Those "we ordered too much" marketing hooks

I’ve been seeing a wave of retail business use the marketing hooks:

• We made/ordered too much!
• We’re too good at what we do!
• We have too much inventory and you win!

They’re using these marketing hooks to promote a sale and it annoys the crap out of me.

It’s not cute or original. It reeks of desperation. If a company actually ordered too much to the scale of what these marketing hooks are implying, then the profits would be affected and the person in charge would be fired.

So, not believable, either.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m in a marketing field that I can spot these things, or if I’m just overly cynical of people trying to sell me things, but this style of marketing is not something I resonate with.

What does resonate is honesty and transparency. We’re all tired of being sold to everywhere we turn.

If you’re selling a product or productized services, then lead with the benefits of your product like “this gluten-free sourdough will make you fall in love with sandwiches again”. That’s so much more compelling than “y’all I have too much flour. Buy some bread please!”

The “too much inventory” hooks fail because they’re about the seller’s problem. Many websites unintentionally do the same thing, by leading with the founder’s story and listing services.

Websites convert better when they’re about the buyer. The founder’s story is great, and it absolutely needs to be on the website, but frame it through the eyes of your buyer. How does your story lay the foundation to solve their problem?

As more of us lean away from social media marketing, relationships are a powerful source of leads, but it's hard to figure out the best way to make our partnerships more effective.

Join my friend, Janna Carlson, on Monday, June 22 from 12:30–1:30pm EDT for a workshop: Your 2026 Referral Partner Playbook: Strategies that Work NOW.

In this one-hour workshop, you'll learn which referral strategies are unlikely to work, powerful and relevant strategies that DO work, and how to match your offers and referral partnerships effectively.

Whether you're new to referral networks or you've been investing in these relationships for years, you'll leave with a fresh perspective on how these key relationships can help you sell more.

How to work together:

Website Design: Need a site that actually reflects your business and solves problems? I design strategic websites that are easy to update, accessible, and built to grow with you.

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