Psychology Choice Customers Need Assistance

If there’s one subject marketers must study, other than marketing of course, it has got to be psychology (or social psychology to be more precise). In fact, marketing is all about understanding consumers’ psychology – how they make their purchase decisions and how you can influence it, how to get a competitive advantage, how to get their attention, and so on.

Psychology can explain why a particular marketing tactic worked out or fell short. It allows you to predict the outcome of a proposed marketing ploy by giving you a window into the minds of consumers.

And you will be able to apply your understanding of human behavior to come up with more effective marketing strategies.

Once you start studying social psychology and the science of human behavior, you will see that there’s a lot that you can use in marketing and content creation. Following are five psychology lessons that you can use to get more sales, but again, these aren’t the only ones.

Foot in the Door (FITD):

This technique suggests that you can make people do bigger things for you, by getting them to do smaller things.

Sounds a little vague, but it’s the same phenomenon that businesses use all the time in “loss leader” technique, in which a business sells a product at heavy discount in a bid to get new customers, and make a lot more sales later on.

You can also get the same effect by offering free trials. The idea is to make them say yes for something small. Once they do, there’s every chance that they will go on to make bigger purchases.

Perceived Expertise:

One of my personal favorite. Perceived expertise works by gaining customers’ trust and credibility by establishing yourself as an expert.

You can do so by sharing intelligent advice and tips related to your niche. Slowly, your customers will start to see you as an expert. That is why it’s so important for online businesses to have a blog and a strong social media presence. There’s no point trying to convince your customers through promotional marketing materials, because they won’t even pay attention.

Customers will be more comfortable buying from a seller they perceive as an expert. Are you doing anything to create that perception?

Showing them what they want:

It’s not really a lesson or technique derived from psychology books, but it’s a lesson worth its weight in gold, and it comes from none other than Steve Jobs, the marketing genius. Here’s what he has to say …

“A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them” – Steve Jobs

There are people who will agree with this school of thought, and there are some who won’t. But the argument certainly carries a lot of weight. People know their needs and problems, but they are hardly ever sure about the best possible solution, or the most suitable products. As a business, it’s your job to not only think and come up with the best possible solution, but to guide them towards the most suitable product, while keeping their needs in mind.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

Abraham Maslow’s theory suggests that there are five different types of needs behind the decision making process of consumers.

These needs are divided in five different levels. First we have physiological needs, which are the most basic ones like food, air, water, clothing, and shelter. Then we have safety needs, including health and well being, financial security, safety from different diseases, or accidents. Next is love and belonging, where we look for friendship, love, and family. Then there’s self-esteem and self-respect, and in the end, there’s self-actualization.

You don’t need to think too much about the order, but you must keep these needs in mind while working on your marketing strategy. Almost all businesses and products are actually meant to fulfill one of these needs. You must identify the needs that your products can meet or should meet, and as always you must keep your target group in mind.

The Paradox of Choice:

In his book “The Paradox of Choice – Why More is less”, psychologist Barry Schwartz argues against giving too many choices to customers.
Having too many choices complicates the decision-making process. This is something you might have experienced yourself, while shopping or ordering food in a restaurant.

For online sellers, it doesn’t mean keeping your inventory to bare minimum products. But try to make it easy for them to choose the right product. For example, have a look at this online furniture store.

See how they’ve asked simple questions and then cut down the available options, by suggesting the most matching products in view of their answers?

Psychology is not an exact science, because human behavior cannot be predicted, but it’ll certainly help you understand your customers. And understanding your customers is half the battle.