It’s been a while since I last posted anything - to be exact since June 3rd 2009! But let’s not dwell on the absence of my posts, but rather what I’m about to write about. FUD Marketing. So what’s FUD? Do you FUD someone, or tell someone to FUD-off, or is it some sick version of F*** You D***head?
courtesy of: EclipseCon 09
FUD About Nothing
For those in marketing business, sales or the likes, then you may know what FUD stands for - or probably have applied the principles of FUD into a sales pitch some time in your career to win over a deal or two.
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt
Three key emotions that causes the strongest man and wisest woman to err. The exploiting (or leveraging) of these fundamental feelings is probably overused and abused.
And since I’m in the business of Search, I would like to take a few moments to explain how many SEO practitioners, agencies, sales reps, and SEM vendors implicitly apply this to their pitches.
To FUD or Not to FUD
I get it, I really do. Search engine traffic is the livelihood of tens of thousands of web business all over the world. Companies rely heavily on this platform to increase revenue, profits and show the CEOs how well oiled their search engine strategies are with great ROIs. And SEO/SEM companies know this! They understand the dynamics of not just optimizing a website, but also convincing you, the company, that what you’re doing is of lesser value compared to what they can provide. Afterall, an engagement in search could be worth tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to the SEO/SEM vendor. It’s a lucrative business.
Before I go on, let me be clear that this was a realization after I discovered FUD in wikipedia - and caused me to reflect on various aspects of how search deals are inked.
FUD YOU
Let me walk through your typical vendor presentation and see if I’m crazy - most people think I am!! 
FEAR - The first thing a vendor does is quickly point out to you how bad your site is doing, the multitude of keywords that you’re not ranking for, etc. For a multimillion dollar business, heck even a small business, you would be shitting in your pants. And then they show you more things that you’re not doing right, some technical babel mixed in with normal words. And the list goes on and on - you’ve heard enough bad news! Unless you’ve been in one of these audit sessions, let me tell you, it send chills down your spine - *shiverrrrrr*.
UNCERTAINTY - There will be at a single point during the discussion with the SEO/SEM vendor where you might think to yourself “Shitballz, our business needs help, our search engine performance is horrible!” Fear struck - fear causes uncertainty in what you are doing or have done. Because of the perception of vendors as subject matter experts, you start to feel helpless and begin thinking perhaps they were right and you do need their help…but wait! It’s not over.
DOUBT - Just when you feel fearful and uncertain about your website’s chances in search performance, you get hit with a dose of doubt. Even though you are fearful and uncertain about what you’ve done for search engines on your site, that’s still not enough for you to surrender. Somewhere deep inside, you still have an ounce of confidence that you can pull it together and make things better. Vendors HATE that confidence in you! The last few slides of EVERY presentation is usually filled with information overload on what it takes to be successful. And what it takes usually come in the form of a barrage of what appears to be advanced strategies - such heavy the workload that no company can EVER take it on themselves - NEVER! If that isn’t enough to cause doubt, then you’ve proven me wrong.
FUD ME
With so many SEO/SEM vendors today, compared to 5-7 years ago, it is difficult to decide on who will deliver and who won’t. But that’s not what I’m here to help you do - you are big enough to figure that out.
What I find that’s missing is complete transparency, honesty, ethics. Why don’t vendors point out the great things that the company has accomplished? Ok - redundant question.
I can’t speak for all, but I can certainly atest to my past experiences since 2001. I actually do know a few search consultants are would do that - and guess what, they get the deals too! I would like to see more transparency from SEO/SEM agencies - give the bad news, but also provide good news where good news is due. Don’t focus on the contract, that’s just a bonus - once your prospect understands the good, bad and ugly. Not just bad and uglies!
Less FUDding please.
SUMMARY
If you have experienced this type of approach from an agency, car salesman, real estate agents or just about anyone else, please share your thoughts. Let’s expose these dirty little FUD-Ninjas together!!
2 Comments
Derek,
I think it’s very common for SEO/SEM agencies to use this approach. From a sales standpoint, the idea is to get the gig. FUD the potential client into signing IMMEDIATELY before their competition finds out.
What I think it boils down to is education. Educating the client about their current situation can do more long term for a sales person than FUDing them can. Show them where their current mistakes are, show them where the competition is (if there is any worth noting) and then explain to them how they can start the process of dominating their industry’s niche online.
Sure, they may get scared, they may think “Shitballz, our business needs help, our search engine performance is horrible!” but thats ok if you back it up with some education of how they got there, and how they get out of that hole (perhaps with your help, of course).
I admit, I did a few FUD deals when I first started out. We all did. But if I didn’t educate the client, they usually didn’t renew - because they didn’t understand what it was I was doing in the first place.
You hit the nail on the head. Education. But this is where ethics contradict $$$. And probably one of the root causes why legit SEO/SEMs are getting a bad rep in the markets.
What irks me is that vendors who provide these FUDness have a single goal in mind - their pockets. There’s no accountability (or lacking) in these engagements.
Looking back about 5-7 years ago, the search industry has definitely added some bad apples leaving a pile of mess for others to clean up.
Most presentations and vendors like to show how much traffic they’ve increased for major brands - well that’s all that hard - get real. What don’t agencies show how they managed to improve smaller brands sites that are trying to compete in a tougher market? That’s where real tactics and strategies are demonstrated - i think