4 EVIL Marketing Techniques That’ll Make You Way More Sales

Dark psychology, mind control. Should these sales techniques be illegal? Welcome to this week's episode of my newest mini series, the funnel files, click bait, cold emails and crimes against conversion. Okay, I'm totally kidding. You guys knew I was kidding, right? But seriously, when you hear terms like dark psychology and mind control used in marketing. It sounds sketchy as hell. Am I right? And it really just proves my point that internet marketing bros ruin literally everything. Because here is the honest truth, the persuasion techniques or psychological triggers that I'm covering in this video are not inherently good or evil. They are just marketing tools, kind of like AI. They only become bad when douchebags on the internet use them in a way that's dubious, scammy or misleading, which is literally the whole reason I started this channel in the first place, during my decade working behind the scenes as a freelance copywriter and marketer, long before I started posting videos on this YouTube channel, I noticed something that honestly made my blood boil. While there were so many brilliant business owners out there with incredible products and services that could genuinely change lives, most of them were getting completely drowned out by marketing bros who didn't really care about their products or their services or their brands, but they knew how to sell and would do or say just about anything to do it. Meanwhile, those people who were truly doing good in the world were staying stuck, hidden and broke either because they didn't know about the persuasion principles that I'm going to share with you in this video today, or because they were absolutely terrified of using them, because they didn't want to get labeled as salesy or scammy and lumped in with those other guys that I was just talking about. And honestly, I can hardly blame them. Marketing was getting a really bad rap, and that's exactly why I started this channel seven years ago to deductify the internet, redefine modern marketing and put the promotional power back in the hands of the good guys, aka those of you who are selling products and services that really, truly help people. So today, I am sharing with you four psychological triggers that you can use, ethically and responsibly to become more persuasive in your marketing and attract more of the right customers that you can really serve. And of course, I know you will use these powers for good, not evil. Now these four triggers come from one of my favorite books of all time. Well, favorite nonfiction books influenced by Robert shieldini. If you haven't read this yet, it is a must read if you want to become a better marketer and better copywriter, starting with trigger number one, social proof. The first powerful psychological trigger that I want to talk about is social proof. You see this one everywhere, social media, comments, online reviews, testimonials and case studies. Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon in which people look to other people to guide behavior and decision making, especially in uncertain situations, like when making a purchase. It operates on the assumption that other people must possess more knowledge about a certain situation, causing you to really conform to group behavior. And it works because our brains are wired for survival. For 1000s of years, following the crowd literally meant keeping us alive. If everyone else was running from a saber toothed Tiger, you better run too. Now, obviously there is a douchey and an ethical way to use this trigger. The douchey way involves using fake testimonials, fake followers, fake reviews and fake success stories. And in my opinion, and this might be controversial, this also includes fake or AI generated comments and user engagement. Faking social proof in any way is highly unethical. The ethical way involves sharing genuine feedback, experiences and comments from real clients and customers. But here is the key, you don't just want to share the amazing You changed my life. 10 out of 10 recommend type of social proof. Now don't get me wrong, those are great, but don't forget to share the before along with the after, when you share your customer's entire journey from where they started to the specific struggles and doubts they faced along the way, that social proof becomes infinitely more persuasive, believable and relatable. All right, moving on to trigger number two, scarcity, also known as FOMO, or the fear of missing out. Scarcity is the fundamental economic principle of supply and demand, or more specifically, the gap between demand and supply, and how that impacts human behavior when something is scarce or limited.

We want it way more than if it's an abundant supply, right? The more available something is, the less valuable it is. Period in marketing, scarcity is the principle of communicating that products or services are limited in some way and therefore harder to obtain, and therefore increasing demand. And this works because FOMO is real. Of course, we don't want to miss out on the opportunity to have something or experience something that is scarce or exclusive. By making your offers limited in some way, it really incentivizes your customers to act now. And there are four different types of scarcity that you could use in your marketing. Number one is price scarcity. This is a good old fashioned limited time discount. We are all very, very familiar with this one, right? You see this type of scarcity used all the time during holidays, Labor Day sales, Black Friday sales, and the list goes on and on. So this is where you offer a discounted price for a limited time. That discount is scarce, or you might use quantity scarcity, which is exactly what it sounds like, a limited quantity of whatever it is you are offering. So this type of scarcity works really, really well with physical products, where there is actually a limited number of units in inventory because you only have so many but this could also be used with exclusive experiences, like the number of spots in a coaching program or a retreat or an event, or how many clients you can take on at a time, or anything where the attendance has to be capped at a specific number. Now the next type of scarcity you might use is premium scarcity. So this is when you add in limited time bonuses. So you have to buy by a certain time or date in order to get these bonuses. So here you are temporarily upgrading the value of your offer and making the offer more premium for a limited time. Now the last type of scarcity you might choose to use is what I call offer scarcity. So unlike price scarcity, where your customers might be expecting an impending rise in price, or premium scarcity where bonuses are disappearing, or quantity scarcity where you only have a certain number of spots or products available, offer scarcity is when the offer itself is totally closing and will be completely unavailable after that, usually for an extended period of time or forever. Now this is the type of scarcity I use with my live Launch Pad coaching program every single year. I only open enrollment once a year because it is a live coaching program. So once it starts and the doors close, that's it. You missed it. You have to wait an entire year to be part of the live experience again. Now, just like the first trigger, there is a douchey way of using scarcity, and there is an ethical way. The douchey way is when your scarcity is fake, fake deadlines, fake countdown timers, fake inventory numbers or high pressure tactics that make people panic by if you want to use scarcity ethically, when you say something is limited, mean it that's it. Be truthful and be honest. It's actually pretty simple, right? All right. Moving on to trigger number three, authority. Creating authority in marketing is the strategic process of positioning a brand or an individual as the leading, trusted expert within a specific industry. Now, authority is a major psychological trigger, because we are programmed to follow leaders and to trust experts. It's why we listen to doctors about our health and accountants about our money and mechanics about our cars. To build authority in your messaging, you might talk about how many people you've helped. your experience, your degrees, or any certifications or media features you have now, obviously, doing things like claiming expertise you don't actually have, listing fake credentials, or renting a Lambo just so you can take pictures in it and pretend it's yours. Is a douchey way to use this trigger. If you want to use this trigger ethically, you must share only your real expertise and experience, of course, and listen, if you don't have any of that yet, that's totally okay. Sharing your story and your mission is a really great way to build trust and credibility, even if you are just getting started and don't have like authority metrics or features to showcase just yet, everyone has to start somewhere, all right, and now for what might be the most powerful psychological trigger on this list, trigger number four, reciprocity. Ah, yes, the universal urge for human beings to repay or reciprocate after an act of kindness or generosity by another, when someone does something nice for us, we feel obligated to return the favor, right? It's basic human psychology. If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. It's really as simple as that. You see this rooted in numerous cultures, traditions and rituals around the world, at different holidays, weddings. Between

neighbors and business relationships, and it is also no stranger in the world of marketing, reciprocity is used when you incentivize your prospects to take a desired action by giving them something of value first. And think about it. This concept is literally baked into every single opt in page or landing page used for lead generation. The message is basically, hey, I'm going to give you something really, really cool for free. All you got to do is enter your email address to get it. Now, this could be like a free PDF guide or some sort of lead magnet, but it could also be like a complimentary 30 minute call or assessment if you're a coach or a copywriter, or maybe a free trial of a subscription service like Spotify and YouTube's premium 30 day trials, or you even see this used in nonprofit organizations all the time when they give out free merchandise in return for their donation, increasing the likelihood that they will donate again. Now the douchey way of using this trigger would be classic bait and switch tactics, in other words, promising value and then not delivering it until they take yet another desired action. So you're kind of like breadcrumbing them, or, you know, hanging the carrot, forcing them to take more and more action before you actually give them the thing you promised. If you say you're going to give something for free after one easy step, give it to them. Now the ethical way to use this trigger is to give free content with no strings attached, because you actually want to help people, regardless of their next move. There is no expectation of compensation at all, just like the hours I spend creating content for you guys right here every single week. I truly, truly enjoy this. If you can't already tell and I don't care what you do next, you can hang out here forever and never buy anything for me. And honestly, that is totally okay. So if you enjoy my YouTube content as much as I enjoy creating it for you, give me a thumbs up below and let me know you're here, because honestly, that love means the world to me, you guys. And when you help people win unselfishly, they remember so that when they are ready to invest in themselves and take the next step. Hopefully they will think of you first. So now let's zoom out and look at the bigger picture, because here is what I really, really want you to take away from this video. If this is the only thing, this is it, these triggers are not good or evil. They are simply tools, and they are available to everyone, good and evil. The question is, are you going to use them to manipulate people into buying things they don't need, or that is unhelpful, or they're low quality, just to waste their money? Or are you going to use them to help the right people discover solutions that will genuinely improve their lives or make their lives easier in some way? Because at the end of the day, marketing is about getting the right messages to the right people, and I truly believe this. If you have something that can help people service a product and offer, it is your responsibility to get it in front of them. If you are ready to build a business with modern marketing, hit that subscribe button below, ring that notification bell, and I will see you back here next week with a brand new video. Until then, I'm Alex, Ciao, for now, before you go, if you liked that video, make sure to check out this one next. If 2025 left you feeling overwhelmed, confused and unsure of what the future holds. If you are sick of constantly being sold to and exhausted by all the soulless AI content being crammed down your throat, if you are ready to take control of your income, level up, your skills and future proof, your freedom, if you are looking to make a major pivot in 2026 and create a life on your.