4 Marketing Psychology Tips to Help You Connect with Consumers

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No matter how exciting your product or service might be, it is nothing without a solid marketing strategy that directly connects to your target audiences. While every audience has a differing set of psychographic and demographic indicators, at the end of the day, there are universal patterns of human behavior that can’t be ignored. This is where marketing psychology comes into play.

What is Marketing Psychology?

Marketing psychology is defined as the process of applying psychological principles to your business’s marketing tactics. An understanding of psychology helps you in gaining an understanding of the reasons behind a consumer’s thoughts and behaviors. It can also assist you in creating marketing campaigns that appeal to the shared human psyche.

4 Ways to Use Psychology to Your Advantage

Luckily, there is no need to be a psychologist to understand and apply basic psychological theories to your business’s marketing strategy! Here are 4 easy psychology tips to give your business a competitive edge today:

#1: The Scarcity Mindset

Somewhere in the depths of our instinctual brains, humans are programmed to fight for survival. This is attributed to the scarcity mindset, or the idea that we appraise items of scarce quantity as more valuable. In general, we are motivated to obtain resources or goods that are in limited quantity or won’t be available in the future. Tap into this innate mindset through creating a real or perceived sense of urgency to purchase your product or service before it runs out!

Ways to accomplish this in your marketing materials include:

• Integrate language and phrases that emphasize an urgency to purchase in the here and now, such as “limited time offer” or “one day only sale.”
• Create seasonal or limited-edition products or coupon codes.
• If you have a limited supply, list the number of products left in stock on your website.

#2: Color Psychology

When you think about certain colors, what emotions come to mind? It is quite common for colors to be associated with our emotional states, such as blue equating to sadness and red accompanying anger. One study that was curious about color’s effect on marketing found that 62-90% of consumers make a conclusion about a product or person based solely on its color! Because of this, color can be used to manipulate a variety of states, including appetite, mood, and levels of arousal.

Due to this incredible impact color can have, it is wise to be strategic with the colors you choose to market your product with. When choosing a color for your marketing materials, make sure to pinpoint the emotional response, mood, and perception that you want to elicit from your audience.

#3 Social Proof

Whether we like to admit it or not, seeing a cool product or service being used by others is likely to bring major FOMO! This can be explained by the social proof theory, or the idea that consumers are influenced by the opinions of their peers, celebrities, and fellow consumers to make lifestyle and purchasing choices. Using social proof in your marketing strategy builds audience trust in your brand and product, for 82% of Americans were found to ask for product recommendations before making a purchasing decision.

Three easy ways to capitalize on social proof’s effectiveness include:

• Integrate customer testimonials and quotes on marketing materials.
• Invest in influencer or celebrity sponsorships.
• Create a business Yelp page to allow consumers to leave reviews on their experience with your business.

#4 Rule of Reciprocity

In psychology, the rule of reciprocity is the notion that if someone does us a favor or provides us with a gift, we feel an intrinsic obligation to return the gesture. This theory can be applied to a variety of marketing strategies by offering customers more than just your product or service. When a business offers something for free or of value to their audiences, they are proving their commitment to improving the lives of their audiences. This could unconsciously motivate consumers to make a purchase.

Two ways to apply this include:

• Rewards with Purchase: Offer your consumers coupon codes, free gifts to choose from with a purchase, a loyalty program for them to join, and always thank them for making a purchase. This establishes that you are committed to going above and beyond the product itself, which can play a key role in motivating consumers to make a second purchase to return the generosity.
• Content Marketing: Blog posts, podcasts, Ebooks, and other forms of content that are free to consume can provide both entertainment and education before consumers even get to a purchasing point.

Connect with Consumers Today

Feeling inspired to elevate your marketing game? Test some of these psychological theories today! All in all, applying psychology tips will get you closer than ever before to the inner workings of your consumer’s thoughts.