Nothing is more disappointing than a tease. A tease will always let you down after getting your attention because a tease is nothing more than an unfulfilled promise. And yet, we see teases in marketing all the time.

Teaser rates are those rates that sound so great that you are drawn to a financial institution, only to learn that you don’t qualify. Marketers love these because they get  people in the door, but at what cost? If your potential customers are disappointed, will they come back?

My personal least favorite tease is the blog post or website article that isn’t.  You see a headline that reads something like this: Learn how to fold sheets in 2 minutes flat. Then, when you go to read the post ,there’s little more  than the headline  and a link to an e-book on sheet folding.

To me, teasing readers on your blog with misleading headlines betrays trust. I have stopped reading a great many blogs because the authors of those blogs just want me to buy something. They don’t want to share with me.

Now, I understand you can’t give it all away for free. You may have a book to sell or a seminar to fill. But don’t insult your readers/public’s  intelligence. They can see that you pulled them in just to sell them something–and they won’t come back.

Teases are annoying–and their actions teach others to avoid them.