Ora et labora – Grow your faith and your sales

Turning “hate” into “Hater-ade” and cashing in

+JMJ+

It’s DAY 9 of The Marketing Trad’s 2023 Advent Calendar, and I have a question for you …

How often do you get email marketing advice that involves Canadian politics and professional wrestling?

Once you’re done counting all those times on your fingers and toes, please … carry on.

By the way, this tip ties in perfectly with the old saying: “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.”

Well, when life gives you haters, it’s time to hunker down to make some Hater-ade and cash in.

It’s a time-tested strategy you see in every industry, from professional wrestling to politics, and there’s no reason why you can’t put it to work in your emails.

The concept is simple …

Take the “hate” people throw at you, turn it around, and use that negativity to your advantage.

One of the GREATEST examples of this I’ve ever seen was from about five years ago in the WWE. (Yes, there’s a lot you can learn about marketing from the world of professional wrestling – ESPECIALLY the WWE.)

The setting: Monday Night Raw in Seattle.

The date: October 1, 2018.

The villain: Elias.

So, Elias is the “heel” here, or the “bad guy,” and to get the crowd fired up, he insults the city, going straight for the jugular …

He was riffing off a line from the other guy in the ring, saying, “It doesn’t make sense, you know, like having a basketball team in Seattle.”

To say he “struck a nerve” is putting it mildly.

The crowd booed him mercilessly and Elias ran with it.

Instead of letting his haters blow off their steam, he turned it around, and amplified the outrage.

Keep in mind, this is all theatre, but sometimes you see it happening in your inbox, too.

For example …

In September of 2022, fresh off his election victory as the new leader of the federal Conservative Party in Canada, Pierre Poilievre was holding a news conference.

Before he could even start his opening remarks, though, a reporter launched into some antagonizing questions.

There was an exchange between the two, sparks flew, and Pierre labelled the guy as some kind of “liberal heckler.”

Pretty much the next day, without missing a beat, the party sent out an email to supporters with the subject line: “I couldn’t believe it.”

The message in the email went on a rant, combining two classic enemies of the party’s base: 1) The mainstream media, and 2) the Liberal Party of Canada.

It turned into a classic, “give us money to fight the bad guys” fundraising pitch.

I don’t know how much money the Conservatives raked in with that email, but my guess is they cashed in big time.

This is what happens when you take the hate and turn it into Hater-ade.

You can do that in your own sales messaging, too, but don’t go overboard. We’re Catholics, after all, right? 

If you’re going to implement this tactic, use it tastefully and take the high road. 

Do it in a way where you won’t be embarrassed to present yourself before the Lord, and remember …

Don’t forget to pray for your enemies.

Stay holy my friends and God bless.

Vic
The Marketing Trad

P.S. Your time is almost up to get the 24% off deal for January 2024 consultations. At the end of the week, the discount is gone and prices go back up. If you’re interested in booking a meeting, email me before Saturday at midnight: [email protected].

P.P.S. It’s the Second Week of The Marketing Trad’s 2023 Advent Calendar, and we’re highlighting quotes from “Immortale Dei,” the Encyclical Letter from Pope Leo XIII on The Christian Constitution of States. Here’s a good one for you:

“But in matters merely political, as, for instance, the best form of government, and this or that system of administration, a difference of opinion is lawful. Those, therefore, whose piety is in other respects known, and whose minds are ready to accept in all obedience the decrees of the apostolic see, cannot in justice be accounted as bad men because they disagree as to subjects We have mentioned; and still graver wrong will be done them, if – as We have more than once perceived with regret – they are accused of violating, or of wavering in, the Catholic faith.”

Scroll to Top