As a copywriter, I’m not a fan of this trend – but geez it works  

By the end of 2016 I was totally over Facebook groups. All the whinging, all the sooking, all the negativity, all the passive-aggressive competitiveness.

I was drained, I was over it and honestly, it did nothing to help with my business anxiety levels. As for online marketing – I had no leads through any groups. So, I went through all my groups and stopped notifications. I didn’t want to ‘listen’ to it anymore.

It’s blissful when you’re not constantly getting pinged about someone posting in a business group. Try it!

Why do we join Facebook groups?

‘You HAVE to network, you HAVE to be social online, you HAVE to be seen as the authority so speak up in groups’…Hands up if you’ve been given the same advice? I listened, I took it, and I joined all sorts of Facebook groups.

But this happened:

• I would read through posts and occasionally offer advice when it was my area of expertise. BUT so did heaps of others who were also experts and my advice got lost in the sea
• I was occasionally tagged by my gorgeous peers as an amazing copywriter (thanks guys). BUT so were heaps of others and the original poster doesn’t respond to all the recommendations so again, lost in the sea
• I was a tiny fish in the big Facebook group sea and drowning in all the bullshit people flushed

After my Christmas break, I decided to check WHY I had ended up feeling like this. And I’ve noticed a massive trend. As a copywriter, it’s a trend that goes against my positive spin on the world, but it’s a trend that is working amazingly well.

‘Oh woe is me’ will get you hundreds of likes and comments

I’m not saying this is in every group, but the ones I’m in have a massive trend of what I’m calling, ‘Negative Nancy’ marketing (sorry to all the real Nancy’s in this world – it’s not directed at you personally).

Let me demonstrate with some case studies:

1. I launched and didn’t get the sales I wanted – boohoo:
   A snippet: ‘How can I get a higher conversion rate as I was kinda bummed yesterday with the lack of sales upon launching?’
   The response: 27 loves and likes and 62 comments, including, ‘I love your product, you’ve inspired me, I’ve bought your eBook now’, ‘Oh wow, your butt looks so good – I want a butt like yours – I’ve bought your eBook’.
2. My boyfriend dumped me (and I’ll tell the business world):
   A snippet: ‘But he was so awesome and promised me he really loved me and wasn’t going to hurt me’.
   The response: 50 likes, loves and sad faces and 146 comments all telling her she’s wonderful and sharing their resources of encouragement to help her. What I see – drawing attention to yourself to get sympathy (the whole heartbreak, single mum running a business thing) and sell your product/service. I mean seriously – why would you tell a Facebook group with 27,480 members about your private issues?
3. They stole my idea – buy my product and let’s show them who’s boss:
   A snippet: ‘They’ve now taken another design and are copying that and selling it too – I’m super pissed that a big arse company is walking all over me without responding to a single email’.
   The response: 13 likes and 66 comments including people giving advice, telling her copying is the best form of flattery, people checking out her designs, and purchasing her product in support (with one saying they’d buy it by the 100’s!).
   But it gets better:
   Her follow up: A day later, she thanked everyone, offering a 15% discount which results in a post like of 286 and 77 comments – selling out product lines!

It’s negative, but it’s bloody smart online marketing

I may not be a huge fan of the approach (as negativity drags me down to hell) but I’m a fan of the results people get. I was taught that positive writing and appealing to people’s desires is what sells products. I’m now thinking that selling a sob story works better!

As a mum, I relate. I always say that children love attention. Whether it’s negative or positive attention – it’s still attention and they lap it up. The same goes in the modern online business marketing world.

Sell your sob story, watch everyone want to be the ‘loving hero’, watch egos be inflated, and watch products sell out. Amazing hey.

How you can perfect this new online marketing system

It seems to work!

Personally, I’m not a fan and I think I’ll stick to being a happy-go-lucky, humorous kind of chick. But hey – try it if you’re good at coming up with a sad story.

I’m not shouting for attention, but if you had a laugh at this blog, please share

No, I’m not already getting divorced (I’ve only been married a month). No, no one has copied me (well not worth mentioning anyway). No, I’m not scared I’ll lose money by people under-quoting me (as I have confidence people who love my copywriting style will come to me). And no, I’m not worried my world will crumble if my blog is ignored (there’s a big sea of blogs and I’m just one humble copywriter).