Author: Jordan French / Source: The Next Web
Over the years, psychologists and marketers alike have conducted extensive research to figure out what it is that makes us tick. Why do we do what we do? What influences our decisions? What causes us to change?
After all, by understanding the motivations behind a purchaser’s decision, it becomes that much easier to adapt your messaging so that you can get better results in the future.
By mastering these sales secrets with definite psychological roots, you’ll be able to gain a profound influence over your customers.1. Social proof
One of the cliches of childhood is being asked by an exasperated parent “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” (usually, after the child makes the excuse, “But he did it first!”).
But as much as parents try to keep their children from simply following the crowd, the reality is that adults do this too — especially in the world of marketing and sales.
This phenomenon ties back to the theory of social proof, cited by Dr. Robert Cialdini as one of his six principles of persuasion. In a nutshell, it means that we become more willing to do something when we see that other people are doing it. We want to be liked and we want to fit in and we often believe that following the crowd will help us achieve those goals.
Social proof explains why many of the best landing pages feature customer testimonials and every company I’ve consulted I’ve tasked with implementing the same. It’s why many websites use widgets showing how many times a post has been shared or liked on social media. It’s why Elvis had an album called “50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong.
”When you can prove that other people like your product or service, it increases your credibility and people become much more willing to buy.
2. Authority: The ultimate influencer
One of the more controversial experiments in psychology’s history is known as the Milgram Experiment. Conducted after World War II, the experiment was designed to see if normal, “ordinary” people could be influenced into hurting another person if instructed to do so by an authority figure.
The results were frightening. Nearly two thirds of the participants were willing to administer electric shocks to “students” when they made a mistake, simply because an authority figure asked them to do it.
While these findings have been used to explain how even perfectly ordinary people can be persuaded to commit horrific acts, in marketing, the connection is a lot less insidious (though still important). This is why influencers — and influencer marketing — are so important today. People want to get their information from someone more knowledgeable or experienced than themselves.
A close cousin to “association” — the concept that people want to associate with well known or powerful figures, authorities offer a brand that their followers want to associate with. Predictably, sales follow suit.
So how do you show off your authority in the industry?
Content marketing and speaking at industry events are popular ways of showcasing your knowledge. By sharing your expertise and incorporating it into your branding, your voice becomes significantly more persuasive and influential.
3. Less is more… a lot more
There’s a classic Calvin & Hobbes comic where Calvin’s dad is in the grocery store trying to pick out a jar of peanut butter. “Look at all this peanut butter!” he exclaims. “There must be three sizes of five brands of four…
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