Today I would like to look at the matter of persuasion. How do you get your prospects to take action?
I remember as a door-to-door salesman, my instructor often said that you must understand ‘why people buy’. It has a certain ring to it doesn’t it? If you know why people buy then you can gear your ads towards these ‘psychological buttons’.
Before I go any further, I would just like to mention that this is in no way ‘manipulation’. It’s just common sense that you don’t approach someone about an important decision when they’re angry.
Every wise wife knows how to place their husband in that ‘mood’ before they spring their special request on him!
Even kids wait until their parents are in a good mood before they tell them the cost of the special outfit that they MUST have.
Having cleared the air let’s look at these important principles.
- Scarcity – People go after those opportunities or products that are limited in availability. That’s why you must show in your ad that your offer is for a limited time or in limited quantities. Field tests have shown that limited-quantity ads pull much better than limited-time ads. Procrastination is still a large part of human nature, so there’re always those who would wait until the last minute to act. If the prospect knows that the item is in limited quantity, there’s no way of determining when they’d be all sold out.
- Herding Instinct – Your prospects will better respond to your ad if you can show that people JUST LIKE them are responding. Just recently a high school senior knocked on my door selling magazine subscription for a college scholarship program. She used that number on me – she was sure to let me know that my neighbors had bought subscriptions! We all just want to keep up with our neighbors. Needless to say, I fell for it. Whether I would read the magazine is another story.
- The desire to pay back a good deed – If someone thinks that you’ve given him or her something of value then there is a strong desire to pay you back the favor. One example is that of AOL that marketed their service by giving away those floppy disks. They literally blanketed the USA with these floppy disks. They still do but now with CDs and 1000 hrs free etc. Do you think that this is working for AOL?
- Authority – People will listen to you if they see that you have authority on your subject. There was a TV commercial that used this line – “My son-in-law recommended that I take _____ for my heartburn. Why should I listen to him you say? He’s a doctor”. You may think that you do not have authority on what you are advertising. In this case appeal to authority figures – quote from a respected journal, expert … you get the idea.
- Commitment – If someone has made a PUBLIC commitment to something then they are more likely to follow through. Find some way of getting someone to make a commitment and he or she’s more likely to follow through than if they did not. That’s why any motivational trainer would tell you that it’s important to WRITE your goals down -you are more likely to complete them!
- Your ‘likability’ – People would respond to your offer if they like you. It’s hard to sell to someone to whom you have no relationship even if it’s just a ‘perceived’ relationship. This is one of the most overlooked areas of marketing on the Internet.
- The eternal “what’s in it for me?” principle – As your prospect read your ad this is the question they are seeking an answer to. Make sure that you give them plenty of answers. Appeal to their desire for recognition, wealth, better health, and security -yes all those nice things on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – all the way up to self-actualization. (Check out a Psychology 101 text book if you are not familiar with Maslow -you will glad you did.) But do not forget to appeal to their FEAR of pain and loss.
