Growth Newsletter #218

Use conflict to make people care ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  [Demand Curve]( [Read on demandcurve.com]( The Growth Newsletter #218 Use conflict to make people care Love is Blind season 7 is in full swing, and today's newsletter touches on why so many millions of people care about people they've never met.  Let's dive in ⚔️  – Neal Brought to you by [Airtable](.  What if every person, on every team, could build apps like a team of world-class developers?  Introducing Airtable Cobuilder.  Move from an idea to an app without the heavy lifting. Instead, spend your time customizing, automating, and enabling the work that matters.  Airtable Cobuilder uses AI to spin up hyper-specific, customizable apps that can solve any problem—from operationalizing clean energy to powering a retailer’s product roadmap.  The result? Employees are empowered to solve problems on their own terms. [Try your own prompt now](  Want to be featured in front of over 101,000 founders and marketers? [Learn more here](. Use conflict to make people care Insight inspired by [Harry Dry's interview on How I Write](.  Most people either focus on themselves: - Their story - Their product’s features, benefits, etc  Or they focus purely on delivering their opinion or facts: - This thing is good - This thing is bad  But here’s the problem:  Everybody loves conflict  Anything without conflict is typically extremely boring.  Think about the stuff that people binge-watch: - Dating shows like Love Is Blind and Too Hot to Handle - Reality TV shows like Selling Sunset - Dramas like Game of Thrones  Conflict. Conflict. Conflict.   When’s the last time someone binged a textbook with its cold, hard facts and total lack of narrative or conflict?  Conflict is inherently interesting.  As a result, it’s one of the most powerful [hooks](.  How to make people care to take their vitamin  Educational content is an absolute vitamin.  None of you need to be reading this right now. But you are because you know it’s good for you, and I’ve made it interesting enough to keep you engaged.  Most people fail to do that.  As [Harry Dry of Marketing Examples]( says, many people would say something like:  “Loom’s positioning is good because they do X, Y, and Z”  [Whereas Harry does it by using storytelling and conflict](: If you’re paying attention, you noticed something  This is effectively what I’ve done with this very newsletter you’re reading.  I didn’t just say:  “Conflict makes for interesting content. Here’s how to do it.”  Instead, I: - Started with what most people do wrong - Moved on to why it’s wrong - Then gave an example of a better way to do it - Pointed out that’s what I’m doing and why - Then finished with pointers on how to do it  In short:  You have to make people care enough to do the “hard” thing that’s good for them.  Often, the hard thing is just spending time to consider your product.  People are busy, and they don’t care.  You need to make them care.  Conflict can help.  Pointers on how to use conflict  As Harry says in [this great interview](: “You want pickle juice and orange juice. The pickle juice makes the orange juice taste sweeter. The orange juice makes the pickle juice sourer.” The contrast of the two extremes makes both more intense.  The problem seems worse.  The solution seems better  Simple ways to introduce conflict: - [X vs Y]( (including before and after) - Here’s the problem, here’s why it sucks, here’s the solution - This is the [classic PAS framework](. - Here’s how they do it. Here’s how we do it - Tell a story of someone experiencing a problem  The next time you write copy, ensure there’s an element of conflict.  It’s the only way to make people care.  And if you liked this, you’ll love Harry Dry’s [Marketing Examples](. What did you think of today's newsletter? 😍 Loved it: Forward to a friend, or reply—a simple 😍 will do! It really helps. 🤷‍♀️ Meh: You can unsubscribe [here](), or manage your subscription [here](. 🤔 I'm new here: You can join the party [here](. 🤩 Give me more: Check out all previous growth tactics in our [Growth Vault](. Something fun  A great example of conflict and visual storytelling: How we can help you grow - Read our free [playbooks](,[ articles](, [growth guide](, and [teardowns](—we break down the strategies & tactics used by fast-growing startups. - Need help running ads? We’ve built [the]([ ads agency]( for startups. - Looking for a growth freelancer or agency? [We’ll match you]( with a vetted partner for free. - Get in front of 101,000+ founders by [sponsoring]( this newsletter. Thanks, everyone! [Neal]( [Neal O'Grady]( [Grace]( [Justin Setzer](   © 2024 Demand Curve, Inc. All rights reserved. 4460 Redwood Hwy, Suite 16-535, San Rafael, California, United States [Unsubscribe]() from all emails, including the newsletter, or [manage]( subscription preferences.