8 counterintuitive marketing strategies that actually work:
Amanda Natividad@amandanat
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Jun 14, 2026
~2 min read
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8 counterintuitive marketing strategies that actually work:
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Add friction to boost sales.
Boxed cake mixes used to require only water.
But when Duncan Hines' cake mix required fresh eggs, sales soared. People liked the extra work.
Other examples:
Longer sign-up form → improves conversion
IKEA's store layout → inspires impulse buys
Boxed cake mixes used to require only water.
But when Duncan Hines' cake mix required fresh eggs, sales soared. People liked the extra work.
Other examples:
Longer sign-up form → improves conversion
IKEA's store layout → inspires impulse buys
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Grow your community through unscalable interactions.
Especially when it's early days.
Personally welcome all new members.
Connect 1:1. Make note of people's interests and expertise. When relevant community discussions come up, tag them in.
Everyone loves white-glove service.
Especially when it's early days.
Personally welcome all new members.
Connect 1:1. Make note of people's interests and expertise. When relevant community discussions come up, tag them in.
Everyone loves white-glove service.
4
Give away valuable info to get paying customers.
Marketers have been conditioned to tease value so that people buy.
But freely giving that value — guides, calculators, templates, etc — helps people trust AND refer you.
Eventually, they will buy.
Marketers have been conditioned to tease value so that people buy.
But freely giving that value — guides, calculators, templates, etc — helps people trust AND refer you.
Eventually, they will buy.
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Narrow your focus to sustain healthier growth.
Unless you have an established marketing team, it's unlikely you can create truly excellent blog posts, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, AND social media content.
Master 1 channel, then scale.
Anything worth doing takes time.
Unless you have an established marketing team, it's unlikely you can create truly excellent blog posts, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, AND social media content.
Master 1 channel, then scale.
Anything worth doing takes time.
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Get greater ROI from smaller channels.
Example: Sponsor niche newsletters.
If a list has ~10K subs, open rate can be 50%+.
Which means: High affinity and lower price tag than a mainstream newsletter.
Hint: Find these by way of hidden gem social accounts in SparkToro.
Example: Sponsor niche newsletters.
If a list has ~10K subs, open rate can be 50%+.
Which means: High affinity and lower price tag than a mainstream newsletter.
Hint: Find these by way of hidden gem social accounts in SparkToro.
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Remind customers of recurring charges to foster loyalty.
We've seen the subscription tricks: Hide the "cancel account" button to keep customers.
But that only causes frustration.
Send reminders or offer a "skip" option.
It keeps customers happy and nurtures word-of-mouth.
We've seen the subscription tricks: Hide the "cancel account" button to keep customers.
But that only causes frustration.
Send reminders or offer a "skip" option.
It keeps customers happy and nurtures word-of-mouth.
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Delete subscribers to improve your email program.
Check who hasn't opened your emails in ~90 days.
Send them a note: "We only want to email people who want to be on this list. Click here to stay."
Remove those who don't click.
Your open rates will thank you.
Check who hasn't opened your emails in ~90 days.
Send them a note: "We only want to email people who want to be on this list. Click here to stay."
Remove those who don't click.
Your open rates will thank you.
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Give free PR to others to enhance your credibility.
I call this "permissionless co-marketing."
When you freely promote others' work, you become more trustworthy.
It even unlocks doors for future collaboration.
I wrote more about this here:
x.com/amandanat/stat…
I call this "permissionless co-marketing."
When you freely promote others' work, you become more trustworthy.
It even unlocks doors for future collaboration.
I wrote more about this here:
x.com/amandanat/stat…
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That's all I have... for now.
If you found this thread valuable:
Follow me for more tweets on marketing strategy: @amandanat
And consider RTing the first tweet so others find it.
If you found this thread valuable:
Follow me for more tweets on marketing strategy: @amandanat
And consider RTing the first tweet so others find it.
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I’m working on a longer blog post about counterintuitive marketing. 👀
Subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss it!
Next issue drops Sunday.
amandanat.com/subscribe
Subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss it!
Next issue drops Sunday.
amandanat.com/subscribe
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And for the thread averse, here’s the blog post in which I expounded on the ideas in each tweet…
sparktoro.com/blog/8-counter…
sparktoro.com/blog/8-counter…