Burning money on paid ads for a dev tool – what we've learned

Re:Burning money on paid ads for a dev tool – what we've lea... by sfink on Friday September 29, 2023 @03:41PM (#37709184)

Aren't you mostly talking about what the article calls awareness vs conversion? You're saying that ads made you aware and technical discussion is what would make you convert.

The other thing is controversial. "There's no such thing as bad PR" is a saying for a reason. I am also convinced that there are some things that make me never, ever consider a product. And yet: there was this one brand I hated, but it's been a while, and this one looks familiar... was it the good one or the bad one? Never mind, I don't have time to try to dredge that up, this looks familiar at least so I'll just grab it and remember for next time. (Sure I will...)

And that's just one way that bad PR can still be effective. Another is that it gets people talking about you, and some people will argue the other side because the main person's arguments are just bad.

Bad PR is good for awareness. Conversion is often based on different criteria than you expect. You may hate X, but you have a client who has heard of X and hasn't heard of Y, your preferred option.

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Re:Burning money on paid ads for a dev tool – what we've lea... by musicale on Friday September 29, 2023 @05:36PM (#37710371)

> Bad PR is good for awareness

intuit/turbotax. Will never use them, ever. Looking forward to the day that product is eliminated from existence by regular online filing.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/03/...

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Re:Burning money on paid ads for a dev tool – what we've lea... by gascoigne on Friday September 29, 2023 @06:44PM (#37710968)

What do you use to do your taxes then?

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Re:Burning money on paid ads for a dev tool – what we've lea... by matthewowen on Friday September 29, 2023 @09:12PM (#37711964)

Most people who are able to use a calculator could do their taxes using https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form...

I think that TurboTax is a winner in the “TurboTax lobbies to make the tax code so complex that you have to use TurboTax” narrative because it makes people more afraid of doing their taxes through the tools the IRS provides than they should be.

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Re:Burning money on paid ads for a dev tool – what we've lea... by cpmsmith on Friday September 29, 2023 @07:54PM (#37711513)

I think your point is that bad PR affects your decision not to use Intuit's products, but I'd argue they're a perfect example of bad PR not being a problem. They have sensationally bad PR, yet they're worth >$100B, one of the 100 most valuable companies in the world, and they dominate their category.

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Re:Burning money on paid ads for a dev tool – what we've lea... by nmfisher on Friday September 29, 2023 @09:07PM (#37711933)

So many people don’t understand this. “There’s no such thing as bad PR” doesn’t mean you won’t lose customers - it just means that for every 1 lost, 10 more are gained due to simple exposure/awareness.

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