As marketers, we are all about influencing people by adding value to their lives through our marketing programmes.
Great marketers understand why people think and act the way they do. Once you understand the why of behaviour, you can create effective content and marketing strategies to reach your target audience more effectively.
In this post, we will go into three key principles of behavioural psychology that if understood and used effectively, you can improve your inbound marketing efforts.
Principle #1: Social Proof
The Internet is full of people claiming they are ‘thought-leaders’, ‘influencers’ or ‘masters at their craft’.
How do you separate the quacks from the genuine? Anyone can claim expertise, but who actually has expertise? Overcome these subtle objections in your prospective customers’ minds by showing people what you’ve actually done.
How do you demonstrate that in your Inbound Marketing efforts?
You could:
- Share case studies, customer interviews or facts that can be verified of how a customer used your product or service and benefitted. The more detailed or specific, the better. Make sure the testimonials relate to your target audience’s pain points, needs and interests.
- Put high quality photos of customer’s faces next to the case studies. Bonus points if they are smiling.
- Feature well-known or industry leaders in your target audience’s space
Principle #2: Action Paralysis
Have you ever thought about making a choice for so long, then decided it’s easier not to make a choice?
Well, you’re not alone. We tend to second-guess actions and decisions, especially when you’re unsure of the impact of the actions.
Even more so in the B2B marketing space, where decisions to purchase come with longer sales and decision-making processes. A lot more money is at stake and pressure to deliver results also influence whether and how people make decisions.
Knowing this, how do you ease your prospective customer’s worries and potential objections in your Inbound Marketing campaign?
You could:
- Anticipate your target audience’s pain points and potential objections and provide reassurance in your sales landing page
- Make recommendations on what your target audience would like and steadily lead them to make that product or service choice in your landing page copy.
Principle #3: Recency Illusion
Ever gone on Amazon to look at a product, then started receiving marketing messages on THAT product in your email, social media channels and while browsing Amazon?
The new product isn’t trying to sell you anything. It is just there. Suddenly, you can’t stop thinking about it. You are primed to notice it.
This is the recency illusion in effect.
Used by smart marketers in paid advertising remarketing campaigns, you can also apply this principle in Inbound Marketing through consistent lead nurturing campaigns. Enrol leads who have filled up your Contact Us form into a lead nurturing workflow – sending leads targeted content about your product or service to ‘remind’ them of the content they downloaded.
There you have it, understanding and applying these 3 fundamental principles of psychology will help enhance your marketing efforts! Which one can you apply today?
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