If you’ve been around for a while, you know that at Create If Writing, I’m all about growth without the use of smarmy tactics. The kind that make you feel gross in your SOUL. Who better to talk about non-smarmy marketing than Nathalie Lussier of Ambition Ally, one of my favorite companies, both in terms of products and values. In this interview, Nathalie shares about starting her company, what’s working in list growth right now, and how she commits to non-smarmy marketing.

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something after clicking through, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you!

Links from the Show:

• Our Sponsor, PopUpAlly Pro from Ambition Ally
• This week’s free training: Email Automation

Non-Smarmy Marketing

Nathalie recently shared a post on her blog about the dangers of income-claim marketing. This is essentially selling your product based on the success you’ve had in the past, not the value or service or outcomes they’ve provided.

These numbers CAN be a good thing because we are curious. We’d like to know what goes on behind the curtain and behind the scenes. But those same numbers may not be the best way to get people to BUY. It can be a trap for both the consumer and the producer because neither may be able to replicate those numbers. The consumer may be disillusioned or dissatisfied and the business may find themselves trapped trying to go bigger or repeat the same numbers. It’s not a sustainable way to grow a business. 

Whatever we are offering needs to solve the problem that people are having. Go back to your core values. For Ambition Ally, the values are solving problems through software.

(PS- I LOVE how simple that description is. Can you describe what you do in this concise, clear way??)

Tips for Non-Smarmy Marketing

• Start by solving problems
• Test and find what works before you market it (like Nathalie did with the 30-Day List Building Challenge)
• Consider marketing by sharing the outcome, not based on your own past successes
• Don’t lose sight of your core values & your WHY

What’s Working in List-Building Right Now

Exit Intent Pop-Ups – Since Google has made its update penalizing sites that are using intrusive pop-ups on mobile, it may be a good idea to consider that desktop might be next. An exit intent pop-up shows up when someone moves to click away from your site and doesn’t impact the user experience while reading the post.

Scroll-Based Pop-Ups – On mobile, these don’t show up until someone has scrolled through 80% of your post. This keeps you Google-friendly and is great also for the reader. 

Content-Based Pop-Ups – Using a tool like PopUpAlly Pro, you can choose for certain pop ups to show up on certain categories of pages. This gives a more targeted invite to your email list. 

Mistakes That People Are Making

Vanilla Calls to Action – When you run across a sign-up form that says “Sign up for my newsletter,” there is no REAL incentive. Write unique copy that is inviting and clearly shares the incentive for signing up.

Make It PERSONAL – Your language should speak to a person so they read it and KNOW it’s speaking to them. Being specific and speaking to exactly to what people are looking for really helps. 

Don’t miss the Idea Sanctuary, the newest video series from Nathalie Lussier helping you sift through all your ideas and refining and polishing them so you can launch them. (I just finished the first video and love it!)

What is YOUR biggest non-smarmy marketing tip? Share in the comments or hop into the Facebook community so we can discuss!