“Devonshire Tea – $7.50.” How’s that for a sign I recently saw outside a cafe?

The cafe did two things right with its marketing and three things wrong with its marketing.

Here are the two things the cafe did right:

  • It alerted me to its existence – otherwise, I wouldn’t have noticed
  • It planted the thought of Devonshire tea in my mind – otherwise, it wouldn’t have occurred to me

And here are the three things the cafe did wrong:

  • It put the price on the sign – that gave me a reason not to go in
  • It didn’t engage my emotions in any way – that made it easier to ignore the offer
  • It didn’t provide social proof – that made the offer seem less compelling