You've been ghosted

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A while back, a client reached out after a campaign flopped.

She’d done everything “right.”

✔ The product was genuinely helpful.
✔ The email copy followed the frameworks.
✔ The audience was warm.

Still, no clicks. No sales.
Crickets.

She was frustrated.
“I just don’t get it,” she said. “I know this could help them.”

And I believed her. The offer was strong.

But something was off.

So I asked her to forward me the campaign. I opened the email…

…and there it was.

Not in the copy.
Not in the CTA.
Not even in the subject line.

It was in the tone.

It felt like a pitch.

And that, right there, was the problem.

Let’s break it down

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You know the feeling.
You open an email and instantly sense the agenda.
You can almost hear it whispering:

And even if it’s something you want, that tone shifts your posture.

From open → to guarded.
From curious → to cautious.
From “maybe” → to “no thanks.”

There’s this belief that’s been floating around for years:

And so marketers bend over backwards trying not to sound salesy.
They bury their offer.
They over-educate.
They delay the pitch so long, the reader loses interest entirely.

But here’s what no one says out loud:
People love to buy.
They just hate feeling like they're being pushed.

The nuance matters. A lot.

Because the more it feels like you’re trying to convince,
the more it triggers resistance.

But when it feels like you’re helping them discover something they already want?

Different game.

This shift, subtle as it is, explains why some emails convert like crazy and others get ignored, even if they say the same things.

It’s not always the message.
It’s the framing.

Let me show you.

Compare these two versions of the same core offer:

VS.

Same benefit.
One feels like a dry sales pitch.
The other feels like a helpful discovery.

One pushes.
The other pulls.

When I explained this to that client, I didn’t give her new copy.
I gave her a different lens.

“Stop trying to ‘pitch’ the offer,” I said.
“Instead, make it feel like they just happened to overhear something useful.”

We reworked the next campaign with that in mind.

Same offer.
New posture.

This time?

✅ Higher open rate.
✅ More replies.
✅ And 11 sales in 3 days.

No discount.
No scarcity.
No big funnel magic.

Just a different vibe.

So how do you shift from pitching to inviting?

Here are 3 subtle cues that make a massive difference:

1. Lead with tension, not persuasion.

Instead of trying to convince, start by revealing a friction your audience already feels.

That opening doesn’t push. It pulls.

It earns trust by reflecting the reader’s reality.

2. Offer a lens, not a list.

Instead of listing features, give the reader a new way to look at their own problem.

When they start seeing things differently, they want the solution.
You don’t need to force it.

Example:

Now you’ve opened a curiosity loop.
They want to keep reading.
You didn’t “pitch.” You framed.

3. Treat the CTA like a favor.

This is big. Most calls-to-action read like commands.
But the best ones feel like invitations.

These don’t trigger defense.
They reinforce autonomy, which boosts conversion.

So, No.

Your audience doesn’t hate being sold to.
They just hate being made to feel like they’re being sold to.

Because the second they feel you want the sale more than you want to help…

They’re gone.

But when your message shows empathy, authority, and restraint?
They listen.
They lean in.
And when the time is right, they buy.

So here’s the nudge:

Read your last sales email.

Then read it again, from your reader’s point of view.

Would it feel like a helpful nudge?

Or does it feel like a pitch?

The difference might be costing you more than you realize.

Cheers
The InBoXer Team