Humans are like, “I don’t know what I’m doing but it helps me avoid pain and makes me happy..!! Yay! So it doesn\u2019t matter what it is but I\u2019m going to do it, yay!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the driving forces of all human behavior are to avoid pain and gain pleasure. Do you agree?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, it doesn\u2019t matter whether you agree or not. The truth is that it is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, 4 years ago, I was challenged by one of my friends to do 100 push-ups in one go. It was scary and painful. But I did it anyway. Why? Because I associated pleasure with the challenge and sense of accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some lawyers fight the hard cases for poor people for free because they associate pleasure with helping those people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firefighters run into the burning buildings because they seek pleasure by helping people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why don’t you use this trigger in your marketing strategy? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for that, you need to know your audience’s pleasure point. What they are struggling for and what’s causing them pain. Moreover, how can you avoid it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is an example of how you can put it into action:<\/p>\n\n\n\nOn this landing page, GoTo Meeting is offering the freedom of online meetings considering the pandemic has caused problems of meetings for many businesses. And by offering solutions they are providing the pleasure of face-to-face business meetings from anywhere and anytime. And that too free! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, if the customers want to have this pleasure permanently they would need to pay for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isn\u2019t it a good marketing psychology trick!!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell A Story, Humans Love To Hear Stories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Everything aside, humans love stories. They love to tell stories. They love to hear stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Me too and you too. Don’t we? (I’m telling you a story here and you are reading it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why? Because stories trigger emotions and we are emotional creatures. You will be amazed knowing that humans perceive 95% of the world with the subconscious mind, the emotional part of the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stories activate the emotional parts of the brain connected with sight, sound, taste, and movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They let us have an experience without directly experiencing it. They literally set us on fire and encourage us to make decisions, which is where a buyer makes a decision about buying something. So that is where businesses need to drive their customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth Godin, the author of the famous book – All Marketers Are Liars, put it in this way: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cMarketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but the stories you tell\u201d <\/p>\nSeth Godin<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nHere is an example:<\/p>\n\n\n
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The famous author of Buying In: What we buy and who we are, Rob Walker has conducted an experiment with Joshua Glen. They took hundreds of cheap items to see if they could sell them by blending with stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They collaborated with more than 200 writers and created a fictional story targeting each product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you’d be surprised that they made a decent profit of $8,000! This was a 2,700% gain of what they had invested. Not a bad ROI on telling some stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explain Why<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Now, I’m gonna send you some free books on cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What did you think as you read that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A “why”, right? You want to know why I’d send you a cooking book, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, you do because this is a scientifically proven fact that the human brain is always looking for answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the famous Xerox experiment by psychologist Ellen Langer, people will do work more willingly if you give them a reason, even if the reason is complete nonsense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s what you need to give your customers – A \u201cwhy\u201d for why they should purchase your product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOn this About Us page, AIM Global is telling you why you should choose them and how it will help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simplify Your Solution<\/h3>\n\n\n\nPeople are lazy. They want everything in the easiest and effortless way. Not I, the law of least effort says this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They want to eat the Hamburger but they want to make it. That’s why there are a lot of fast food stalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is exactly what you need to give your target audience- The easiest solution to their problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When providing the solution, ask yourself how you can make it easier and faster for your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this example, RightSignature is providing you with the easest and fastest way to get signatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is one of the best marketing psychology tricks so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspire Curiosity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\nCuriosity is an itch that needs to be scratched<\/p>\nRohan Kushwan<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nHumans chase things they don’t know. They tend to take action to fill the gap between \u2018what they know\u2019 and \u2018what they don’t know.\u2019 This is called the Information Gap Theory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It inspires actions in humans and fires up the part of the brain which is linked to pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By implementing this marketing psychology principle into your strategy, you can make sure your audience opens your emails, promotes your content, and buys your product to scratch the itch you have implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can you do that? Here is an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\nHere CoSchedule tells me I can get what I need (Press Release Templates) just by filling up a few boxes. I can achieve my desired result just by a simple process. Perfect!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social Proof Theory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n When humans are unsure what to do, they look to people around them to get ideas on what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before deciding to buy a product, people tend to look for proof of someone already using it and how it has solved their problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m sure that you too, before buying a product, ask your friends \u201chey, how is that product you are using. Should I buy it?\u201d We all do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You need to show your prospects how much others are benefiting from your product so that they can trust your brand. Post your recent buyers’ testimonials on your website or show how many people have given positive reviews for your products.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHere Sumo is using testimonials from other trusted brands to show how they helped tony Robbins to increase their website leads by 15%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Build a Community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n As humans, we have a fundamental need to be a part of a social community. We need to connect with our kind of people, group, or society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you can make your prospects feel that they can be a part of a valuable community, chances are they will hit the buy button more and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how can you do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See this example and grab the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Starbucks built a community to make people feel valued, make them feel they are going to be a part of a big community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Howard Schultz, the founder and CEO of Starbucks said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWe’re in the people business serving coffee, not the coffee business serving people.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Get a bit creative and give people something to join you. Build a community, and it will promote your business itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Scarcity Theory<\/h3>\n\n\n\nAccording to Shahram Heshmant, humans place a value on things that are harder to obtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Shahram Heshmant, humans place a value on things that are harder to obtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By implementing this marketing psychology trick, you want your audience to think that your product is for a few elite people only and then it will open up for “common” ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You want your prospects to grab the product before the deal ends or becomes out of stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look here:<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can implement the scarcity marketing psychology principle just like this product says ‘limited time only\u2019. This will make your audience grab the item before the time ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reciprocity Principle<\/h3>\n\n\n\nHow do you feel when someone gives you a gift? Do you feel compelled to give them something in return? This is called the norm of reciprocity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in marketing terms, if you give your consumers a free gift with your product or service, they will feel somewhat indebted to you and buy your product again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can use this technique by offering free content or a free trial to your audience. In return, you can ask for their contact info so that you can call them to buy your product later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newness or Novelty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Novelty makes our life exciting. In research, it has been known that our brain releases dopamine (the pleasure chemical in our brain) when we see something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People always want something new from a company or brand. now you know why Apple releases a new iPhone and iPad every few months?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, the difference between the new model and the old model is minuscule but still many people throw the old model away just to grab the new one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I think you should include this marketing psychology principle in your strategy and make your brand more popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You will be amazed but Patagonia uses the \u201cNew\u201d tag just based on the Novelty marketing principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLoss Aversion Marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Strange but true, losing something weighs more than winning something in the human subconscious mind. Therefore, people will do anything to avoid loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By this marketing psychology principle, you can create FOMO (fear of missing out) for your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like this Gravity Vault, the Facebook campaign suggests that missing out on their end-of-year sale will be a loss to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHighlight this technique in your marketing copy and you will boost your sales!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anchoring Bias<\/h3>\n\n\n\n The anchoring bias influences how we view a product by comparing it to something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also says that customers make their minds up for buying something based on the first information they get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s say a person sees a pair of jeans priced at $100, but the same jeans are available for 50$ in another shop. He will buy the second one even if that is not really a good deal. He is just buying it because it is half-priced compared to the first one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is called the anchoring bias marketing psychology principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Decoy Effect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n In the decoy effect marketing psychology, the consumers are provided with three price options. In this strategy, the most expensive package seems more attractive than the two affordable ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See these national geographic pricing options:<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreate A Common Enemy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n A common enemy can unite people more than anything, more than a common friend or passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every community and audience has a common enemy for blaming when things didn’t go the way they expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sociologist George Simmel argued that nothing can unite people quite like a common enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s true. People would go to war to fight a common enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, how do you use this marketing psychology principle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, you have to know what is or who your audience’s common enemy is and use it to tell them they can fight it with your product and make the world a better place again. Just like Apple did in this Macintosh ad:<\/p>\n\n\n\n