What is Bro Marketing? (and why should you care?)

Bro Marketing. There are not many things in this life I can say I hate. Hate is a strong word and one I think should be reserved only for things that you would be happy to see the end of.

And that one thing for me is Bro Marketing.

A lot of business owners won't know or understand the term, but they will almost definitely have been under the influence of Bro Marketing, or even employed Bro Marketing tactics themselves without even realising.

This article isn’t here to tell you off, judge you or make you feel bad. Well, unless you are knowingly and willingly undertaking Bro Marketing (in which case big shame on you!) I’m here to help educate and inform you, so you can make an informed decision as to how you want to show up online. Which is hopefully in the same authentic and ethical way that I do.

So let’s dive in.

What is Bro Marketing

It’s a term that was coined when people started selling online using scarcity and FOMO tactics. To the extent that the tactics used were actually manipulating and pressurising – often quite vulnerable people.

These are just some of the Bro Marketing tactics that I’ve seen online

1. Saying there is a time limit to get an offer, when there isn’t

Putting extra pressure on someone to buy now, or the offer will disappear when in fact it’s not true. Either the timer will reset when they rejoin the landing page, or the product or service is actually on discount all year around – which in itself is against trading standards. Laws will vary in the world but in the UK this is true. To advertise a product on sale it must have been at full price for a reasonable amount of time and have an end date for the offer. Specifically as stated by Law Donut the law says:

• to claim that products are on sale, you should show the previous price and should have been selling at that price for a meaningful period of time

• you should not claim that you are selling at an introductory price if you plan to continue selling at that price indefinitely, or to stop selling the product after the introductory period

• Some unfair sales practices are specifically banned: for example, pretending to have a closing down sale. You may want to take advice to ensure that any special offers or sales you plan meet the legal requirements.

2. Saying there are only X amount of spots left, when there aren’t

Pressure selling that is dishonest to make you believe something is more scarce than it is.

3. Unethical messaging that aims to make people feel bad enough to buy.

When you are writing content that plays on a person’s emotions, people are often in a vulnerable state or time of their lives, and you make that person feel that their life will continue to be ‘rubbish’ unless they buy this product or service. That’s unethical and immoral and in my opinion, is Bro Marketing. This is probably the most common way that smaller business owners get caught out and copy the Bro Marketers.

4. Over Inflated Claims

You can price your products any way you see fit. You can price your course as worth £5 or £5000. There are no hard and fast rules. But Bro Marketers will over inflate the value of courses and products to tens of thousands of pounds and then ‘slash’ the cost to a mere 2-3 figures.

How does Bro Marketing differ from what is seen as ethical and moral?

Now you might be reading this and be thinking, but Sam, I’ve done some of that because that’s how we are taught to market? How do we get sales if we don’t create scarcity? How do we get sales if we don’t show value? How can we connect emotionally if we don’t pull on those heartstrings?

I hear you! I really do.

BUT you can do ALL of those things WITHOUT taking it over the line.

Believe me when I say, that if you do those things for a prolonged period of time, it will start to make you feel ill. If you continue to market like this, you will no longer align with your purpose. You’ll fall out of alignment with your true essence because you are no longer being honest, transparent or real. You are bending the truth to make money.

When we are showing up in people’s emails day after day after day. So we all have a responsibility to show up in a way that feels good - to help them to feel good.

Examples of ethical marketing

Unethical - Saying there is a time limit to get an offer, when there isn’t

Ethical - Time-limited offers are fine! Make sure it’s fair for everyone and have the same time offer for all. Don’t lie about it – don’t pre-plan an extension as part of your marketing. Extensions should only be used for authentic reasons.

Unethical - Saying there are only X amount of spots left when there aren’t

Ethical - Be honest about the amount of spaces left. Don’t make it part of your MAIN messaging. By all means mention it but don’t scare people into buying. The main message should ALWAYS be your service or product.

Unethical - Messaging that aims to make people feel bad enough to buy

Ethical - Marketing messaging is very simple. Your audience has a need. Identify it, ask them if that’s them, emotionally connect and explain how you understand how they feel. How can you fix that? How long will it take? How much will it cost?

That’s really all there is.

Read through your messaging and make sure that NONE of the following has been implied:

-          That their life will be awful without your service or product

-          That they are clueless and have no idea, promoting feelings of shame

-          Only you can make them feel better. Not everyone is for you and that’s fine – you must put your audience’s needs first.

If people still want to come to you then you’ve basically pre-qualified them instead of pressuring them. They are more likely to stay the course, buy from you again, and become your biggest advocates.

But if you pressure people into buying that aren’t for you, then it’s going to damage your businesss as they don’t even want to be there.

Unethical - Over-Inflated Claims

Ethical - Just go easy on this one. You might value your course at £500 and sell it for £150. But please don’t offer valuations of £25,000 and sell for £27. It’s not realistic. It doesn’t feel right. If it doesn’t feel right then it probably isn’t. 

How can you avoid Bro Marketing?

Always put people first

Marketing should be people-centered. Keep to the top of your mind that you are selling them what they need. Sell to them with kindness not fear.

Be honest

You can’t go wrong if your intentions are good and you lead with integrity. You can have an offer end date, you can have a discount, you can have timers, you can have testimonials, but it needs to be real and transparent – not made up.

Market how YOU want to market

Put away those preconceived ideas of how to market. You can market your business in any way you like. So show up as you, in a way that feels comfortable, and the rest will naturally follow.

If you like to market in a way that feels good then check out my free resources!