Answer
May 15, 2019 - 12:07 AM
Frank Kern. Image credit: https://www.erugu.com/product/marketing-junkies-club-frank-kern-exposed
Frank Kern falls into the category of online “marketing gurus” who promise a kind of get-rich-quick scheme that makes some people rightfully wary. (Or a get-rich-slow-with-hard-work scheme, as Kern’s website suggests. However, the promise still hinges on getting rich.)
The idea behind this kind of branding is “I got rich using online marketing, and I’ll teach you how to do it, too!” It’s hard to tell at first glance whether Kern and his peers would really be successful if no one ever bought into this “get-rich” promise: that is, if they had to market something more traditional.
And online training programs like Kern’s, which are priced in the thousands of dollars, seem dangerously close to pyramid schemes: they promise to make you rich, but only if you invest a lot of your own money first.
These trainings often provide information that you’d be able to find out for free, if you had the time and resources to do so. They appeal mainly to people who want a fast track to the information.
However, not every online marketing guru is seeking to rip people off by selling expensive information that’s available for free elsewhere. Some actually offer legitimate strategies that can lead to success.
The “direct intent marketing” you’re referring to looks like one of those legitimate strategies. The concept behind intent-based branding, or direct intent marketing, is simple: create valuable content that’s relevant and useful to your target audience, get them to view it, then use the content to springboard an offer that will address their problems.
The key is to understand purchase intent using past behavior, and then draft your content around that intent.
Although Kern has talked about this kind of marketing in a number of videos, it’s not his invention. Like any good marketing guru, he’s sharing another tool that seems to work well with his followers.
So yes, there is certainly substance in this marketing approach - but you don’t necessarily have to get the information from Kern if you don’t want to.
Gurus like Kern need hype to succeed: they have to keep a group of loyal followers excited, while also attracting new ones. But you don’t have to join the fan club in order to see when they offer useful information, and to benefit from it.
These gurus also succeed by drawing people in with free information (that’s intent-based marketing at work!). That’s why Kern offers lots of free videos and interviews to pull you in before pitching his paid services.
I think Kern’s approach to intent-based marketing is useful enough to give him a listen, but probably not worth spending money on his services or paid trainings. (At least not for intent-based marketing, which you can easily learn more about from many other sources.)
Intent-based marketing has value, and it is possible to learn about intent-based marketing and much more from these big-name marketers without buying into the hype. Just use the free resources, and avoid anything that asks you to dig out your credit card.
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