PERSUASION MARKETING
- MOHK SAINI
- May 8, 2021
- 8 min read
Your visitors don't care about your sales process & remember, your sales process is all about you. But you definitely have to care about how they buy. Brian Eiseberg
As humans, we don’t make rational decisions when it comes to buying. We are so influenced by context, our own history, neurochemistry—even the color of a button. So much of communication and decision-making occurs at the subconscious level, requiring marketers to consider the psychological underpinnings of purchasing behavior. By understanding the factors that apply at this level, they can be far more effective at persuading people to choose what they want them to choose and buy.
No matter what the industry, people buy from people. Marketing that accurately grasps how humans think is more likely to work.
WHAT IS PERSUASION MARKETING?
Persuasion marketing is a general term for a lot of techniques in marketing.
Persuasion marketing uses what we know about human psychology to build a repertoire of techniques for marketing & manipulate how we feel about stuff. It specifically applies to the promotion’s aspect of the marketing mix, and builds on a customer’s impulsive behaviour to lead them to purchase.
WHO IMPLEMENTS PERSUASION MARKETING?
During the promotion phase, these persuasion marketing techniques are applied to different aspects – website design, content for social media posts, landing pages, and product descriptions.
Salespeople have been using persuasive techniques for as long as they have been around, and now working to translate these techniques on the web. These persuasion marketing techniques can be used by anyone – marketing manager, advertising account manager, etc.
It’s a topic, and a strategic approach, that appeals to marketers in a variety of industries. If you have an e-commerce website, then you want to convert visits to sales—and persuasion marketing techniques ease that process.
Persuasion marketing, in fact, was a top subject discussed by keynote speaker Susan Bratton at the 2011 SES (Search Engine Strategies) San Francisco convention, attended by more than 1,000 marketing and advertising professionals.
IMPORTANCE OF PERSUASION IN MARKETING AND SALES
Persuasion skills are extremely important for sales and marketing professionals as they are paid not only to interact with potential customers but also motivate them to invest in organization’s products and services. Convincing clients is no cake-walk as it seems and one needs to be really good at it. Remember, marketing is just not forcing and creating unnecessary pressure but changing the beliefs and mindsets of people.
If your best friend has a phone of Brand - A, you automatically would tend to have an inclination towards the same brand without even realizing that there are other brands available in the market which has better features.
Persuasion skills help a marketing and sales professional to actually win over the hearts of clients who not only become their loyal customers but also bring in more clients along with them.
HOW TO WRITE A PERSUASIVE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION THAT SELLS?
Here are some TIPS:
Use repetition to make your claims believable
Use Maslow to match search intent
Turn shoppers into buyers with benefit-focused copy
Use forum research to get inside your buyers’ mind
Use sensory words to connect with your buyer’s subconscious
Use scarcity to boost sales
Use micro commitments to turn new customers into big spenders
Use the blemishing effect to increase trust
Amplify your top pages with power words
Improve ad performance by “borrowing” from tested copy
The disrupt and reframe technique
Use buyers’ words to build brand preference
Use the endowed progress effect to build customer loyalty
Sway buyers on the fence with a rhyming sequence
Be ultra-specific
Use social influence to lift conversions
Use mini stories to fascinate readers
Improve message recall with the serial position technique
Use the priming technique to make your marketing their idea
IF YOU WANT A SINGLE POST DESCRIBING ALL THESE TIPS DO TELL ME IN COMMENTS
HOW CAN WE PERSUADE OUR CLIENTS IN TRUSTING US?
The first and foremost tip to convince a potential client is to look confident and also have adequate information of the product.
Never badmouth your competitors. Such tactics no longer work in today’s scenario. Things are much easier when competition is healthy than stooping too low for numbers
Dress in a way which impresses others instantly. Wear something in which you feel comfortable rather than blindly copying others. You would never be able to persuade a client if you are not presentable and appealing. Remember, something which looks good on others may not look good on you.
Another effective way of persuading client is to understand their needs and expectations from a particular product and also address their queries.
Do not sell products which you yourself are not convinced of. Why would a client believe you if you try to sell him a Parker pen while you yourself are using a Sheaffer pen?
SOME TACTICS TO INCREASE EFFECTIVENESS OF PERSUASION MARKETING
There are countless ways to Increase effectiveness of persuasion marketing
The Rule of 100
Jonah Berger, an author and Wharton marketing professor, spoke to Business Insider about what he calls the Rule of 100. This is a concept he also writes about in Contagious: Why Things Catch On, a book on the psychology of sales.
TO BUY THE BOOK CLICK HERE
Berger says it’s all about the value of an item and how you price it.
“The idea is that a $20 shirt is more appealing at 25 percent off versus $5 off, but a higher-priced item, say a $2,000 laptop, is more attractive marked down $500 versus 25 percent off.”
Changing the Colour of a Button Can Boost Conversions
In this rather famous case study for VegasSlotsOnline.com, they decided to experiment with a new CTA button colour.
Originally, it was green. But then they changed it to yellow.
That small change led to a conversion spike of 187.4% with a confidence rating of 95%.
OptinMonster delves further into the psychology behind the most popular button colours:
To invoke feelings of love and romance, use PINK.
To create a feeling of confidence and fun or affordability, choose ORANGE.
Show your friendly and warm side with YELLOW.
Keep things simple and clear with WHITE.
Promote a sense of sophistication with BLACK.
Show you’re reliable and trustworthy by using BLUE.
For a “peaceful, progressive, and calm emotional response” among your customers, GREEN is the color to use.
Also, RED is a confident, youthful hue. It often attracts attention more effectively than the other colors because of its high contrast. Red is also one of the earliest colors we can recognize as babies.
Font Choice, Size, and Spacing Influences Conversion Rates
Crazy Egg shared interesting stats from Google and IBM on readability and font size. Here’s what they found:
The Georgia or serif font led to improved reading comprehension but had no effect on the speed of reading.
Sans-serif fonts like Verdana, Helvetica and Arial don’t seem to improve reading comprehension or speed more than serif fonts like Georgia and Times New Roman do.
Font size does improve reading speed. It’s best to go with a size 12 font over a smaller size 10 font or even a bigger size 14 font.
There’s spacing to consider, too, as was the case with IT company Numara Software.
When they made a switch from 10-point to 13-point font with additional line spacing, they saw 133% more conversions
Not only that, but they also enjoyed 24% more page visits
19% fewer site exits, and
10% less bouncing from their website
Availability of Options and Choice Persuades Potential Buyers
Here’s the classic case study that supports this logic from The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar.
In a grocery store, one sampling station offered six jam varieties and the second one offered 24. Of those people who could choose from 24 jams, 3% didn’t buy anything. Of those who could only choose from 6 jams, 30% bought.
The study concludes, “While the larger selection attracted more onlookers, the smaller selection actually generated more sales.”
When there are too many options, people worry they’ll make a bad decision. But when there are less to choose from, people are more likely to make a decision to buy.
This is something to consider when creating your packages and offerings.
Prime Numbers and Odd Numbers Attract More Views
Medium published an article that showed that “odd number length listicles…tend to have a higher audience score on average.”
Medium tried this with its own content. They found that, when looking at even-number listicles versus prime-number listicles, the p-value (or calculated probability) difference between the two was less than 5%. Yet, “the number 29 seemed to be consistently over-performing compared to other top odd numbers.”
TOP 5 EXAMPLES OF PERSUASION MARKETING
1. Heinz: Ed Sheeran
https://youtu.be/keOaQm6RpBg
Apparently, Ed Sheeran is Heinz Ketchup’s biggest fan. This silly commercial is part of Heinz’s ad campaign in the UK right now, where the company is attempting to get ketchup just as popular there as it is in the US.
Why it works
Ed Sheeran charming, and he narrates the commercial as though it’s a pitch. The effect makes it feel like you’re watching a movie clip instead of an ad. He convinces you that all the “posh” food and sauces are nothing without his backpack-based Heinz.
How to do it
If your brand is big enough—or lucky enough—to have a fan like Ed Sheeran, you should be all set. However, if your celebrity fanbase is a bit smaller, think about working with influencers. Persuasive ads are usually very on-brand for social media personalities.
Pro tip: Find an influencer that’s more niche. That way, you can target a specific audience you’re looking to convert, often at a lower cost.
2. HP: Keeping Private, Private
https://youtu.be/E8hh3EYYltQ
I’m a big fan of HP’s most recent persuasive ad campaigns, but this one takes the cake. For some terribly relatable, Gen-Z-focused content, watch the video.
Why it works
This ad is specifically targeting the fact that you can flip a switch and turn your computer’s camera off (no need for those tiny, attachable shades anymore), which means you can be anywhere with your computer ... but no one can see you. It persuades you that having an HP computer means that you’re safe and sound being completely yourself.
How to do it
This is targeted at a specific audience, which is a good thing to keep in mind when brainstorming persuasive ads. Think about a concern your audience has about your product and show them why it’s a non-issue.
3.Burger King: Shadow Campaign
This might be one of my favourite ad campaigns ever. A few years ago, Burger King quietly waged a war by promoting people’s tweets complaining about Wendy’s. It resulted in hilarity—and probably a lot of Whopper purchases.
Why it works
Burger King didn’t have to do much leg work on this one. In case you’re wondering how they promoted other people’s tweets, Twitter will let you do this if you get permission from the user! These ads definitely got some laughs over this. And, with this campaign, Burger King let customers—albeit disgruntled ones—do the talking, which gives a bit more weight to the message.
How to do it
If you’re feeling bold, check out the complaints on social media aimed at your direct competitor. Pick the one that you think best applies (this product broke/is too expensive/doesn’t work!) and see if you can promote or repost it. Let your competitor’s detractors be your best advocates.
4.Pizza Hut: Cheesy Bites
I’m passionate about pizza. And I saw this advertisement on BING!
Why it works
I don’t know a single person on this planet that would turn down cheese-filled bites delivered to their door.This text ad pulls out all the stops. It stresses convenience, time-sensitive promotions, and options galore. How could you not click through?!
How to do it
While sometimes you want to provide a simple solution to a simple problem, this ad provides a plethora of options to solve a simple problem (pizza delivery near me). Play to people’s pain points or weaknesses, like hunger, to convince them that they need your product—like right now.
5. Crave App: Save Money
Crave created a video-based Instagram ad that looks and feels like user-generated content, maybe even something a food blogger would post. In this ad, you follow someone for five meals, watching as they get discount after discount on their food.
Why it works
The persuasion in this ad isn’t very nuanced: The ad shows you exactly how to use the app and how much money you’ll save. Logical, right? That’s the simple, effective appeal here.
How to do it
If your product is cheaper than other options out there, you’re in luck. You can persuade people with a logical display of how your option costs less money—or maybe even saves people money, like Crave. Show your audience that your product will not better their life, but will also better their bank account.
Comments