doesn’t meet your prospects expectations, they are bound to be disappointed. And they may even start complaining to their friends and co-workers. This can start a backlash of negative publicity no one wants to create.
It also often results in a high rate of returns. This can cost your business a ton.

The moral of the story? Truth in advertising and marketing is the key to creating long term success.

Don’t ever make promises you can’t back up with your product or service—no matter how compelling they might be. In the end it only hurts you, your business, and your sales.

Have you ever purchased a product or service (or gone to a movie or restaurant) with one set of expectations, only to discover the reality was much different?

If so, I’d love to here about it. Please post a comment letting me know your reaction to this type of marketing mistake.

[tags] Stacy Karacostas, marketing, marketing your small business, are you setting the wrong expectations, wrong expectations, marketing expectations [/tags]