The Magical Dot 🔴
The greatest marketing idea that never worked
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Let me tell you the story of the coolest marketing idea that never happened.
A few months ago, a viral marketing idea popped up on X:
Put a tiny dot next to a menu item on your website to make it look like a notification. 🔴 For example, next to ‘Pricing’, add a little red dot — like this:
Wow! This little nudge makes total sense, right?
🙈 Fear of missing out (FOMO): Notification dots signal something new and important that we don’t want to miss.
✨ Novelty effect: We’re drawn to things that seem new and different. The dot creates an illusion of recency (as if it was updated recently).
🧠 The Von Restorff effect: Distinctive items are more likely to be remembered.
People raved about it. One founder even claimed their click-through rate (CTR) skyrocketed by 41% after implementing this tiny change:
I was intrigued: Could such a simple change really have that big of an impact?
Heck, it’s not even a dark pattern. We’re not tricking users. The dot simply directs attention to key parts of the page. The only concern I had about it was monitoring the quality of the clicks you get from this tactic (as it might also increase your bounce rate).
I started following the trend, looking for other marketers and entrepreneurs who implemented the ‘Magical Dot’.
It was easy to find another startup founder who tried it:
But… he later told me it had zero impact.
He even told me the CTR went up initially with the dot - a short-term boost from the novelty. But actual conversions and revenue stayed flat. The dot got more people to click, but not to buy.
Curious to see how things played out for Tremor.so (the initial +41% clicks story), I checked their site again.
Lo and behold, only two weeks after the viral tweet, they had removed the dot and reverted back to the original menu style (can be seen on Internet Archive):
I also tried the Magical Dot myself with a few websites I own — it changed nothing. Guess this viral idea wasn’t so magical after all.
Viral ≠ Real 📜
Remember: Some marketing ideas are designed to go viral on social media, but they rarely move the needle on metrics that matter.
The marketing ideas I share in this newsletter are battle-tested and focused on real impact, not vanity metrics. No gimmicks—just proven tactics you can count on 💪
Before you jump on the latest marketing trend, put it under the microscope:
🔍 Check the data. Are people sharing impressive-looking percentages without real business outcomes? Dig deeper.
🕵️ Follow for 2+ weeks. With Web Archive, it’s easier than ever to check what’s changing. See if the person who published the marketing idea actually stick with it.
🧪 Run your own controlled experiments. Test the tactic with a small subset of your audience. Measure downstream impact, not just surface-level engagement.
👴🏻 Assess the idea’s longevity. Will the effect persist beyond the initial rollout? Look for sustained lifts, not temporary spikes.
🧠 Pressure test the brain logic. Poke holes in the underlying behavioral principles. Do they hold up in real-world conditions?
Viral tactics like the ‘magical’ dot prey on our biases as marketers - our desire for quick wins and silver bullets. But true marketing magic is rooted in deeply understanding *your* audience and delivering real value.
No amount of growth hacking can replace that.
See you next week ✌️
Tom
P.S. Have you fallen for any short-lived marketing gimmicks? 👀 Share them in the comments! Your stories can help us all.
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Thanks for the great content!
Appreciate seeing follow through from viral stories!