Why 'Ragebait' Marketing Will Kill Your Spiritual Business (And the Magnetic Alternative That Actually Works)
Oxford University Press recently named "ragebait" the word of 2025.
The very essence of modern marketing has become so deliberately inflammatory that we now have an official term for content designed to make people furious enough to engage. Brands are intentionally starting arguments, creating controversy, posting things that make you want to throw your phone across the room. All in the name of "engagement metrics."
And if you're a coach, healer, or spiritual practitioner watching this circus unfold, you're probably feeling that familiar knot in your stomach. That same feeling you get when someone suggests you "create urgency" with a fake countdown timer, or "leverage FOMO" to manipulate people into buying.
Because while the mainstream marketing world doubles down on manipulation...ragebait, shock value, AI-generated content that barely sounds human...spiritual entrepreneurs are quietly having an existential crisis.
Do I need to be controversial to be seen?
With 122,974 coaches worldwide (a 54% increase in just six years), the noise is deafening. Everyone's getting more credentials, more certifications, more data-driven. Marketing "experts" are telling you to post 27 times a day, use trending audio, join the outrage parade.
And you're just trying to help people transform their lives without selling your soul to the algorithm. Here's the thing, though...
While ragebait might boost short-term engagement (people love a good fight in the comments), it's absolutely devastating for trust-based businesses. And your business, whether you're a coach, healer, breathwork facilitator, or energy worker, is a trust-based business.
Your clients don't find you because you pissed them off. They find you because something in your message resonated so deeply, they felt seen. They felt like you understood the thing they couldn't quite articulate themselves.
That's not ragebait, but rather it's magnetic messaging.
With the coaching industry now worth $7.3 billion and growing, here's the uncomfortable truth: Credentials won't save you. Neither will posting more or being more controversial. Or trying to "hack" the algorithm.
The coaches and healers who are thriving aren't always the ones making the most noise. They're the ones who've nailed their messaging...who can articulate their unique value so clearly that their ideal clients feel an almost magnetic pull toward them.
They're not manipulating, they're actually resonating.
So what does magnetic messaging actually look like?
Instead of ragebait, try this:
Ragebait approach: "Unpopular opinion: Life coaches are just therapists who couldn't be bothered with credentials 💀"
Magnetic approach: "The coaches who can facilitate the most profound transformation are often the ones who struggle most to put it into words"
See the difference?
One creates division and outrage. The other creates curiosity and connection. One might get you some angry comments. The other gets you clients who've been searching for exactly what you offer.
Every time you sit down to write a post, record a video, or craft an email, you're making a choice:
Are you going to join the ragebait race to the bottom? Or are you going to trust that aligned, authentic messaging...the kind that speaks to your people's deepest desires and struggles...is powerful enough?
Because twenty years in advertising has taught me that shock value has a shelf life, whereas authenticity doesn't.
The coaches and healers who are still thriving in five years won't be the ones who shouted the loudest or stirred up the most drama. They'll be the ones who learned to articulate their unique magic in a way that made their ideal clients stop scrolling and think, "Finally. Someone who gets it."
That's not a marketing tactic, but rather it's a messaging foundation.
And in 2026, while everyone else is rage-baiting their way into oblivion, that foundation is what will set you apart.
#CoachingBusiness #PremiumPositioning #SpiritualEntrepreneur #MarketingTrends #AuthenticBranding
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanna Ingram is a messaging strategist who helps coaches, healers, and spiritual practitioners articulate their work in ways that attract premium clients. After 20 years in London advertising agencies, she now specializes in helping spiritually-aware entrepreneurs find the words that make their ideal clients feel seen, without resorting to bro-marketing tactics.
Host of The Soulful Catalyst podcast | Creator of the 6 Pillars Premium Messaging Framework™
→ Visit Website For More Details: https://joannaingram.com/
