Your customers aren’t clicks, website refreshes or something that can be drilled down into a spreadsheet. They’re humans – living, breathing humans who respond to psychological principles. Even though you’re working in a digital interface, there are ways to appeal to the human psyche throughout your digital marketing efforts. Here are four psychology principles to boost conversions.
It’s All in the Name
Psychological principle: The cocktail party effect
What it is: Amid a sea of noise, humans have the ability to hone in on a specific piece of information that piques their interest. At a loud cocktail party, for example, it’s quite possible to hear one’s name and immediately zero in.
How to use it to boost conversions: Making your content more personal to the consumer is a way to hold their attention during the more than 10 hours a day they devote to screen time. Be sure to:
- Use their first name in emails and whenever you respond to social media followers
- Make content more personal by sharing offers related to birthdays or life event like weddings or childbirth
- Promote product offers that relate to their last purchase or abandoned shopping cart
The more you can focus on making messages hyper-relevant and personal to the user, the more likely they’ll pay attention.
Monkey See, Monkey Do
Psychological principle: Social proof
What it is: As social creatures, humans want to fit in. Survival of the fittest means mimicking the actions of the fittest. People will alter their actions to reflect the group. Conforming is easier than going against the grain, and we look to social cues to determine correct behavior.
How to use it to boost conversions: People look to social cues online, too. A 2016 Nielsen survey found more than 80 percent of Americans seek recommendations when making purchases of any kind. Give potential customers plenty of reasons to copy what others are doing online by:
- Featuring a feed of your top product reviews on your website home page
- Adding social share buttons to all blog posts to display engagement
- Making sure you have a presence on all review sites and regularly monitor and respond to reviews
Influencer marketing strategy is another way to show the value of your brand. When others talk about your brand online, you garner trustworthy, powerful marketing influence.
Shot to the Heart
Psychological principle: Emotional decision-making
What it is: The most serious of decision makers may like to think their choices are based on rational logic, but emotions play a part in just about any decision – even when it’s subconscious. Neurologist Antonio R. Damasio found that people who are unable to feel emotions due to brain damage also have difficulty making basic decisions, like what to eat. Our feelings drive our actions, and that includes how we behave online.
How to use it to boost conversions: Use emotions to drive creative elements for your brand. From images to copy, here’s how to connect with customers on an emotional level:
- Translate the features of your product (what your product does) into the emotional benefits they provide (how they make users feel)
- Use relatable images that speak to users’ emotions: other humans, cute animals, etc.
- Feature storytelling that consumers can empathize with – highlight testimonials and use cases
You can inspire fear with scarcity tactics (“Only 4 hours left for this sale!”), pull on heartstrings with buy-one-give-one altruistic campaigns, or tap into your most loyal users and feature them in video marketing campaigns.
FML: I’ve Got FOMO
Psychological principle: Fear of missing out
What it is: Perhaps no anxiety-causing psychological principle has been more prominent recently than fear of missing out, aka FOMO. With new social media posts constantly updating, consumers want to take part in all the fun things their friends are doing and consuming, or else they feel like they’re lacking.
How to use it to boost conversions: While your brand doesn’t want to make consumers feel bad, you can still use FOMO to inspire desire and increase purchases for your products. More than 56 percent of social media users feel FOMO when they’re away from their networks, Mashable reports. Use knowledge like this to:
- Create flash sale or signup offers that have just a small window of time to take action
- Use social media to share photos of happy customers with your product, or pair photos with written testimonials of your service
- Offer those who purchase your products the ability to share a post touting that they’ve purchased on their social media channels
You can also promote exclusivity of promotions, by gate-keeping entrance. For example, you could offer free access to a webinar training, but only for the first 500 people who sign up.
Use Your Team as Guinea Pigs
Traditional marketing “rules” and cliches go out the window when emotions are in play. Test new website elements, campaign ideas, copy and images with your team members first to see what speaks to their emotions the most. Then, test your efforts again after you’ve launched. Test your landing page imagery, the copy in your Facebook ads, the headline on your homepage, you name it. Humans are quirky characters, and the elements that resonate with them may surprise you.
Want to improve your conversions and your revenue? AlphaMind’s conversion optimization services include multivariate split testing and A/B testing, deep dives into analysis and reporting, and heat mapping to see what elements your customers are responding to. Get in touch online for a free digital marketing consultation, or call us at (303) 832-5193.
