Marketing psychology attempts to understand the way that consumers think, feel, reason, and make decisions.
The goal of marketing is to convince people, and making a calculated emotional appeal can be just what you need to land a lasting customer.
Today, people are shopping online more than ever, so we must apply these concepts to digital marketing.
#1. Create social proof
People have to trust your brand in order to feel comfortable making a purchase, especially online where they can’t see or touch the item first. Social proof is the reassurance that others have tried something, so your actions to follow suit are justified. You can create social proof online by showcasing reviews, testimonials, video interviews and affiliations. Having a solid social following also builds social proof.
#2. Make sure your website is emotionally appealing
Effective websites bring out an emotion in shoppers. That emotion might be relief when they see your service can solve a problem for them, or simply the appreciation of aesthetically pleasing photos and graphics. Regardless, having a professionally designed website builds trust with your customers. The way your website looks will determine how shoppers interact with it — people are less likely to shop a website if it isn’t visually pleasing. So make sure your photos are high quality, the color story makes sense and that text is properly aligned. This applies to your email marketing and digital ads as well.
#3. Lessen the cognitive load
We are exposed to thousands of ads every day. That’s a lot for people to process, and exemplifies how important it is to stand out. Cognitive load is the mental processing power that your working memory uses. When someone is overwhelmed with more information than his or her mental processing power can handle, he or she gets cognitive overload. We want to avoid this in digital advertising — sometimes less is more. Avoid providing your customer with too many choices. You may even break a longer message down over different screens. For example, in your email marketing, hook the consumer with a piece of information that requires them to click a button to continue reading.
#4. Appeal to scarcity
The human brain still thinks, in some ways, at a very basic level. We’re hardwired to fear loss, avoid pain and chase pleasure. This is why those “buy now, limited quantities available” or “sale ends in 24 hours” ads are so common — they work! Your appeal to scarcity will vary from business to business — if you’re a service provider, perhaps you’ll offer a limited-time free consultation or training. For product-based businesses, you might have a buy one, get one offer “while supplies last.”
All signs of consumer behavior are pointing toward online shopping. With this shift, there’s a huge opportunity to factor in consumer psychology in marketing strategies. So, next time you sit down to map out your marketing plan for the quarter, take a close look at your website, digital ads and social proof. It just might be the difference between a good sales month and a mind-blowing one.
