Mystery Marketing

This happened the other day and it made me think a bit. I thought I would present this to you all and get some feedback. Last week I ran across a new startup that was being pimped out by some of the same people who helped promote Rypple. Since I had been in touch with some of the people from Rypple through my work at Hinda, I thought I would shoot a note to this startup and see what they were about. They were very new to the marketplace and I assumed they would be willing to tell their story to any willing listener.

Turned out to be nothing more than just an assumption.

When inquiring on what their business actually did, the only response I received was "we help small businesses grow. If you want to find out more go to _______.com and enter your email address to learn more." I've spent most of my time in the B2B marketplace and know the value of a lead generation form. But does leaving me in suspense make for a qualified lead for that particular company?

The core of my digital strategy for Hinda is educating viewers on who we are and exactly what it is we do. Coming in as an outsider, I had no clue who Hinda was and it took me a while after being hired to really grasp what it was they do to make money. With that background, I knew that educating prospects was my best bet. Once those prospects knew what we did and how it was we actually helped businesses, then they could fill out our contact form on the home site or contact me via social channels to learn more. Sure we get junk leads from time to time but we know that after this process, the inquiring prospect is likely interested in our business service. It doesn't make sense to have a sales rep following up with a stack of unqualified leads.

This new startup tried enticing me to learn more about their product by leaving me in suspense. That I would fill out the contact form to satisfy my curiosity. Is that really an efficient marketing tool? Would less but higher qualified/more interested leads be a better route to pursue?

Or does the "mystery" and/or "suspense" of finding out what they do effective?

What do you all think?

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Brain WadsDrew HawkinsBusiness, Business and Economy, Daniel Debow, Facebook, Marketing and Advertising, Rypple, San Francisco, Small business, social media, twitter6 Comments