Promo in the middle of nowhere: 5 reasons why your product is not bought even with discounts

-30%. -40%. -50%. And… zero emotions.

It seems like you did everything right. You prepared the promotion, threw the creative into the advertising office, reminded them in the story, and even gave them “only until 23:59”. But instead of a flurry of orders, there was silence. Maybe someone clicked the button. Maybe not. But definitely not what you expected.

And that’s when the classic Ukrainian launch begins:

• Maybe people are not interested?
  
• Maybe the price is still high?
  
• Maybe you need an even stronger discount?
  
• It’s definitely not our fault, it’s just not the season.

The problem is not in the product. And not in the wallets of the audience. The problem is the lack of a system. The fact that you made a promo, but didn’t do the preparation. And your discount flew into the void.

In this article, we have collected 5 main reasons why even a good product is not sold – neither with a discount nor without.

Mistake #1: Wrong segment or its complete absence

We focused on “everyone” – and got “zero from everyone.”

This is the most common sin of Ukrainian launches. You came up with a great product, set an “adequate” price, even ordered creative. But you couldn’t answer one question: who exactly is it for?

In 2025, “everyone” is synonymous with “no one.”

This is when you pour promos to a wide audience – because it’s easier, because “someone will buy it anyway”, because “let the algorithm figure it out”. As a result, Meta doesn’t understand who to show what to, and people don’t understand why they need your product.

Typical symptoms of this error:

• Your target audience is “women 25-45” (spoiler: this is not a segment, this is the population of a small city)
  
• You’ve invented a character who “kind of” wants your product, but you’ve never met such a person in your life
  
• Your message is equally boring for everyone: from a student to a mom on maternity leave

What to do:

1. Stop inventing an “ideal client” in your head – talk to real ones.

The target audience is not a hypothetical “Lion from Uzhhorod who is interested in productivity”. These are specific behavioral patterns, requests, and triggers.

What to do:

• Conduct a survey in your social networks or chats: who has already bought, why, what they had pain with.
• Launch a minimum form with 3 questions through Typeform/Google Forms, for example:
  • What caught your eye about our product?
    
  • Where do you look for such things?
    
  • What was the decisive factor in your purchase?

Fact: Often people buy for the wrong reasonthan you think is the main one. Instead of “environmentally friendly” – “all the toys fit.”

2. Segment not by demographics, but by the context of use.

“Women 25-40” is not a segment.

“Moms with two children who want everything to fit in one bag” is closer.

“People who are preparing for a trip and want stress-free packing” – even better.

What to do:

• Think not “who is this person?” but “what state are they in when they need my product?”
  
• Create 2-3 segments by context: for example, “a gift for the first of September”, “a trip to the village for the weekend”, “mom is taking her son to kindergarten.”

3. Test hypotheses on small blood.
Don’t immediately drain your budget on large-scale campaigns. Run an A/B test with different creatives and messages for separate groups.

What to do:

• Take two segments and write a separate text + banner for each. Run it for 2-3 days for $5/day and see where the click is cheaper and where there is no response at all.

4. Write as a friend, not as an “audience.”

Instead of the abstract “Our product is designed for comfortable use in the fast rhythm of the city” – say:

What to do:

• Rewrite your texts as if you were explaining the point to a friend who asks: “What is this thing you have?”
• Use the words your target audience uses. If your audience says “carry everything on their own” – don’t write “a convenient solution for transporting personal belongings.”

5. Keep separate analytics for each segment.
The best source of data is your own campaign. Keep a table: what works, where they click, who actually buys. Do not guess, but observe.

What to do:

• In the advertising account, divide the audience into campaigns (even if the budget is small)
• After the launch, compare: CPC, CTR, conversion, average check

Don’t try to please everyone. Find your customers and speak to them honestly, simply, and directly. Then they will buy you even without a discount. And with a discount, they will also recommend you.

Mistake #2: No clear promise or “why now”

“Minus 50%!” – okay, but for what? Why? And who needs it right now?

Discount is not a message. It is an accent. And if this is the only thing you can say about your product, then you have said nothing.

For a purchase to take place, two triggers must converge in a person:

1. I understand that I need it.
2. I feel that if I don’t do it now, it will be too late.

What to do:

1. Always start with a problem – not a discount.

Not “-20% on the cream”, but: “Pigmentation after the summer? Take a powerful serum with a discount until September 1 – and don’t regret it in October.”

A discount is a reason to pay attention. But you need to catch the attention with meaning.

2. The formula: “Value + urgency = conversion”

Value: What exactly will I get, what situation will I improve, how will it change my life/work.
Timing: Why can’t I put it off until later? What do I have to lose?

Example:

No: “Online course on sales. 30% discount”

Yes: “Selling a cool product, but you hear “I’ll think about it”? Learn how to close customers in 3 messages. The discount is valid until Monday – then start.”

3. Don’t be afraid to say “in the forehead” – what a person will get.

Your client is tired, distracted, and watching stories between a red light and a work call. He has 5 seconds to realize: “I need this.”

4. Use “now or never” triggers

A promo without an expiration date is not a promo, but a discount from a supermarket. Add a logical urgency:

• Limited number of seats
  
• Closed call
  
• Bonuses by date
  
• Group start / dispatch / deadline

But don’t lie. If the “discount is only until the evening” – it really should disappear.

A discount without meaning is just a cheap price tag in a sea of cheap price tags. For a product to be bought, you don’t have to discount it, you have to explain it. Who you are. For whom. And why right now.

Mistake #3: Weak or “universal” creative

This is the same banner you’ve seen five times today. Just with a different logo. A white background, a photo from a photostock, the inscription “Discount up to -30%”, a little shadow, and a standard “Buy” button.

Your audience scrolls through the feed and passes by. Because she has already seen it. And more than once.

The problem with weak creativity is not that it’s bad technically. It is that it is about nothing. It does not speak the language of the target audience. It does not solve its pain. It does not fit into its context. And in general, it does not evoke emotions.

Why is this happening:

1. “Let’s make something universal to suit everyone.”Universal means no one’s. People do not trust those who try to please everyone at once.
   
2. “We took a template and just adapted it.”The problem with templates is that everyone uses them. And your audience has already learned to ignore anything that “looks like an ad.”
   
3. “The main thing is information. Is there a discount?” People don’t respond to numbers. They react to image, pain, emotion, context.

What to do:

1. Each creative is for one specific person

Instead of the abstract “woman 25-45,” imagine Tanya from Chernivtsi. She works as a freelancer, wants to sleep on a normal bed and not spend 2 weeks of her salary on one set. And write for her.

2. Catch attention in a non-format way

There is visual noise in the feed. If your banner looks the same as the others, you’ve already lost. Stand out:

• An unusual angle (for example, a bed in the form of scattered things after a sleepless night)
  
• a living emotion (not a photo model with smile #5)
  
• text that violates expectations (for example, not “-30%”, but “Sleep like a human being for once – we will help”)

3. Don’t write like a presentation. Write like a message to a friend.

People are tired of the words “quality”, “discount”, “comfort”. They want to see what it looks like in their lives.

4. Do not save on creativity. Save on restarts.

Weak visuals = wasted budget, which is then “recouped” with additional campaigns. One well-made creative that catches the eye will give you more than 10 universal banners.

A universal creative is like a universal appetizer at a buffet table: it seems to be edible, but no one remembers what it was. But the person who made the roll with mango and soy sauce will be remembered.

Make creative that cannot be skimmed. Because it doesn’t look like advertising – it looks like the life of your target audience.

Mistake #4: Wrong platform

You’ve made a great product, come up with a discount, even drawn a bold creative, and launched it on Instagram. But your audience is on Telegram. Or vice versa: you set up a Facebook target for IT people who generally read everything on LinkedIn.

And the result is standard: a spent budget, a couple of random clicks, and the main question in your head – “Where are the people?”

What is the essence of the problem:

• The brand is not focused on the real behavior of the target audience, but on “fashionable” or convenient platforms
• The ad is served in a format that does not work on the selected platform
• The communication channel does not correspond to the life context of the audience

What to do:

1. Find out where your audience really lives

• Look at where your target audience spends time: in comments, on forums, in chats, on YouTube, on LinkedIn, TikTok or Instagram
  
• Go to Google Analytics or social media – see referral traffic and demographics

Tip: Create a fictional hero and answer honestly – where would he come across your product by accident?

2. Choose the format for the platform

Even the coolest idea will fall apart if presented in a format that doesn’t work on a particular platform. On TikTok, people are looking for emotion, dynamics, and a show, so a dry ad on a white background won’t work there. Telegram values directness, honesty, and voiceover, so banners transferred from Instagram look fake. LinkedIn is about benefits, expertise, and positioning, not memes and clipart with curved fonts.

The bottom line is simple: adapt the format to how your audience consumes content. If you make a TikTok in the style of a Google Slides presentation, it won’t take off. If you post three paragraphs of text on Instagram without visuals, it won’t be seen. If you post a discounted banner on LinkedIn instead of a case study, you’ll just be “scrolled through.”

The platform dictates the format. And the format determines whether they will read and click.

3. Connect the platform in the order the client matures

• Cold traffic – in TikTok/Meta Ads (noise, curiosity)
  
• Warming up – in Telegram or through a series of letters
  
• Trust and closing – on Instagram or through direct contact (CRM, manager)

4. Don’t be everywhere. Be where it makes sense

It’s not enough to be “on all platforms” – you need to be relevant. If a brand looks like stand-up on LinkedIn and a bank instruction on TikTok, there will be no trust.

If you show a product in the wrong place, you are not selling it. You’re just making noise. And the more noise you make, the harder it will be to get through, even if you do everything right.

Mistake #5: Lack of a heating system

The problem is not in the product. The problem is that people see you for the first time – at the moment when you are already asking them for money. Without getting to know you. No trust. No context. And most importantly, without a reason to pay attentionat all.

What is warming up?

It’s not just “go to the story 3 days before the start”. This is a coherent system that prepares a person for the following:

• you exist
  
• you are competent
  
• your product solves her problem
  
• you can be trusted
  
• buy nowit is more profitable than later

Warming up = content + emotional connection + feeling “this is for me”

Why warming up works:

1. People don’t buy at first touch. According to Meta, it takes an average of 5 to 12 contacts with a brand to make a purchase decision. If you immediately go to the “pile”, in 90% of cases you will just be “flipped through.”
   
2. In conditions of constant noise, the one who keeps attention wins. You either make a regular appearance and inspire trust, or you’re the “new voice asking for money.”

What to do:

1. Plan at least 2 weeks to warm up before launching

Ideally, 3-4 if the audience is “cold” or new. It can be:

• Content on Telegram / Instagram
  
• intro in the newsletter
  
• test lessons / mini-cases / insights
  
• Voice series (on Telegram)
  
• participation in chats/publics (to be in the field of view)

2. Build a warm-up logic: from easy acquaintance to a clear request

Example for launching a course:

1. Week 1 – founder’s story, values, “why I created this course”
   
2. Week 2 – audience problems + how we solve them, case studies
   
3. Week 3 – launch announcement, first reviews, FAQ
   
4. Launch – specific offer + deadlines

3. Heat it up – even when you don’t sell

Warming up is not just about pre-launch. It’s a mode of constant readiness: you can be “quiet” but present. When you are subscribed to but don’t show up for weeks, you disappear. When you show up with value, people are waiting for you.

People buy from those they know and trust.If you show up suddenly, they perceive you as a cold stranger asking for money. If you warm them up, tell them about it, show them around, you become a ‘friend’. And “friends” are bought more often.

What really works in 2025:

• A clear understanding of who your product is for and what problem it solves
• Content that finds the point of pain, not just “informs”
• Creative content that speaks their language, not repeats everything they’ve already seen
• A systematic presence in the field – before you offer anything
• And yes – a discount, but as a final trigger, not the only rate

A promo doesn’t work if you show up only when you need something.

Want sales? Become a part of your target audience’s reality.

Be there when they hesitate, when they choose, when they read, when they are stuck in the feed. And then, when your discount appears, they will know what they are paying for. And to whom.