Thursday 10 March 2016

5 Reasons You Need To Understand the Psychology of Marketing

In sales and marketing, its mission critical to recognize that consumers always make their buying decisions for their own reasons, not yours. Hence, it’s imperative that you fully understand your average customer’s buying approach in order to target them efficiently and effectively via your marketing. Just imagine how effective your marketing would be if you were privy to your customer’s psychological profile and how to best engage with them, even before they’ve entertained thoughts concerning your services or products. Using psychology can do this for you.

Following are 5 reasons you need to understand the psychology of marketing.


psychology-of-marketing-mixed-digital-emotions


1. Emotionally Appealing
Human beings make most of their decisions based on emotion. Sure, logic comes into play, but in most cases, after the fact. Effective marketing strategies appeal to human emotions, making consumers “feel” first and “think” later. To use this psychological approach, you need to put an emphasis on how your product or service will make the buyer feel, or how it will eliminate an existing pain. Fast Company does a great job of broaching the subject in 5 Psychological Tactics Marketers Use To Influence Consumer Behavior.

psychology-of-marketing-mixed-digital-self-interest


2. Self-interest aka what’s in it for me?
By nature, people think mostly in terms of “what is in it for me”?’ Take advantage use of this psychological principle when you market your products or services online. Compose your sales scripts using this concept and make sure that it directly informs the consumer of how the product/service will help them. Keep the ‘”what’s in it for me (meaning the consumer)” in mind and you can’t go wrong
psychology-of-marketing-mixed-digital-reciprocity


3. Take Advantage of the Reciprocity Factor
The idea of “reciprocity” is really simple. . . If somebody does something nice for you, you naturally want to “reciprocate”. There are lots of ways to take advantage of the reciprocity factor in marketing. It could be anything from providing a special eBook, to a fancy after dinner mint provided at your favorite restaurant, or lint brush for your dry cleaner, just as long as it relates to your business. Even simple things like a thoughtful hand written note will go a long way toward establishing reciprocity.


psychology-of-marketing-mixed-digital-trust


4. Boost Your Credibility
There are just two primary reasons why consumers won’t buy from you. One, they’re not interested in what you’re selling/providing. Two, they don’t have confidence in what you’re saying. Credibility and believability are important, particularly online, from where the barrier of entry for sellers is so low. A lot of consumers today are concerned about potential risks of ID or credit card fraud, or instances where they pay for something online but never receive it. It’s these situations that make it so important for you to do everything possible to increase credibility in the eyes of today’s consumers. In 5 Steps To Build Trust Using Content Marketing, Entrepeneur offers some actionable advice for marketers struggling with building trust.

psychology-of-marketing-mixed-digital-value


5. Boost the Perceived Value
If your product or service isn’t viewed as providing more value to the consumer than the price, then nobody will buy. The crucial element, then, is to increase the perceived value of whatever it is you’re trying to market and the perceived value needs to outweigh the cost. Sure, you can increase the value by lowering the price, however, you can also have a similar effect by conveying the great results that the user will experience more clearly, and precisely what it’ll mean for the potential buyer. You can do this in several ways, covering the negative consequences of not having your product or service, comparing what you have to offer to similar solutions and including free bonuses or premiums.
By utilizing the psychology of marketing, instead of trying to deal with fierce competition, groveling for the customers that are ready to buy, you can build a relationship with consumers who’ll never want to consider what your competitor’s are offering if you get the process down right.
Don’t take it completely from us. Check out this inspiring TED Talk by Rory Sutherland -“Life Lessons From An Ad Man”
How have you used psychology to improve marketing results?
Source