I did a double-take driving down the highway earlier…
3 Dozen Males,
$59.99
A warped cardboard sign in front of an abandoned family diner…
Words looked like someone scrawled them in stolen red paint from a Home Depot dumpster…
Very serial killer-y vibes.
Is it a bulk Tinder bundle? A mid-tier harem? A bargain hit squad?
No…
Worse.
Filthy, rotten, imported…
Off-season crabs.
Welcome to Maryland.
Just to be safe, I smashed the accelerator and avoided any awkward conversations with the FBI.
(I didn’t want to become the 37th male in the bushel.)
Look, I appreciate the hustle—bringing your Texan blue crabs all the way up north for us Yankee-doodle-dandies in the tail end of winter…
But Neptune’s trident, you could use a lesson in “message matching.”
When the Message Feels… Off
Consider:
You’re in a grocery store and spot a sign saying “FREE CANDY” above a brightly lit bin of Halloween treats…
Versus…
You’re leaving work late and spot a sign saying “FREE CANDY” affixed to the side of a jet-black 1978 Ford Econoline…
And the engine’s idling.
And is that a handprint in the back window?
Why stick around to find out?
Your Website Is a Scary Black Van
Well…
What do you think’s going through your customer’s head when they click on your website?
Although your customers probably aren’t worried about getting abducted…
They are worried about wasting their time.
Once you pull someone off Google or Facebook, you’ve got 3 seconds max to make them feel like they’re in the right place.
If not, you trigger that instinctive gut reaction…
“I gotta get the heck out of here!”
And they’re gone.
Send the Right Message, or Watch Customers Vanish
Your business only works if customers feel safe enough to stick around and trust you.
That’s why message matching matters.
The offer in your ad needs to feel like a natural extension of your landing page.
Your copy needs to immediately confirm they’re in the right place.
And the entire experience needs to feel like it’s for them.
Otherwise?
You just spent money to repel customers instead of attracting them.
How to Get This Right?
You nail your messaging.
That’s what I do in my daily emails—give you sharp, no-BS strategies to write better copy, drive better conversions, and make more money.
Sign up here:
Last spotted near Yosemite National Park, 5’9″, wearing a dark blue windbreaker. Responds to:
Nick
