Do I need to use cringey sales tactics to make email sales?

No. Please don't.

I've worked with businesses that use fake deadlines.

"THE DOORS CLOSE FRIDAY AT MIDNIGHT!"

Then Monday arrives and, would you believe it...

The doors are open again.

I've seen offers with 13 bonuses attached to them.

Apparently those bonuses are worth $52,000.

But because you've been blessed by the marketing gods, you can have everything today for just $500.

Come on.

Nobody believes that.

And even if a tactic increases conversions in the short term, I think there's another question worth asking:

What is it doing to people's trust in you?

Because I'm not interested in squeezing every possible sale out of this week's promotion if it makes people less likely to believe me next month.

You don't need fake deadlines.

You don't need made-up scarcity.

You don't need absurd bonus valuations.

And you don't need to become a completely different person every time you have something to sell.

You can create a promotion that clearly communicates what you're offering, why it matters and why somebody might want it.

And when there is a genuine deadline or genuine scarcity?

Great.

Say so.

The point isn't to remove persuasion from marketing.

It's to create email marketing that is effective without making you feel like you need a shower afterwards.

If your emails feel good to send and good to receive, making sales doesn't have to feel cringey at all.

This isn't just about my taste in marketing. The FTC's report on dark patterns includes countdown timers that imply a deadline when the offer isn't actually time-limited.