If you’ve been on the internet for longer than a week, you probably know contrarian stances work. They rally the crowds like few other type of content do.
Naturally, you feel inclined to use them as often as possible. I encourage you to do so, but, as always, within limits. Everything gets old, including contrarian takes.
Today, we’re exploring why contrarian stances work and how to get them right.
Why do contrarian stances work?
A contrarian is someone who regularly rejects conventional wisdom, “best practices”, and widely accepted standards.
Some are naturally-born contrarians, others are soapbox preachers, who thrive on being righteous and on belonging to fringe groups where it’s easier to find acceptance.
In marketing, however, we’re not that fringe. We use contrarian takes because they work.
They work because they stop the scroll. They’re different from the usual drivel people see online, so your audience stops and consumes contrarian content.
Different is interesting. It’s like wearing a bright pink dress in an office full of black and grey suits. People pay attention.
There are other reasons why contrarian stances work:
- All marketing channels and tactics decay with time. People get tired of them and they stop working. When someone speaks against what is commonly known as “best practices” or “best channels”, people are intrigued.
- Contrarian takes build real fans, the kind that, in time, can build fanocracies. People rally behind novel ideas, especially when they’ve been burnt by the “best practices” in their industry.
- Simply put, contrarian takes speak to the disillusioned, to the people who are unhappy with the status quo — and there are plenty such people!
Personal example: most of my strategy session clients come to me precisely because they tried “hacks” and advice from marketing bros. They didn’t work. And, ironically enough, my realistic and un-boastful claims are “contrarian” (more on that below).
Before you jump into contrarian stances just for the sake of attracting a crowd to your social content, keep reading.
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Where can I find my contrarian persona?
Closer than you think. It’s in your BIG idea, the reason you started your business.
Think about it this way:
- You started your business because you noticed an underserved segment, poor services, or an attitude that you deem wrong.
- There has to be something you hate about your industry — the trigger that made you build a business to do things better.
- You have a unique advantage, something that enables you to avoid common pitfalls and deliver on that “better” promise.
This is where your contrarian stance originates. I wrote more about finding your BIG idea and about the way I found mine here.
Examples:
- A copywriter who promises NEVER to use AI in their work → it’s a very common differentiator these days.
- A nutritionist who speaks against common diet trends: keto, intermittent fasting, and others.
- A coach that calls out hustle culture.
- I write against bro marketing and hacks because I know they don’t work → better marketing, the kind that future-proofs your business is my BIG idea. So my contrarian takes revolve around calling out the marketing bros.
Got it? Found your unique perspective/idea that goes against the grain?
Cool, now let’s make it shine.
Fight ideas, not people
Nothing gets you labeled “petty” as fast as pissing on a peer. Yes, even if they are wrong. Exceptions to this below.
Fighting people (aka tagging them in a post where you rip them a new one) will get you tons of engagement. People love scandal and drama!
But it will in no way position you as an expert or as someone who’s great to work with.
Don’t be rude or crude
The “enemy” you fight against can’t be a single person — that’s a personal vendetta, not a contrarian stance.
I’ve been tempted to call out the bros by name very often. I’ve never done it for the reason above and for another uber-important reason: it wouldn’t help my audience.
Yes, they would enjoy the scandal. But it’s easier for them to learn if I call out behaviors and bad practices, not people. Plus, even the best of us have bad days and type something in a rush — just because they look like jerks once doesn’t mean they are.
Exceptions — when to name and shame people
How would Beyonce look like if she called out a budding singer, someone who just made it into the finals of The Voice? Petty, right? Perhaps even bitter?
On the other hand, if she called out Taylor Swift for, say, stealing a song of hers (this didn’t happen AFAIK, it’s just an example), it would be fair game.
So, the exceptions to calling out people by name are:
- If you are personally harmed by their actions AND if you have proof — for instance, if someone copied your content.
- When someone is in the same league as you are or above you and their behavior is objectively harmful. The only person I ever called out by name was Andrew Tate. I think we can all agree the man is public danger, right?
When in doubt, always choose to be graceful. The bigger person, not the jerk, always wins in the long run.
If you have to say it’s an unpopular opinion, it’s probably not
It’s hard to open a social media platform and not find a couple of posts that start with “hot take”, “unpopular opinion”, “spicy take”, or, my personal pet peeve, “I don’t know who needs to hear this.” Yeah, you do, Chad. Man up and call them out or shut up.
Case in point:
Don’t be a rebel without a cause — are your contrarian takes lucrative?
Soapbox preachers and entrepreneurs don’t mix well. Don’t be a contrarian for the sake of stirring things up and starting internet flames. You’re not here to be right, you’re here to be wealthy.
Codie Sanchez is a good example of a contrarian thinker (it’s in her branding!). She talks a lot about “boring” businesses that are lucrative vs shiny trends that few people can capitalize on. Think: HVAC installers vs AI.
As for myself, I talk against bro marketing because I know many, many people have been burned by insane promises and zero delivery. They are now looking for less boasting, more delivering, and that’s my signature move → transparent and realistic claims.
You stand against something BAD. Cool! What do you replace it with?
Naysayers and nitpickers have a short shelf-life in business. If you’re going to stand against something, don’t forget to mention the better option.
Codie says boring businesses are more lucrative than trendy ones. I say zero-hacks, no-BS marketing serves you better in the long run. We can both back this up with studies and client stories.
Your lucrative contrarian mission has two steps:
- Talk about how you’d replace the status quo and what your better option is. Don’t stop at naysaying.
- Make sure your contrarian stance brings you sales for your products/services i.e. the better option.
What’s your contrarian take and why is it lucrative? Reply to this email and let me know — I’m dying to meet fellow rebels with a cause.
My contrarian reputation happened organically
If you follow me on LinkedIn or X, you’ve likely seen that I gained a contrarian’s reputation. Most of the time people call me “contrarian”, I don’t feel like one.
My “contrarian” takes feel like common sense takes to me because they’re deeply embedded in my values system. But my audience is right, of course they are.
If you zig when others zag, you’re a contrarian. Even if zagging is, in fact, con artistry.
A last word of advice: you don’t need to have a contrarian opinion on everything, especially things you’re not very familiar with. If your contrarian take feels forced, it probably is.
Even contrarian thinking gets tiring at some point; it’s no shame in having mainstream opinions too!
That’s it from me today!
See you next week in your inbox.
Here to make you think,
Adriana
Adriana’s picks
- Elon Musk, who once told advertisers to “f*** off” from X, is now suing three advertising alliances for doing just that.
- According to Patreon, the 40,000+ podcasters using its platform raked in a collective $350 million from their patrons in 2023. The number may look huge but it’s only $8750/podcaster. I’d love to see numbers on how many of them made over $1000.
- Nvidia reportedly scraped YouTube and Netflix videos to train its AI models. Yikes!
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