Inbox Hacking
Posts
Why effortless business tactics flop❓

Why effortless business tactics flop❓

January 27, 2025

In partnership with

^{_{Forwarded by a friend?}}^{_{Grab your Inbox Hacking subscription.}}^{_{Join marketers from Procter & Gamble & Mastercard for marketing insights, news, & tools - minus the yawns}}^_.^{_{Following message also has a sponsor offer.}}

Why effortless business tactics flop❓

Nice to be with you this morning. Despite Buffalo letting KC waltz into another Super Bowl. Keep the Eagles in your prayers because if the Chiefs get a 3-Peat, that’ll fully unhinge me.

In the meantime, let’s look at 7 marketing tactics that work because they’re the opposite of “easy marketing.” They work because they’re time-tested. Why don’t more marketers use them?

We’re all looking for the most convenient way today. And if a marketing tactic isn’t effortless and scalable it’s foolishly cast aside. Also on tap → the poll below and good stuff in Monday Marketing News.

Have you hired an influencer in the past 3 years?

Save 1 hour every day with Fyxer AI

Organizes emails so important ones are read first.
Drafts replies in your tone of voice.
Takes notes, writes summaries, drafts follow-up emails.

Free 7 Day Trial

Why Easy Marketing is Too Easy

It’s tempting to look for effortless ways to market your business. Heck, who doesn’t like “easy”?

But why would easy marketing work, when taking the easy way hardly ever pays off in any aspect of life?

No easy way to get fit
No easy way to become wealthy
No easy way to become an expert in a field

Each of those three examples takes tons of hard, inefficient work. There’s no quick payoff with any of those three things. You don’t see results, even after busting your butt, for a long while.

Marketing is the same.

Take the example below. Young man named Spencer is doing the most inefficient thing a business could do.

Namely, get a jungle-like yard looking good again. By himself. For free…

Easy Marketing Solutions He Coulda Used

Spencer’s a smart kid (computer degree, I believe). He could’ve figured out Google Ads and Meta Ads. Tweaked and refined his ads, put them on autopilot, and let the leads roll in to build his lawn mowing empire. Easy marketing, right?

Instead he “wastes” full days working for free for lil old ladies and other folks down on their luck.

Nice guy, but it’s also to get eyeballs on his business. Which is no longer lawn care. Dude’s a full-time influencer with “the largest lawn care/pressure washing social media page on every platform with about 40 MILLION total followers and 3 BILLION annual views.”

The video above has 6+ million views. How many ads would he have had to run to get that much attention for his brand? What would the cost have been!

He Took the Hard Way Out with Marketing

Sure, his success is plain as day now. But think about the long, miserable days doing this grueling work for free in his early days.

Not to mention setting up the video cameras, editing footage, and optimizing his YouTube Channel. That’s the opposite of easy marketing. Even harder and the most crucial part?

The guy takes the time to talk with the homeowners.

That’s the real story in clean-up videos like this. It’s probably one reason he doesn’t hire a crew to help him. Spencer makes the video personal because he’s the one sweating, fighting off bees, and eating lawn mower dust on a 3-foot tall grass.

He is the brand. Making a personal connection with the homeowners. And his viewers.

Just something to think about when you’re tempted to only look for quick and easy marketing tactics. If you’re willing to do hard marketing that’s proven to work, seven options await you below…

7 Not-So-Easy Marketing Tactics that Work

Surprise your customers with unexpected perks or gifts. It's logistically tricky and inconvenient. That moment of delight can turn customers into loyal and vocal fans, though.
Avoid being hypnotized watching social media metrics and jump into the conversations. Yeah, it eats up your time, but you'll learn what your audience actually cares about, not what you think they care about.
Create stuff people can play with. Quizzes, polls, interactive content - they’re harder to create compared to regular posts, but people love them because they get to be part of the action.
Find your voice and stick to it. It takes time to nail down exactly how your brand should sound, but once you do your audience will start to feel like they know you. A simple brand tone & style checklist makes this less difficult.
Real handwritten thank you notes (not printed to look handwritten) to VIP customers (or to donors if you’re running a non-profit).
Sponsor local youth sports teams. Show up to games. Volunteer to coach - young men need mentors more than ever according to Scott Galloway.
Drop off coffee and donuts (with your business cards) at hair salons and barber shops. Best places for good word-of-mouth - aka positive gossip.