Growth Newsletter #203

Be candid with your flaws  ‌ ‌ ‌ [Demand Curve]( [Read on demandcurve.com]( The Growth Newsletter #203 Be candid with your flaws Pretend you're perfect in all ways, and nobody will trust you.  Let's dive into being perfectly candid about your flaws.  – Neal Brought to you by [North Star Inbound](—the sales enablement SEO agency.  Other agencies waste your time producing 1000s of pages that don’t generate sales.  North Star Inbound is laser-focused on 10% of topics you can and MUST own to drive revenue.  And they use those to deliver ROI in months instead of years.  Psst, if you need the content produced, they handle that, too.  Results they've driven for clients: - BigRentz grew from 27K visits to 400K+, with SEO sales beating PPC. - A dental client went from 0 to $137K in monthly revenue from SEO in under a year.  [Book a call]( for a free content audit and 10% off any engagement. Want to be featured in front of over 101,000 founders and marketers? [Learn more here](. Be candid with your flaws Insight by [Demand Curve](.  It’s human nature.  Very few people (and companies) are willing to: - Admit their flaws - Turn people away - Upset people  It’s part of why being extremely candid with your flaws can be so powerful.  Because others aren’t.  Be willing to insult yourself  It’s incredibly bold to insult your product on a quality many consider important.  Like this classic VW ad calling their cars ugly: Or this one calling their cars slow: I love the old VW because they were brave enough to draw a line in the sand: “We focus on reliability and practicality. We’ll let all the other brands fight over the fastest, the prettiest, and the most advanced.” Side note: Today, nearly all car companies sell all kinds of cars. Lamborghini sells an SUV. Volkswagen sells luxury models. Hyundai sells trucks. I suspect this is why their advertisements are all so boring and similar now.   Being candid with your flaws works for a few reasons: - It builds trust. If you’re willing to be candid about your product’s flaws, people trust you’re telling them the truth about its strengths. - It tells you who it’s for. We all want a product that’s tailored to our specific needs. Yet most companies try to be all things to all people. - A flaw is also a strength. There are always trade-offs. When you make something better at one thing, it gets worse at others. - If your car is pretty, it’s expensive. - If your (gas) car is fast, it uses a lot of gas. - If your car has room for 7, it can be filled with noisy kids.  This Atoms ad tackles these trade-offs head-on: Be willing to alienate people  This old SAAB ad takes #2 (telling you who it’s for) to the next level: Instead of directly insulting their own car, SAAB insulted people who buy their competitor’s fancier, more expensive cars (a pretty small pool of people, mind you).  The beauty here is that it implicitly admits that the SAAB is nobody’s dream car—a result of its flaws.  That’s a pretty brave thing to admit.  SAAB didn’t even try to compete with the Ferraris and Corvettes of the world.  Instead, they put their car in its own category:  A practical and affordable car that’s also sporty.  Be willing to turn people away  Do what nearly all other brands are not willing to do: - Admit your flaws. - Turn people away - Upset people who aren’t your target customer  It'll attract the right people to you.  By the way, I’ve been curating and analyzing some of the world’s best ads on [my LinkedIn](. I’m now starting to use that to fill up our [Ad Vault](.  The goal is to make it a comprehensive, searchable, filterable resource for the best ads in the world—with quick explanations of the tactics they’re using.  It’s a work in progress, so keep checking back as we fill it up. What did you think of today's newsletter? 😍 Loved it: Forward to a friend, or reply—a simple 😍 will do! It really helps. 🤷‍♀️ Meh: You can unsubscribe [here](), or manage your subscription [here](. 🤔 I'm new here: You can join the party [here](. 🤩 Give me more: Check out all previous growth tactics in our [Growth Vault](. Something fun  A "[benefit of a benefit](." Presented in a comical and relatable way. How we can help you grow - Read our free [playbooks](,[ articles](, [growth guide](, and [teardowns](—we break down the strategies & tactics used by fast-growing startups. - Need help running ads? We’ve built [the]([ ads agency]( for startups. - Looking for a growth freelancer or agency? [We’ll match you]( with a vetted partner for free. - Get in front of 101,000+ founders by [sponsoring]( this newsletter. Thanks, everyone! [Neal]( [Neal O'Grady]( [Grace]( [Justin Setzer]( [Grace]( [Nick Costelloe](   © 2024 Demand Curve, Inc. All rights reserved. 4460 Redwood Hwy, Suite 16-535, San Rafael, California, United States [Unsubscribe]() from all emails, including the newsletter, or [manage]( subscription preferences.