Understanding the psychology behind why customers make buying decisions can give you a great edge over your competition. Why do they come to you for a solution over others? Why do they go to others over you? You can then use consumer psychology to promote your brand and to increase conversions.

 

By knowing what goes through the mind of customers through different buying stages, you can anticipate their behavior and provide them with what they need. This in turn can go a long way towards building your brand and securing loyal customers.

 

Let’s take a closer look at some psychological strategies you can use to boost your sales.

 

The likelihood of impulse purchases

We have all been there where we’ve convinced ourselves that there will be no more unplanned spending, only to see something that we liked and completely neglect our resolutions. We went ahead and bought that item. Oh, the buyer’s remorse that can happen after those purchases.

 

Businesses can take advantage of the obsessive-compulsive behavior in humans to increase sales by promoting impulse buying. This can include using action words, providing a timeframe or deadline for a deal, and getting your product or service in front of the customer when they are looking for you specifically, even if they don’t realize this.

 

For instance, one clever way you do this is to use the word “now” in your advertisement. This creates urgency in the minds of the potential customers and causes them to think that if they do not act now they will miss out on any deals. If they don’t act now, what will they be missing later?

 

Asking for small requests

Keep in mind here that we are focusing on asking customers for a small request. The importance of this is that if customers agree to do something small for the business, they are more likely to agree to something else. 

 

This is called the “foot in the door technique”. By asking potential customers to sign up for a new trial, or for an email request, they are more likely to agree to a larger request such as making a purchase. 

 

Look at it this way… instead of going from step 1 to step 10, you take the customer through the various small steps until they finally purchase your products. It is drops in the bucket. After some time, that bucket will begin to fill up. 

 

And after all, there are 5 steps to making a purchase. These are recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase, and post-purchase evaluation – all of this is in the customers’ hands and no longer in the sales person’s hands. If you hide all the information, with no transparency, you will not be as successful as others that are open.

 

Visually stimulating marketing

Naturally, our brains are better able to process video much better compared to texts. This is not surprising in this age of social media as research has shown that posts that include video are 650% times more likely to result in reader engagement than those that only have text.

 

Secondly, it is important to understand how the different colors affect the human psyche and ultimately buying decisions. Colors play a significant role in impulse decisions and purchases so including the right colors in your products can make all the difference.

 

Photos also tell a much better story than just some text. Having some large text on a picture will give more context than a paragraph or two. Think of the popularity of memes; they are able to show a lot of context and information with only a few words and an image.

 

Another way to use visually stimulating marketing is by the use of language. Savvy marketers will use words such as guaranteed, 100% original, certified, loyal and authentic in their ads. This immediately causes a sense of trust and can prompt choppers to make impulse decisions.

 

Evoke emotions the right emotions your customers

Humans react strongly to feelings such as joy, sadness, and excitement. The clever marketer can use this to their advantage by crafting ads that stimulate such strong emotions in favor of the business. This can result in impulsive purchasing.

 

Secondly, self-esteem is important to everyone, and making people feel great is the best boost. By boosting people’s self-esteem, you can increase sales and promote your brand. For instance, marketers can help customers feel worthy and important by showing them all the benefits that their product or service will have to improve their lives. 

 

Another emotion a marketer can lean into is FOMO or fear of missing out. If your customer thinks that they will be left out of something, they are more likely to join, either by purchasing the item, signing up for your service, or joining up with your membership plan. 

 

Final word

Marketing is all about understanding customer psychology and what drives them to make purchases. The savvy marketer can then use this information to trigger impulse buying. Done the right way, it can greatly increase sales and conversions and improve the bottom line. But this should never be used to exploit customers. Remember, knowledge is power, and using it correctly will always make you a better marketer and salesperson.