Real Magic Doesn’t Manipulate
My version of hell… fear-based marketing
Why fear-based marketing is so last year. Here’s where the world is heading instead.
You know what real magic feels like?
Like being seen. Heard. Lit up from the inside out.
Not poked, not prodded, and never pressured into a panic buy.
But for too long, marketing has leaned into fear like that’s what’s going to put the fire into people.
Whipping up urgency, playing on insecurities, turning the volume up on LACK.
Every time I read some fear-based marketing I can see some archaic preacher in the pulpit spewing fire and brimstone, battering their congregation into a flock of fearful followers.
Sadly, fear-based tactics do work - that’s why people are reluctant to give them up.
But they only work in the way a bad spell does. It gets short-term results, sure, but leaves mistrust in its wake.
Buyer's remorse. Self-doubt. That icky feeling of being tricked, not treasured.
That’s not magic. That’s manipulation.
And I’m standing up to say “no more!”.
Marketing in my world doesn’t prey on vulnerabilities; we honour desires and trust the timing.
Fear-based marketing preys on the very things we should be protecting:
Our vulnerabilities.
Our insecurities.
Our gentle, brilliant, messy humanity.
It’s the emotional equivalent of poking someone’s bruise and saying, “Buy my thing or the pain gets worse.”
And I don’t know about you, but I want to live in a world where marketing uplifts, not undermines. Where businesses are built on trust, not tactics.
We don’t do that here. Not anymore.
You don’t need to knock people down to get them to say yes.
You don’t need to light a fire under their feet and shout, “Buy now or you’re a loser!” to prove your worth or sell your thing.
Because when you speak to someone’s real desires, they’ll be listening.
When you write from a place of kindness, clarity, and actual bloody respect, you create space.
Space to choose.
Space to breathe.
Space to WANT something instead of being terrified not to have it.
And isn’t that what we ALL want?
Can I get a “Hallelujah!”?
We ALL want to feel safe. Seen. Understood.
Like our decisions are ours to own and act upon.
What we’re doing instead
There’s a growing unease and realisation that there’s a better way - a more enlightened, less icky, warm, fuzzy way of telling and selling.
We’re writing copy that honours people’s power and autonomy.
We’re giving them time, not pressure.
We’re guiding, not goading.
Yes, we’re still selling. D’uh! We’re still running businesses here and need to support our own livelihoods. But we’re doing it with heart, humour and honesty.
We’re aligning our values with how to bring others to see our value, and invest in what we’re selling.
We’re leaning into joy, not jabbing at wounds.
We’re inviting people with open arms, not time bombs and threats.
And we’re creating a business that feels good to run and good to buy from.
Because at the end of the day, people need freedom.
Freedom to choose what they bring into their lives.
Freedom to trust who they bring into their circles.
Freedom to say yes when it feels right for THEM.
If your copywriter does their job right, then the right people will still come to you in time and space that works for you.