At the end of the day, we’re selling to people. Anddddd, psychology is quite literally defined as the “study of the human mind”. Disclaimer: the things we talk about are not tactics to manipulate your audience, but instead mix our goal of your business with research about purchasing habits, and finding a way to connect the two in a meaningful, intentional way.
If we understand our buyer’s purchasing habits, we can edge our competition by leaning into the things that they want to see. Here’s some tips, according to a study done by Maryville Univeristy:
01. Understand the Buyer Decision Making Process
There’s 5 stages of the consumer decision-making process:
Already, there’s some things we can put in place to combat these, like:
02. Impulse Buyers….we’ve all been there!
The neocortex in the human brain controls obsessive-compulsive type of behavior and flight-or-fight responses, source linked here! According to a survey from CreditCards.com, they found that:
Tips to encourage impulse sales:
03. Utilize the Foot-in-the-Door Technique
Agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a second, larger request. Great examples of this are email lists or free trials. It may not be anything at first, but its believing that the product or service you provide is enough to convince them after they have more information.
04. The Power of Imagery
The human brain processes images faster than text. There’s a reason we start with picture books as a child 😉 Truly, having compelling imagery helps your site, your socials, your packaging, your printable. It helps show professionalism, success, and acts as a way to uniquely showcase your business. Invest in high-quality product photos (or branding photos if you’re a service provider) to have an online gallery your audience can browse through and get a better idea of your brand.
05. Empathize
If you’ve scrolled through our site or read a few of our resources, you’ll notice that this word pops up a lot. Its a psychology behavior we love to practice, and maybe its because our owner (hi, it’s me, I’m the problem it’s me!) is the ultimate empath. Regardless, it’s a technique that works.
Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio discovered a link between emotion and decision-making. Joy, endearment, sadness, and excitement are some emotions that resonate deeply with consumers.
Soooo – how do we evoke those emotions without being manipulative and putting on a show? Be authentic. Celebrate with your community when you have a win, but also be vulnerable and honest with them when you or your business are struggling. Let your audience be your shot-gun riders, so they can act as your support system too.
06. Use Exclusivity to Lure Customer Lists
People like luxury. They like to feel important. Marketing can appeal to people’s self esteem by making them feel even more valued by joining X. For example, American Express’ slogan is ‘Membership has privileges’. Ideas to incorporate this into your business:
& that’s a wrap! Do you feel like you have new ideas you can implement into your online strategies to layer in psychological research? If so, WOOO!! We’re counting that as a win.
Do you like what you see but still have no clue how to bring this to life in your content? Fill out a form to work with us, and we’ll be in touch about how we can help. For the record, we’re also counting that as a win. Today’s a win-win kind of day. Cheers!
