Influence: Science and Practice by Cialdini

This book is definitely a great read. In this book he teaches the 6 principles. Some of which you may already know but to use them consciously is another thing. Some principles like social proof and the rule of reciprocity is always used to improve conversions.

Read it, it's worth the time.

Cialdini's genius was in taking the 6 compliance strategies, the same ones you will find in any Social Psych 101 college text books, and writing about them for the masses.

In copy, when you truly get into the head of your reader, and have your reader mentally saying, "Yes" to a series of statements you make, you are using your reader's consistancy to committment.

Actually there is a free, 13 page document written by Blair Warren (who used to be here on the WF) called "One Sentence Persuasion."

Google it. You will find his simple strategies quite helpful. He does sell a 1-hour audio version of the the "One Sentence Persuasion" that is an expanded version. What he tells you how to do, is well worth the few bucks he charges for that recording.

I've probably listened to it 8 or 10 times now. It never gets old.

:-Don

Here are Cialdini’s 6 principles and how they could used on landing pages –

Reciprocation

"Just Pop In Your Email, And I’ll Immediately Send You My “Phenomenal A-Z Power Verb Book" FREE Of Charge (currently selling like hotcakes on Amazon at $39.95)"

Commitment and Consistency

“For 28 Years We’ve Always Increased Our Clients Response From Their Ads By At Least 67%”

Social Proof

“Why Christina Love – The Nations Favourite Newscaster and CEO of ___Inc (can't type a name re google - but you get the idea) – With $977 Million In Annual Revenues Only Ever Lets Us Write Her Ads”

Liking

“You Are One Of Our Most Loyal Customers, You Really Do Matter To Us, And We Want To Prove It To You - We'll Make You Healthier, Happier And Richer In Less Than 5 Days – Guaranteed. (If We Don't We'll Send You $250.00)"


Authority

“When The Top 17 Companies In Wall Street Need An Ad That Works – We’re The Only People They Call”


Scarcity

“We Searched Every Dealership In California And Found The Lowest Price For A Mercedes S.Then We Bought 5 Directly From Germany. And Reduced The Price By A Further $27,700. With A Full 3 Year Mercedes Warranty – Please Call Now – We Only Have 2 Left”



Steve

I already bought Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

Is this textbook different?

Here's how Cialdini's principles are applied in sales pages.

Every time you include a testimonial, you use the social proof principle. When you give away a bonus, you use the reciprocation one. Building a relationship with the prospect taps into the liking principle. Every time you explain that you lost 50 kilos using the method you're selling (or that a doctor with 20 years of experience came up with it), you're using authority. Finally, whenever you see "limited offer", "only 10 copies left", "offer expires today at midnight", etc., you have a demonstration of the scarcity principle.

So, to answer your question, everybody uses Cialdini's principles all the time. The principles existed way before Cialdini described them, he didn't invent a magic formula, but he has a great talent in explaining how they work. Read the book if you want to understand the psychology behind the selling message.