Psychology is a core factor every entrepreneur needs to consider when running a company. It affects various aspects of a business, including sales performance. By understanding psychology, business owners and marketers can figure out why someone buys a product, it is called the psychology of selling.
This information is crucial for creating a good marketing strategy that attracts new customers and keeps existing ones coming back. However, applying psychology to your business activities can be a confusing task.
This article will present ten common ways of the psychology of selling to boost its product sales. Read them and see if you can apply them to your own business.
Utilizing the Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is a psychological term that describes people’s tendency to only seek information that supports their argument or idea. According to this theory, people can have a strong bias toward their original point of view because they deliberately avoid information that might oppose their own beliefs.
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Marketers and business owners can utilize this fact to boost their conversions because everyone shares this psychological characteristic to some extent. We can see this strategy practiced by bigger brands that have already established their business image on the market.
For example, most customers in the US perceive iPhones as the premium and the most reliable mobile phone brand out there.
Apple successfully dominated the market by confirming this idea on every piece of its marketing campaign. This allows them to further strengthen people’s beliefs regarding their products’ quality.
Present a Good First Impression
Your potential customers only need around 90 seconds of initial viewing before they make a subconscious decision whether to buy your product. Due to this small time frame, it is important to know how to stand out and make a good first impression of your products.
There are various ways to improve your product’s first impression and attract more customers. However, one of the most important factors is branding and design. Make sure you design your product packaging using colors, typography, and shapes that appeal to your target buyers.
Those design elements also need to work together and shape your product’s branding. This allows your product to stand out amongst competitors and leave lasting impressions. Don’t forget to ensure your product’s value and quality are at their best to maintain customer loyalty.
Focus on Storytelling
Storytelling is one of the best methods to promote your products or services. It enables marketers to connect better with their target audience and communicate more information about their products without sounding too salesy.
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Many examples of storytelling in marketing can be found during this pandemic time where brands include uplifting and motivational stories in their promotional campaigns. This is because a story can help evoke emotions from your audience and keep them engaged with your message.
This can give you a marketing advantage since people tend to avoid traditional advertisements that focus solely on describing a product’s benefits.
Try to Incite Reciprocity
Reciprocity in social psychology describes people’s tendency to respond positively after receiving a positive action. For example, people will be more likely to help you after you do them a favor. Business owners and marketers can utilize this principle to persuade potential customers to buy their products.
When you offer a free service for your audience, they might feel obligated to return the favor. For example, many brands offer free trials, coupons, or informative content before promoting their products or services.
It can be easier to generate sales if your audience finds your free service beneficial. Therefore, try to determine what your target market needs and make sure your offer is valuable.
Make Use of Target Customers’ FOMO
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a social phenomenon where people feel the anxiety of missing valuable information, experience, or life decisions. This phenomenon has become more common with the rapid growth of social media and the ease of sharing information online.
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Many companies utilize FOMO to entice potential customers to buy their products. The most common method is by relating this phenomenon to the scarcity principle. For example, a brand might offer exclusive limited products or time-sensitive promotions like Black Friday deals.
Maintaining Positive Connection
A business has less chances to grow and last in the market if it only relies on first-time buyers and neglects the importance of repeat purchases. Therefore, maintaining a positive connection after a successful sale is as important as attracting new customers.
Post-purchase service is crucial to make existing customers feel appreciated and maintain their loyalty towards your brand. These loyal customers can benefit you by becoming your indirect brand ambassadors and generating constant revenue.
There are several ways to maintain a positive relationship with customers. These include listening and responding to their feedback, facilitating returns or refunds, giving loyalty discounts, and contacting them through newsletters.
Show Your Brand Authority
A brand’s authority refers to the public’s trust towards a certain brand in its respective industry. When a brand has good authority, the target audience perceives them as a trustworthy source of information or an expert in their field.
Brand authority is also closely related to content marketing. People will feel more inclined to read your content when they know you are a reputable brand. This can be done by producing high-quality content and implementing various SEO techniques.
Eventually, your business website may get an increase in traffic from people who access your article. This means you will also get more leads that can turn into conversions.
Give Options to Potential Customers
It is common to see brands providing multiple variations for the same product to customers. This is because customers tend to gravitate towards brands that offer them options.
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Examples of this technique can be seen in many fast food and technology industries. Companies offer a variety of sizes or specifications of the same product with different pricing. This method is known as decoy pricing.
Aside from convincing potential customers to make a purchase, decoy pricing can also influence them to choose premium options based on the quality and value of the product.
Use Social Media
Sharing is a big part of today’s online activity. One of the biggest tools used for this purpose is social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Nowadays, many companies have also started to use social media platforms to boost their brand presence and eventually improve their sales. Various features in these platforms allow businesses to ride a certain trend and let their audience spread the word about their brands.
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One of the most recent examples is the annual Spotify Wrapped, where users share their listening history throughout the year on social media. The 2020’s Spotify Wrapped boosted Spotify’s mobile app downloads by 21% in the first week of December that year.
Showcase Social Proof
Social proof refers to someone’s tendency to follow other people’s decisions and views when they are unsure what to do in a specific situation. This is because people assume others have more expertise when faced with an unfamiliar situation.
Brands can utilize this psychological principle to boost their reputation and convince target audiences to buy their products. The most common method includes product reviews and testimonials in your online platforms and marketing campaigns.
This is important because around 91% of shoppers read online reviews before purchasing a product. Positive testimonials from previous buyers show potential customers that your product or service can offer the best experience. Therefore, they may have more confidence in purchasing your product.
Conclusion
Psychological principles are important for business owners and marketers to identify the reasons behind customers’ purchasing decisions. This information is crucial for developing better marketing strategies and relevant factors that improve your products or services.
In this article, we learned about ten common examples of how to implement psychological principles in selling, including:
- Utilizing the confirmation bias
- Presenting a good first impression
- Focusing on storytelling
- Inciting reciprocity
- Understanding target customers’ FOMO
- Maintaining positive connection
- Showing your brand’s authority
- Giving options to potential customers
- Utilizing social media
- Showcasing social proof
Follow these examples and choose the ones that suit your business’s and target market’s situation. Hopefully, these tips can help you increase your sales and help your business grow.
