MarketG

Anybody who works in sales will tell you that psychology plays a huge role in selling. Whatever you are selling, the basic principles apply and human nature determines the most effective methods of convincing (often subconsciously) someone that what you’re selling is a good product and they didn’t even know they needed it.
Now, there are hundreds of techniques for selling, but here we will focus on copy writing as this is an essential part of marketing be it on-line or off-line. Wherever you look, on websites, magazines, on TV, in blogs or even in e-mails, the message is written and can be considered as copy.

Copywriters have been using psychological research as a foundation for years. The main advantages that psychology in copy writing give you, when used correctly, are:
⦁ Convinces people to buy more, or to buy again
⦁ Earns the trust and respect of your audience
⦁ Breaks down the walls between you and new customers
⦁ Keeps customers interested in what you have to say
⦁ Uses the most effective angles for encouraging purchases

1. Reciprocity
It’s human nature to reciprocate positive feelings. In other words, if you are nice to, or do something for another person, their normal reaction will be to do the same and to reciprocate.


Whether it’s a salesperson in a shop giving a few free perfume samples, or a waiter or waitress giving clients a handful of free candies; experiments have shown that sales and tips increase in response to kind gestures.

So, in copy writing terms, you can tap into the psychology of reciprocity by following up with customers with a “little extra” that makes them feel good about their purchase, and that compels them to buy again (or to buy more.) This might include some bonus materials for an online course, a free recipe book or just a complimentary introductory session.

2. Make Your Copy Trustworthy and Credible
Another relevant psychological study aims to create the right conditions for persuasion (and persuasive copy) to be effective. According to the Yale Attitude Change, customers are more likely to believe and convert on persuasive claims if there is credibility that correlates with them.

It says that claims made in the marketing copy must do two things:
⦁ Come from a source that has the appropriate ethos/expertise with the product
⦁ Indicate concrete evidence that backs up claims

This might seem quite straightforward and logical, but some businesses have trouble satisfying these conditions. One way of adding credibility is by using celebrity endorsements, although this might prove quite expensive, but getting somebody who really knows the product will certainly help, especially if you are a relatively new company that’s striving for authority within your niche, bringing in an expert can help you speed up the persuasion process.

3. Taking Responsibility for Negative results and experience
It’s never easy admitting the times you tried something which didn’t work. Nobody likes to fail, but admitting it and actually learning from your mistakes can be a good thing when copy writing.

Here’s what this means for your copy: Writing about failure and negative experiences helps give your copy a human element, and shows that you take responsibility for whatever happens within your business--be it positive or negative.
Don’t hesitate to share your learning experiences with your audience, such as:
⦁ Times when an expected home run A/B test produced dismal results produced dismal results
⦁ Launching a product that ultimately failed
⦁ Marketing strategies that fell flat

Not only will you help your audience learn from your experiences, but you’ll allow them to see you and your brand in a more positive light. Admitting you’re not perfect and that you’ve had failures just like everyone else helps break down the walls between you and your customers.

4. Newness, Innovation and Novelty
Research from psychologists like Dr. Emrah Duzel explain that actually, we like things that are new and novel because they trigger a dopamine release in the brain, the chemical that makes the human brain feel pleasure and motivation. It’s released when we eat something sugary or fattening, or when we drink a giant cup of coffee.
This is the same reason companies like Apple release new versions of their products on a regular basis.
In a copywriting context, keeping content fresh and interesting means tapping into the psychological power of novelty. For example, FreeMake.com found that re-writing a sub-heading on their landing page for a shorter, more concise version increased downloads by 5.04%.

Consider regularly refreshing copy in places it would ordinarily remain static, such as:
⦁ Landing pages
⦁ Thank you emails
⦁ Facebook ads
⦁ Welcome mats
From there, test different versions of rewrites on a regular basis to keep your messaging interesting for repeat customers. You’ll better understand which angles work best for your target audience, and you’ll keep readers engaged with what you have to say.

5. Boosting Sales by Selling Time Instead of Savings

When you’re selling a low-cost item, it can be tough convincing customers to buy from you based on the fact that your product isn’t expensive. There are lots of other low-cost providers they can choose from--so you need to sell them on something else in your copy...like time.

Psychologist Jennifer Aaker noted that marketing aimed at stirring up past experiences and personal connections creates favorable attitudes for customers--and increases their likelihood to buy because they think back on those positive memories and are happy, for two main reasons:
⦁ Our feelings about time go deeper than our feelings about money
⦁ Time is a scarce, non-renewable resource.
So, when writing copy to drive sales, think about how you can use storytelling to communicate the value of time and the experience your product creates rather than simply price.

Testing the Research

Fortunately, these days there are tools which allow you to test and measure the success of the tactics we’ve talked about.
⦁ A heat map tool on your website
⦁ Content Analytics indicate hard metrics for conversions, opt-ins, and more
⦁ A/B testing lets you deploy different versions of copy to find a clear winner
These resources enable you to study hard numbers and statistics to analyse the strategies that work best for your unique audience, because no matter how much you study psychology-based marketing tactics, if you’re not properly testing them and monitoring their effectiveness, you’ll have no clue which are truly effective at boosting sales for your business.

Summary
If you’re not already tapping into psychological research to write sales-driven copy, let’s take another look at why it works and how you can use it.

You can use it to boost sales by:
⦁ Use reciprocity to encourage buyers to return the positive feels (by handing you their money)
⦁ Use the Yale Attitude Change to add ethos to your brand and the claims your copy makes
⦁ Take responsibility for negative experiences, and use them as teaching moments and trust-builders
⦁ Remember the importance of novelty and to refresh static, stale copy
⦁ Use copy that speaks to time, not a discount

rusilja

I like that you mention to sell time instead of savings. That's so important these days!

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Martin1977

Great, informative post. Thanks for sharing!

aiva

Very informative post!

Psychology is primarily focused on the user. It helps you understand them, speak to them, intrigue and satisfy them. You overcome their biases and cater to their preferences. You need to identify what colors, fonts, layouts are most compelling. You use appealing images and specific words to invoke emotion such as urgency. You need to study your user by talking and understanding them and analyzing their every click, pause, scroll and bounce.