Communication is the crucial component that holds us all together, which is why Qara has made providing effective communication for small to mid-sized businesses worldwide the cornerstone of our business.
With essentially a click of a button, you can get a US-based phone number to increase your ability to communicate and do business in America. Of course, you won’t be the only one. Everybody is trying to get a piece of the action in the United States, and not all of them have good intentions.
The Data Dilemma: Sign-Up Processes and Privacy
Many companies will press you for as many details as they can as we’ve entered a world where your data is valuable. Any information collected can be used as a marketing tool, and it’s become a relatively hot commodity for businesses to acquire as much information about you as they possibly can. This is why you’ll run into so many lengthy sign-up processes that force you to enter your e-mail, phone number, name, and address.
Sneaky Tactics: Unveiling Hidden Charges
Some don’t even stop there. One common practice is offering a free trial with one big caveat – you must enter your credit card number to test the product. Unfortunately, many of these businesses will hide sneaky details in small print that lock you into a contract where you have to cancel a subscription, or you will automatically be charged.
Unmasking the Marketing Funnel
It’s a bad practice, but it’s very commonplace. These companies rely on you to not care enough, or to not even notice that you are being charged. If their service is so good, why do they need these sneaky workarounds to get your money? They shouldn’t! But your credit card isn’t the only path to your wallet.
The Journey Through the Marketing Funnel
When you fill out innocent fields like an e-mail address or a phone number, you are unknowingly entering a business’s marketing funnel. Next, you’ll notice emails and messages from the company advertising their product. The goal is to introduce you to their brand slowly, and then their product, and the more information they introduce, the more likely you are to be convinced to purchase what they’re selling, at least that’s the hope.
Navigating the Marketing Maze
It’s called a marketing funnel, and some people spend their whole lives trying to brainwash you into going through one. All it takes is a simple sign-up page, and sometimes not even that.
Data, Ads, and the Pursuit of Profit
Your computer knows what sites you visit and what you look at. That’s why you’ll start seeing ads based on your search history. It’s all part of this funnel. Businesses have one goal: to make money. Of course, you know that. You wouldn’t be signing up with Qara for a number if you didn’t have good business sense.
Ethics vs. Greed: Unveiling Revenue Strategies
How these companies go about getting that money is what separates the good from the greedy. In some instances, the information you provide to sample a product will be sold to other firms who can use it to build a user profile and identify ways to sell you more and more. All this from a couple of data points!
Manipulation by Data: Unveiling the Dark Side
They use whatever information they can gather to manipulate you into spending more money. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, these processes are getting better and better at it. Essentially, we’ve trained computers to train us to train them to train us how to manipulate us. It’s pretty scary.
An Honorable Alternative: Qara’s Approach
There is a better way. An honest way. That’s why at Qara, we’ve made it easy, painless, and most importantly, data-less, to sign up for a free trial.
Simplicity in Sign-Up
At Qara, all you need to sign up is a cellphone number so that we can connect a number to your phone. You don’t need to enter a credit card or your entire life story. Just a number gets you access to the top communications app on the iOS app store. If you don’t like it, no hard feelings, we’ll go our separate ways.
Confidence in Quality
But we have a feeling you’re going to like it. We don’t need a tricky marketing funnel to know when we’ve got something good. Check it out! It will cost you nothing.
