Marketing is all about persuasion, but there’s a fine line between influencing someone and straight-up manipulating them. Good marketing builds trust, connects with people and actually delivers value. Manipulative tactics, on the other hand, rely on pressure, fear and deception to get results. That’s not marketing. That’s manipulation. And yes, they might work in the short term, but they come at a cost.

We’ve all seen these tactics in action: false urgency, misleading pricing, emotional blackmail, or making customers feel like they’re missing out if they don’t buy right now. They work because they tap into human psychology. But just because something works doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do business. If your whole strategy depends on tricking people into saying yes, you’re not building a brand. You’re burning bridges.

People are more informed than ever, which means trust is everything. And once you break it, earning it back is difficult - if not impossible. So before you send that email, launch that campaign, or tweak that price, ask yourself: Am I actually persuading, or am I just manipulating? Because there’s a big difference.