The psychology behind Conversion Optimization.

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It's quite amusing how the human mind works. And certainly, it is quite interesting how it is used in marketing and advertising. We all have been seeing advertising hoardings, digital advertising. Have you ever wondered what is the thinking behind that advertise? I never did too until I came across this interesting concept of psychological marketing.

Every advertiser and marketer wants to know what triggers their customers. Why do they choose some products over others, and how can you get them to purchase from you instead of another company? The answers lie in marketing psychology. By understanding this human tendency to choose you can create wonders.

Psychological Marketing

People are irrational and emotional. People make the trend, they follow it. They follow what is socially widely accepted and currently trending. And it is easy to use this human behavior to optimize your conversion rate. Cialdini’s 7 principles of persuasion –

• Reciprocity — This principle talks about the tendency of human nature to want to offer something when something is received. No one likes keeping debts. You should give some value out of your product to expect something in return. So many examples come to my mind when I think about this principle, such as when Reliance Jio launched its network in India, it offered high-speed internet for free. The reasons behind Jio’s marketing strategy are based on a simple premise, that free is always better. But now when Jio has started charging for the internet, people are still using it.
• Commitment/Consistency — This principle refers to the choices people make to believe more strongly in the decisions they have already made in order to avoid cognitive dissonance. people have established that commitment as being in line with their self-image. For example, people buying high-end iPhones stay loyal to the apple as it gives them pride as an Apple user.
• Social Proof — This principle talks about the human tendency of following any trend. If a large number of people doing something, the product must be authentic. They can self approve the product by reading the feedback and reviews of the customers. Many of the websites use these kinds of social proofs on their landing page to make look more promising. “We have more than 50k subscribers”, “Our product is validated by XYZ company”. Companies hire famous and recognizable people as their brand ambassadors to increase their product value.
• Authority — The human mind is always responsive to any authoritative figure. People always tend to follow instructions from authoritative figures. In the case of ShoeDazzle, which is a start-up internet retailer specializing in women’s shoes and accessories, the principle of this concept can be seen. Established in 2009, the company was co-founded by Kim Kardashian, who is also one of the chief fashion stylists at ShoeDazzle.
• Liking — People will buy from you if they like you as a company. If your product's image or ethics align with the customer’s image and ethics. The liking principle is one of the key principles of marketing psychology and principles of persuasion. This is the reason why brands hire celebrities, influencers, and micro-influencers to advertise their product. If you are selling some sports products, having any sportsman as your brand ambassador will improve your product value and people’s liking. People will accept your product easily.
• Scarcity — This principle uses the fear of losing an opportunity to buy a certain product. In other words, creating an urgency for this product. In marketing terms, this could mean having a limited time offer or only a few tickets left like in this example. Xiaomi used this principle in its Redmi flash sale strategy. It announced beforehand that a limited number of this amazing tech-heavy cheaper phone will be launched on the XYZ date for a limited period of time. People went crazy and bought these phones as soon as sell started. At first, many people couldn't as only limited copies were sold. This created scarcity and a desire to buy this phone. This strategy has worked wonders for Xiaomi.
• Unity — What have you got in common with your client? The Unity Principle is the shared identity that the influencer shares with the client. This goes beyond surface-level identities. This principle says you should adopt your customer as a family. All the users of the product should get a feeling of being part of something big. Many of the brands keep social events for their customers to come together and celebrate. Royal Enfield is an Indian multinational motorcycle manufacturing company, keeps its customers in a loop and organizes various events where all Enfield users come together and go for a ride and celebrate. This increases the feeling of being part of a bigger group and keeps the customers loyal to that brand.

How Cognitive Biases manipulate human tendency to choose

A cognitive bias is a cognitive error that occurs in a person’s line of reasoning because of their personal values while making a decision is flawed. There is a long list of these biases that affect humans choosing tendency. Many people feel that everyone is on the same page as they are. But this is not the case, everyone doesn't think the same way you do. We generally tend to make statements such as “no one clicks on the ads”, “no one uses this product” based on our experience. That is why as a marketer we should not fall prey to such decisions. People always tend to believe in the product which aligns with their ethics and thinking. We should use this as our opportunity to increase the conversion rate. There are so many examples of these biases affecting people’s choices. A thorough study of these human behaviors will help us a lot in defining our advertising strategies and campaigns.

Neuromarketing goes deeper than this. Neuroscience can be tightly coupled with traditional marketing to increase conversion rates. I had never thought of marketing being related to human behavior. But my Conversion Optimization course at CXL Institute has opened me to this new horizon. It has been a great learning journey with CXL until now, excited to explore more.