Don’t tell me I’m wrong

I don’t like being wrong. I especially don’t like being told that I’m wrong.

Yet, as marketers, we do this on a regular basis. We tell prospective customers that they’re wrong. Sometimes, we even tell our current customers that they’re wrong.

When we tell people their current toothpaste isn’t very good, and that they should be using ours, we’re telling them that they’re wrong. And they don’t like that.

When a new Internet service provider tries to get me to switch, they’re trying to get me to admit I’m wrong about my current choice. And I don’t like that.

If my strategy as a marketer is to try and “yell louder” to get someone to change brand choices, I’m counting on people to admit being wrong.

But if I market my product as a new choice, as something that empowers consumers to make a new, educated choice, that’s good.

If you’re just offering something that everyone else has, you’ll always be yelling, and always be telling people they’re wrong.

But if you offer something new, something remarkable, something that changes the game, you empower people to choose something new.

I don’t want to be wrong. I want to choose something right.