The Role of Psychology in Marketing: Use Psychology to Improve Your Marketing
Did you ever wonder why sometimes it feels like people who understand others make the best marketers? You may watch your coworkers using basic principles to increase the sales of their products or secure more clients. It’s likely that they’ve discovered the role of psychology in marketing.
Wait, will all your years of analyzing serial killers and reality TV stars during late-night TV binging actually help you become a better marketer? Maybe.
From getting your customers to like you to leveraging the use of color, psychology and marketing go hand-in-hand.
More about psychology
Psychology helps you to “describe, explain, predict and improve human behavior.”
Consider the different methods you use to tell your partner about the tiny scratch you got on their new car. Maybe you take them to dinner and order their favorite dessert before dropping the bomb. You could also prepare for battle, list all the reasons it wasn’t your fault, and tell them it’s just a stupid car. Which approach will leave you driving home in a silent – and scratched – car?
More about marketing
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as, “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”
Relationship Between Psychology and Marketing
Those definitions sound pretty similar, don’t they? Both psychology and marketing aim to understand human behavior and communicate in a clear way. We can find many examples of effective campaigns that used psychology to improve their marketing strategies. One example that demonstrates the relationship between psychology and marketing is drunk driving prevention.
Psychology and Marketing to Combat Drunk Driving
The Drunk Driving Prevention Campaign, launched in 1983, was a partnership between the Ad Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fight driving while under the influence. Since then, many organizations have joined in the fight against drunk driving.
Watch Budweiser’s Someone Waits for You At Home commercial and you’ll feel heartbreak for the dog left behind waiting for his owner. The commercial plays on your emotions to help you understand the point of their campaign: drunk driving impacts more than just you.
Psychology Strategies to Implement In Your Next Marketing Campaign
You’re probably starting to understand why the colleague who makes you feel seen is so well-liked by her clients. You can begin utilizing psychology to improve your marketing strategies, too!
- Include Testimonials and Social Proof
We were born with a desire to be included and part of the gang. We often rely on others for opinions about our next large purchase or what brand we’ll use daily. Roughly eight-in-ten Americans say they consult online ratings and reviews when buying something for the first time.
Use this fact to help you make your customers trust you. Testimonials and social proof are great ways to earn the trust of your new potential customers. Offering the opportunity for them to see how loved your product or service is can make them feel more comfortable buying from you.
- Capture Your Audience’s Attention
App Annie, an app analytics firm, calculated that people spent an average of four hours on their phones each day. Imagine the number of emails, articles, and ads people see in that time. With so much information available at our fingertips, how do you make your information stand out?
Peak your viewer’s attention by using the following tactics in your headlines:
- Surprises:
MasterCard launched their Delivering Priceless Surprises campaign to surprise cardholders all over the world.
- Questions
WebFX regularly uses questions in our blogs. Questions help pique our readers’ curiosity and get their attention. When people are interested, they’re more likely to read the information you’re sharing.
- Curiousity-inducing information (People feel deprived when they’re missing information)
WebFX found a way to help reduce the number of shoppers who abandon their shopping carts. The title is a great way to capture our readers’ interest.
- Negatives
The Content Marketing Institute published advice about content marketing in 2019. They shared some great what not to dos with their readers. Sharing negatives can be help you find people who are passionate about a topic. These customers are more likely to read the negatives.
- Numbers
People love numbers. Research has shown that the use of numbers can boost open rates in emails and articles. Using numbered lists in your marketing campaigns can bring a positive boost.
- How Tos
How-To campaigns are great at attracting traffic. When someone researches how to do something, they are showing their intent clearly. Likewise, you can attract visitors with a specific need through how-to marketing.
- Remember That Catchy Jingle?
We all have a go-to song that pops into our heads at the best [and worst] times. Mine happens to be the Hello Mother Hello Father K-9 Advantix Commercial. When I needed flea and tick medication for my dog, the jingle popped into my head.
A 15-to-30 catchy jingle can easily become an “earworm” and get stuck in your head. A team of researches in the UK found three common traits surrounding earworms:
- They’re upbeat.
- They have predictable melodies.
- They include a surprising twist inside the melody.
- Bring Out Their Royalty With Noble Edge Effect
The noble edge effect talks about companies that demonstrate genuine social responsibility. People often rate a brand higher if they’re doing good in the world. Alexander Chernov, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management, conducted research demonstrating the positive effects consumers experienced when they learned about the impact a company is having on the environment.
It’s important to share these good deeds through third-parties like social media and the media versus advertising.
- Bring On The Humor To Become More Memorable
How often do you hear a joke and then share it later in our day? Why? Because we are more prone to remember things that make us laugh. Think about some memorable advertisement that stuck with you. I bet at least a few of them stuck with you thanks to their humor. If you’re ready for a laugh, check out some of the funniest Super Bowl commercials:
- Get Exclusive….With Your Customers
Entire industries are built around helping people improve their confidence. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have continued to shower and get dressed each day. Why? It impacts their self-esteem.
Knowing how important self-esteem is to your consumers can help you in your marketing strategies. Make your consumers feel special through privileges or perks-only memberships. SEPHORAⓇ offers Beauty Insider Savings for their dedicated following.
The above strategies are simple to implement but can have a huge impact on your marketing campaign. The most important piece is understanding your customers and analyzing real data to meet their needs. When you understand people, you can begin to utilize psychology and marketing together. Want to start boosting your revenue through tried-and-true marketing methods? Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our email marketing services!