But, as millions of businesses compete to dominate the advertising space, traditional techniques aren’t as appealing as they used to be to today’s shoppers.

Appealing to a savvy audience doesn’t mean looking for new magical techniques – a good understanding of human psychology is all you need.

Here’s how you can influence people to want your brand, say yes to your services and become loyal customers – all by modernising Cialdini’s work.

1. Reciprocity

The term reciprocity is based on the idea that people feel inclined to give back whether they realise or not. For example, customers are more likely to tip waiters that leave mints with the bill compared to those who don’t.

Advertisers use this principle all the time, from offering free access to their blog all the way to creating insightful Ebooks for their customers on pages called squeeze pages. See Search Engine Journal’s brand new SEO for Beginners, for example:

Their content team didn’t have to create this. But because they’re offering it for free and without expecting anything in return, their readers will be much more likely to interact with the site in future. It’ll also enhance the existing content on their site, drawing people in whenever they want new techniques and news.

It’s one of the quickest, simple and cost-effective ways to influence your customers, all by utilising the knowledge and resources you already have.

For some more depth on this, have a read of our article on squeeze pages.

2. Commitment/Consistency

The principle of commitment suggests that people are much more likely to commit to something that matches their previous behaviour. In other words: if you can get people to connect with your brand once, even on a small scale, it won’t be as difficult to convince them to buy.

A smart way to do this is by offering your website visitors something relatively small and free such as a how-to guide. The small commitment will make it easier for you to follow up with a paid product or service, as they’ve basically already told you they’re interested. That’s all it takes.

In terms of consistency, Ruben Ugarte, Data Strategist at Practico Analysis said that instead of focusing on customer behaviors, companies should focus on changing user habits.

He continued: “For example, a company like Spotify will design playlists to change your mood. Whenever you feel tired or lethargic, you might find yourself reaching for that Spotify playlist. This is a powerful way to ingrain a product/service into the regular lives of people.”

You can see this in action with gym memberships. The reason people never cancel is because they’re committed to the idea of going; they want the vision they have of their gym-going selves in their head to come to fruition.

3. Social Proof

Social proof argues that people are more likely to use or buy something when it’s recommended by other people. Cialdini defined it as people doing what they observe other people doing.

A good example is the Help To Buy ISA which closed to new accounts at midnight on 30 November 2019. Millions of young adults opened an account with as little as £1, all because they’d been influenced by others who had done the same.

Getting people to trust you is all it takes. The aftermath isn’t important – as you can see here:

If you want people to buy into your brand, you just have to show them other people are doing it. Reference case studies and ask people to share their feedback through different channels, just like Adzooma did here. 93% of people say online reviews impact their buying decisions, so it’s extremely important to highlight them where you can.

Even better, tell them how many happy customers you’ve got, share user-generated content on social media and push your positive reviews wherever you can. It all contributes to getting more customers.

You can also use a platform like Trustpilot to get star ratings into your ads, and get 15% off all Trustpilot plans as an Adzooma user.

4. Authority

People are swayed by credibility. If someone is debating between your service and someone else’s, they’re much more likely to go for the one with more experience, qualifications and partnerships.

But, being part of the modern world also means people give more weight to brands that are endorsed by officials, celebrities and influencers. According to data, businesses are making $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing. So it won’t only bring you a good return, but if someone with a large social following uses your product, it’ll assure potential customers it’s worth the money. It’s social proof x10.

Ellen Degeneres x Samsung is the perfect example:

Samsung said Ellen used their mobile phone organically, which, whether true or not, still makes it appear as though she approved of the brand. Of course, it received an incredible response.

You don’t have to use social proof to this scale, but having suitable social media influencers promote your product can work extremely well. Even if it’s getting them to repost one of your Instagram stories, having their approval goes a long way in making other people believe in you.

5. Liking

It goes without saying that people are much more likely to say yes to people they like compared to people they don’t. But according to Cialdini, a key element of liking is more about having things in common.

Social media marketing is an excellent way for you to show common interests with your customers. Use your brand personality to get on the same level as them, share content you know they’ll enjoy and make your brand seem much more human-centered. Look at Wendy’s for example. They’ve gained over 3.7million followers on Twitter alone for their sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek tone.

But, keep in mind that having common interests is about much more than enjoying the same humour. It’s about showing you’re empathetic and considerate, and especially now, that you’re dealing with the crisis in the right way.

Chris Norris, Managing Editor at SleepStandards echoed this idea, stating that customer service can also make or break your brand.

He said: “Even if you have a product that’s not doing well, having great customer service can turn it around. Customer service data can capture the pulse of your customers’ reactions to your product or service, and the areas of improvement. It can also serve to boost your brand and possibly upsell your other products and services while creating rapport with your customers.”

6. Scarcity

Ever not been able to find a product in your size and wanted it so much more? This is because scarcity increases desire.

Opportunities seem much more valuable when there’s limited availability. If there’s only the front row seats left in a cinema screening, the film must be good. Can’t book in with a certain hairdresser? Damn. They must be the best.

Or, maybe the movie trailer was framed in a way to look more enticing than it actually is and the hairdresser you’ve found only works 3 days a week. Just because something is limited it doesn’t mean it’s better, it just makes you think it is. It’s the way things are marketed that really makes a difference. Look at 3 live PPC ads using scarcity here.

Use this to your advantage in marketing by making people feel like they’re going to miss out. If you’re running social competitions and giveaways, put a short time frame on them and remind people of the prizes until there’s 10 minutes to go. If you’re giving away a free Ebook, say there’s only 100 available. No one will know whether they’re the 20th or 230th download, but a whole lot more people will rush to your page.

Become an influential weapon

These 6 techniques will help you appeal to a wider audience, persuade previous customers to repurchase and get ahead of your competitors. If you want to influence people at the exact time they’re searching for your business, applying behavioural economics to PPC should be next on your list.

You can also look into digital tools to help monitor customer behaviour, using the data to influence people at the right part of the funnel. For Mark Carlson, Chief Strategy Officer at Laughlin Constable, this is a method that works particularly well.

He said: “Using digital tools at our disposal, it’s easier to monitor and influence customer behavior than ever before. We know who the target audiences are, where they consume information, and how they move from one digital property to another.

“Through user testing, we know how to make it easier for them to get what they want. And tracking of online behavior patterns tells us what advice or prodding it will take to get them to say yes – to act on the impulse we’ve put in front of them.”

By using these techniques and finding what works best for you, marketing to your customers through this difficult time will be made much more simple than you think.

For example, Starbucks is more expensive than a lot of local cafes.

But, because they have a strict price image and they articulate themselves to a particular group of businesspeople and influencers, people buy their drinks regardless.

If you can make your brand feel part of a certain lifestyle and instil confidence that it outweighs the cost and benefits of other options, behavioural economics states that you will make people convert.

What is behavioural economics?

Behavioural economics draws on psychology and economics to better understand real customer behaviour. For example, people are more likely to make optimal choices that will provide them with the greatest satisfaction and value. In economics, rational choice theory suggests that people use rational calculations to achieve an outcome that serves their best interests.

However, people don’t always make rational decisions. This theory is often criticised for assuming people have selfish motivations, ignoring social interactions and being culturally biased. After all, humans are often emotional and easily distracted.

To settle this argument and analyse fundamental influences, behavioural economics principles such as the Endowment Effect, Heuristics and Social Proof, aim to identify the effect that psychological factors have on our economic decision-making.

How does it relate to business and PPC?

Barush Labunski, Founder of Rank Secure puts it nicely:

“All online advertising models are designed as such to relate it with everyday problems and tailored according to the behaviour of the people in response. For example, Dunkin’ Donuts differentiated itself from the ambience and product name of Starbucks. Then it increased its prices and charged more for their services. This created an impact in behavioural economics of the people and to differentiate from the masses, they started buying from Dunkin’ Donuts.”

By understanding what motivates a person to move in one direction as opposed to another, and anticipating irrational biases and needs, business owners can ultimately improve the customer experience.

For example, one theory suggests that including a few cheaper options among the products you’re actually trying to sell increases the likelihood of consumers choosing the expensive one. This is because they will view the cheaper alternative as a loss rather than a gain, compared to the product being shown on its own.

In comparison, the best PPC campaigns draw customers in and make them imagine experiencing the benefits of the brand. Advertisers use A/B testing to determine what their customers engage with, just like behavioural economics analyses behaviour, so that they can too improve customer experience.

If ads that included positive testimonials achieved 40% more clicks, the advertiser would have a clear idea of how to increase their conversion rate. In this instance, social proof and PPC advertising work hand in hand.

Consumer advocacy and behavior is paramount for a company to be able to fully achieve its market objectives, regardless of the market setting or location. If a company can track consumer behavior and steer it’s marketing efforts towards that behavior, the result will be a surge in demand and eventually market domination.”

Ian E. McFadden, D.Sc., FACHE, President/CEO, HRM International, Inc.

Apple vs. Sony

Apple uses behavioural economics to dominate the market, build their brand and make people feel part of the Apple tribe. If you’ve got an iPhone or other Apple product, you’ve bought into the luxury hierarchy that Apple breathes.

The image Apple has built its brand upon is enough to influence people under the Halo Effect. Every iPhone, iPad, Mac and watch has exactly the same sleek packaging, upgrading each time with just a different product number. For this reason alone, there’s never an inch of doubt that the devices will live up to their expectations.

You can see this in their PPC ads, which, rather than being extremely sales-like, influences customers through Choice Overload.

“Only at Apple.”

Of course. Because if customers want to buy into the culture they’ve created, they need reminding that there is only one appropriate choice. And that’s Apple.

Laurie Wilkins, Founder of CallOutdoors, told us that these cognitive biases are what sets a clear divide between Apple and its competitors.

She said:

“The brand itself produces products of great quality but misses the mark where the Halo Effect is concerned. Sony has created a disjointed brand that doesn’t offer its users what other brands do.

They have not suffered an annual decline in sales as a result of quality – in fact, the XZ Premium (launched 2017) was one of the most powerful phones on the market at the time, but the brand did not offer its consumers the opportunity to integrate this amazing piece of tech into their lifestyle (and other tech entertainment products) and subsequently saw sales figures unbefitting of such a great device”.

This has never been the case with Apple.

Apple’s products are designed to slot into their customers’ lives, giving them a sense of belonging as soon as they make a purchase.

But, you don’t have to be just like Apple to achieve success. Apple has built an empire using a number of behavioural economics that could work for your brand. If you want to make a statement like them, you just need to focus on the details. Here’s a variety of behavioural economics that could improve your business.

Applying behavioural economics to PPC

As the CEO and Founder of MotionCue, Osama Khabab tells us, “marketing is all about using customer behaviour to your advantage. These days we have so much data available that it can be used to market the right product to the right audience at the right time.”

To help you use this data effectively, each of these examples will give insight into PPC ads that are running right now.

1. Social proof

Social proof is the theory that customers look to others for what to buy and what services to use. If your friends or family regularly use a certain brand, you’ll be more likely to use it yourself.

To apply social proof to your business, all you have to do is show that other people are buying, using and recommending your products. Make people feel like they’re part of your club, that they’d be silly not to try your brand when so many other people are happy with it. Reassure customers that they can trust you, using the power of reviews to get them on-side.

You have to let people know they aren’t the only ones making the decision. Tell them exactly how many people are using your brand and how many happy customers you’ve got. The result of this will be a feeling of envy or comfort, both of which make people want to be involved.

See this example from The Protein Works:

Seeing an excellent star rating, large number of reviews and that they’ve shipped over 1 million orders is the perfect tactic to dramatically increase sales through reassurance.

The only way you can get star ratings into your ads is by using a platform like Trustpilot, and you can get 15% off all Trustpilot plans if you’re an Adzooma user.

2. Framing

Framing is all about the way you present information. For instance, saying your product is 80% fat-free rather than 20% fat will make people believe it’s a healthier option.

Supermarkets that organise products according to customer preference, rather than price, are also more likely to make high-end sales. If customers could clearly see the higher price points of their favourite items amongst cheaper options, they might see people make more rational decisions.

The same applies to marketing and PPC.

Here’s an example from MuscleFood:

The brand has used descriptions and sitelink extensions to show the benefits in multiple ways.

For example, “Fill Your Fridge With Healthy Products” assures people all of their shopping will be taken care of and they won’t be tempted by unhealthy snacks. “All Healthy Under 600 Calories” essentially says the same thing, but is framed in a way that makes people visualise eating fewer calories than usual. It’s what makes people convert.

To make sure you aren’t missing out on opportunities like these, the Adzooma platform automatically generates smart suggestions for your account. Add new keywords, add a promo extension and test new headlines all in a few clicks:

What’s more, it’s completely free to use. See what opportunities are waiting for you here.

3. Scarcity

If you want to urge people to buy your products, you need to make them think they’re going to miss out. Brands have been doing it on their websites and in their advertising campaigns for years.

From businesses that sell mattresses:

To bedroom furniture:

And women’s parka coats:

It’s an excellent technique to include in PPC headlines as they appear at the top of the search results whenever people are looking for products. If no one else has a sale on, it could be the nudge they need to convert and the benefit that sets you apart from other brands. For more inspiration, take a look at these 5 brilliant PPC campaigns.

Whether it’s a seasonal promotion or you’ve just got a few items left after Black Friday, it all contributes towards getting more sales.

4. Anchoring

Anchoring is a cognitive bias based on the idea that irrelevant information impacts decision making. It was first discovered by Tversky and Kahneman in 1974 when analysing the concept of rationality.

In one experiment, participants were asked to estimate the percentage of African nations that are members of the United Nations. Group A was asked if the figure was higher or lower than 35%, and group B was asked if it was higher or lower than 65%. Participants in the first group gave much lower estimates, proving that people take surrounding context and information into account without even realising.

Similar effects have also been found in pricing, negotiation, lotteries and gambles, and more, causing the principle to become an effective advertising technique. If people are influenced by irrelevant information, creating an environment where A always looks better than B will help to sell your product.

See this example:

16% less doesn’t sound a lot on its own, but being able to see the new price compared to the old one makes it much more desirable.

Become a behavioural economics success

Businesses have used patterns in customer behaviour to improve sales and reinforce their brand image for years. From Apple using a number of psychological factors to Starbucks exchanging irresistible coffee for extremely high prices, behavioural economics plays a huge part in motivational purchases.

By using customer behaviour strategies in your marketing, you will be able to obtain a better idea of what customers need, how they interact with your products and how you can convince them to buy.

As Chans Weber, Founder and CEO of Leap Clixx concludes:

“Customer behaviour and PPC work hand in hand, especially with very limited word counts and SEO capabilities. Website designers and SEO specialists need to think about how to quickly encourage users to become paying customers.

Whether that’s through the use of adjectives to simply describe the product or service or make it seem as if it’s a necessity to purchase the product or service as it will improve the way they live.”

“Usually a temporary condition in which a writer finds it impossible to proceed with the writing of a novel, play, or other work.”

The debate

Is ‘writer’s block’ a real psychological condition or are ‘stuck’ days just a natural part of the writing process? How has a global pandemic impacted writers who now find themselves sat at home, looking for inspiration in a bleaker world?

Through digging into psychological experiments, looking at its origins and speaking to writers of note, let’s take a look at how the landscape of this regularly debated topic is shaping up, particularly during COVID-19.

“Are you kidding me, this lockdown has put a rocket up my derriere… Having time to absorb social media, marketing blogs and even read a few books my mind has been exposed to so much info and this has helped me come up with an abundance of ideas.”

Brett Downes, Haro Helpers

The history of writer’s block

If we read the work of some early 19th century writers, they frequently mention struggling with invisible influences that control their creativity or their inabilities to think of fresh ideas.

The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge declared: “Yesterday was my Birth Day. So completely has a whole year passed, with scarcely the fruits of a month. O Sorrow and Shame… I have done nothing!”

Not only is Coleridge highly relatable, but he shines a light on the earliest mention of writer’s block… in 1804. When asked by his friends why he couldn’t simply snap out of it, he quipped “You bid me rouse myself. Go, bid a man paralytic in both arms rub them briskly together, and that will cure him.”

Despite being a problem centuries earlier, the term ‘writer’s block’ wasn’t coined until 1947 by psychoanalyst Edmund Bergler. The first description in the Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis states “its earliest manifestation may be feelings of insecurity regarding one’s creativity, the development of a certain terseness of style, and looking to others for ideas for future projects.”

“When I get writer’s block, I first ask myself why. Sometimes I’m just creatively exhausted, because I have written everything out of my system; in that case, I just leave my desk, go out and meet new people and read new work, and replenish the well of ideas.

If I’m scared, then I write directly about the thing I am most afraid about, getting up early and typing straightaway so that my mind is uncluttered and free from doubt. So often, the key to my best writing is not certainty but vulnerability. The more open I am, the better the work, and the more freely it comes.”

Musa Okwonga, poet, journalist and musician

A cognitive process which can’t be helped

The primary defence of writer’s block is that it’s not something you can control: it happens to you. You get no say. In this sense, it’s like the common cold – you just have to work through it.

“Covid-19 has absolutely affected my writing. Between working from home, home-schooling and chasing a baby, we are all home so much that I am needing much more time to keep things clean and running! By the time the baby settles and the 7yr old nods off to sleep after extra hugs, I really don’t have the mental energy to start writing seriously on any project.

Trying to keep track of zoom schedules and book fairs, day job and side hustle, I find that it’s impacted me because I spend my free time trying to get some quiet solitude to restore my spirit. It’s hard to hear the writing muse whispering in one’s ear when Elmo is constantly playing between a hundred other things!”

Carrie Aulenbacher

The counterargument to this is that you can defend yourself from germs with the right precautions… But then can you impact your susceptibility psychological conditions?

Notable authors who have suffered with it include Stephen King, Harper Lee and, of course, George R. R. Martin (yes, we are still waiting). If professional writers experience this phenomenon, does this add or detract weight from the argument that it exists? In one respect, they have a lot of experience so are more qualified to answer. However, they also have tremendous pressure to perform; often their fan bases demand sequels, not only quickly, but one’s that are bigger and better than the last.

“It must be a psychological process where your brain is processing it in the background. It’s also why sleep is so good for it, and a new morning especially productive. If under time pressure, I’ve developed this thing where I literally just put down the most basic way of writing. You then look at it and think “I can do better than that” and that gets your brain whirring. You at least won’t be offering the worst possible stuff, and that is mentally helpful.”

Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer for The Independent

Backed up by science

There have been a few experiments which offer some insight into what writer’s block may be.

The ‘Thinking Can Cause Forgetting’ experiment:

• Though the experiment was conducted back in 2011, it explored the concept of mental fixation in relation to creative problem solving – one of the closest things to writer’s block.
• Participants were asked to solve Remote Association Tests e.g. they were given the words ‘square’, ‘cardboard’ and ‘open’ and had to find the word that links them – in this case ‘box’.
• As decoy words were introduced, they caused the mind to trip over itself.
• Those that were successful had the ability to block out the decoy words and background noise.

Key takeaway: They concluded that the ability to filter out ‘the noise’ – whether that’s literal or your own mind telling you what you’re writing is terrible – is imperative to overcoming creative obstacles.

Filtering out ‘the noise’ is evermore difficult now as our social media, news channels and conversations are all filled with the same topic. Stepping away from continuous consumption of the latest updates will not only do wonders for your writing but your mental health too.

The ‘Creative Constraints’ experiment:

• This study in 2017 conducted a similar test but this time used functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to see what physical neural activity was taking place.
• Researchers discovered that memory plays a big part in our ability to be creative suggesting creativity is based on the ability to draw upon previous ideas.
• But this also means memory hinders our creativity as we get stuck in old ideas easily which causes us to feel blocked from any form of inspiration.

Key takeaway: The findings determined that the mind gets stuck in a place where memory recall inhibits the creative process.

On the rare occasion we can distract ourself from the pandemic, once we recall what is happening around us, it can feel even more shocking. The absurdity that we are no longer free to go where we wish and with whomever, is an alien concept. And so more of our brainpower is dedicated to dealing with our new, smaller environments. Expecting the same levels of productivity amongst this is optimistic at best.

An excuse for sub-par writing

“For me, when it comes down to it, I don’t believe in Writer’s Block. I saw Neil Gaiman speak a few years ago, and one of the topics he discussed was Writer’s Block. I’m paraphrasing what he said, but basically it was this: “I don’t believe in Writer’s Block, but I believe in getting stuck. One is beyond your control, and the other is your own damn fault.

And over the years, I’ve come to agree with him more and more. We can imagine reasons for being stuck, but we can dig ourselves out, too. It can help to have multiple projects to work on, to give yourself a break from the existing one. I find that to be the most helpful. Even if you’re just outlining a new story or article, refocusing yourself can be a huge relief from that pressure.”

Darren, Shop LC

There’s an argument to be made for writer’s block being a collection of factors that impact creativity. For example, fatigue, loss of interest, lack of inspiration and too high expectations often collide, making it hard for even the best writers to produce a masterpiece. We can also add enforced lockdowns to this list, although they are admittedly far less frequent. But there’s a difference between struggling in an overwhelming way to write and suffering from a psychological condition which physically stops you from writing.

For Polly Courtney, it’s about knowing the bigger picture:

“Working out right at the start what this book (or script) is about, it’s big theme, the main arc, the depth of the character(s)… and then when you know all that, when it comes to writing a chapter (/scene), it just flows, like real life, because you know exactly what that sort of a person would do or say, and where you need them to get to in that part of the story.

I have actually never had writer’s block… I definitely have bad writing days, when a scene just doesn’t feel right… but invariably that’s when (I later realise) one of the big-picture pieces isn’t right – like a character’s motivation doesn’t ring true, or I’ve put her/him on an unrealistic trajectory.”

Polly Courtney, Author of “Golden Handcuffs” & “An Unsuitable Game”

Alternatively, while some people believe writer’s block does exist, they don’t necessarily think it’s a psychological condition. Whatever its cause, it is not unexplained or uncontrollable – it’s just inconvenient.

The lines between writer’s block and other mental issues such as depression and anxiety may also become blurred.

Both types of condition share similar symptoms:

• Feeling shame, guilt, worthlessness, or powerlessness
• Loss of interest in activities or hobbies
• Short term memory loss

If this is the case, then ‘writer’s block’ is part of a bigger problem. Worse still, the treatments are not the same so it’s important to be able to make the distinction. Treating your depression like writer’s block isn’t going to do you any favours.

Whilst people don’t explicitly say writer’s block is depression, this argument does open up the possibility that in some cases it is a psychological condition – just not under the name ‘writer’s block’ – and that in others it’s just a stemmed flow of creativity.

“What has been falsely labeled as “writer’s block,” in my opinion, is, in many cases, actually anhedonia, a symptom of depression that I observe repeatedly and treat, in my patients, through psychotherapy. Anhedonia is a marked loss of interest in those activities that were once passionately sought after, for the sheer pleasure they once afforded the participant. 

This tendency to avoid one’s passion, like writing, for example, due to lack of interest and motivation can be addressed by teaching my patients (whom I actually prefer to regard as mental health athletes), to make lemonade out of lemonade.”

Bruce L. Thiessen, Ph.D., aka Dr BLT, Licensed Clinical Psychologist 

How to overcome writer’s block

Amongst the debate, there are voices offering helpful tips on how to overcome the problem, whether it is labelled as ‘writer’s block’ or not. These will apply both now, during this crisis, and when we head back to our normal lives. It is likely we will struggle again as writers to put words to document as the world shifts once more.

The most popular one is to take a break from technology. After all, there’s a lot to be said about how technology impacts the imagination. This can be difficult when many of us sit at computers every day but giving yourself ‘thinking’ time is really important.

“One productivity booster that seems to be working is deleting Twitter and Facebook apps from my phone, and trying to stick to a short time only per day for browsing those sites.”

Peter Murphy, AFP Journalist

“I found that listening to classical music in sound-canceling headphones while writing helps with creating content for work. It helps me flush out the outside noise and calms my mind so I can just focus on the words I am typing.”

Imani Francies, Health and Wellness Expert 

For some, “writing through it” works. Just get anything out on the page. Put that inner critic that pipes up after every word telling you it’s crap in the corner for a while. Tell yourself that no one on the planet is going to read it, so it doesn’t matter.

“I think the most important thing is to force yourself just to write something. So if you’re in the middle of trying to write a novel, then write an article, write a diary entry, write anything. But there should always be something you can write – just keep writing and write through it.”

Darren Richman, Journalist for The Independent

Time-box what you are doing and come to an agreement with yourself regarding when certain tasks will be completed. It always helps me get things done faster and more efficiently.

Kevin Miller, CEO of The Word Counter

COVID-19 has impacted everything, so it’s not difficult to see why many of us will be struggling. We should make allowances for ourselves.

For some, we’re used to writing in different environments which cannot recreate in the home.

“I’m used to writing at my favourite cafe. I do it for the ambience but mostly because my blog site is about all things coffee. During this lockdown, it’s been harder to focus. I work outside the house and now that I’m home 24/7, I feel sluggish and in no mood to write at all.”

James Bullard, Founder of Sound Fro

And we’re not going to get that back until the world returns to normal. So for now, writer’s block or not, we just need to find a way to cope.

A favourite phrase of mine is: “you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

Because it’s true: if you have something to work with, you can start to shape it into something better. If your page is a barren wasteland, you’ve got no hope really. At least if you produce a turd you can roll it in glitter.

“I hope this email finds you well during these unprecedented and uncertain times.”

They don’t compel me to read the rest of it and, in fact, highlight how tough the pandemic is (as if we didn’t already know). It’s one thing to be aware but another to feel overwhelmed by it all hence why it’s so important to look after your mental health. So I’ve compiled a list of 16 tips you could use to help manage your mental health as a digital marketer during COVID-19.

1. Check in with people

This one can be difficult if you feel like who want to curl up into a ball and not talk to anyone. And to some degree, I’ve felt that way and done the same. But it can be a great relief to talk to the people closest to you about something – anything. Whether you need some reassurance after being furloughed or you could do with speaking about everyday life, the weather, and your favourite tv shows, turning to someone you can rely on can really change your mood.

In contrast, if you don’t really have the energy to speak to people you know (for the sake of explaining things or feeling like a burden), surrounding yourself with good people can be enough. This might be as simple as speaking to people on Twitter or replying to the odd post, but I guarantee you’ll feel refreshed and just a little bit better for getting something off your mind.

2. Reduce, rinse, repeat

Being stuck inside for most of your time does come with some advantages. Boredom will inevitably set in and you’ll start to actually see the house you live in and realise how lucky you are to live in your home, or “wow, I need to get rid of stuff” (unless you’re one of those minimalists).

You won’t be able to take stuff to the charity shops at the moment, but you can always get rid of the disposable rubbish you’ve accumulated. And while you’re at it, give the place a clean. This works great as a destresser and to take your mind off things whilst also allowing you to think, work, and live without as many distractions. In my opinion, less clutter in the room means less clutter in the mind.

3. Make a budget

Yes, I’m talking about the M word. It obviously depends on the situation you’re in, but if you can, being stuck indoors provides a great opportunity to save money. Even if it’s £5 or £10 a week that you’d normally spend out of procrastinating, it’ll all add up in the long-run and help make a difference. A good place to start is to make a budget. Be honest, realistic, and see where you stand.

For example, I’m saving money on public transport as I’m not travelling to work but my council tax payments have gone up. Despite this, I’m still able to assess my finances and see where and how I could potentially cut back on commuting when the social distancing restrictions are lifted. It’s all about prioritising

If you need help, there are budgeting apps that can help as well as banks like Monzo that come with budgeting facilities.

4. Make a playlist of feel-good music

There’s nothing like a good playlist to get you out of a funk. The music doesn’t necessarily have to be “feel-good” in the bright, high tempo sense; just as long as it makes you feel good and helps you escape the real world for a little bit. I highly recommend Deep Crawl’s awesome SEO playlist on Spotify for some SEO-related songs (including some of my own selections).

Listening to music releases endorphins, dopamine and serotonin in the brain, which can lead to feelings of happiness and joy. Music therapy is also an option for those with disabilities or injuries that need it as part of their recovery.

5. Make a playlist of funny videos

If you’d prefer to laugh, you can always make a YouTube playlist of funny videos. I’ve started adding a lot of videos to my “Watch Later” playlist and working my way through them, whenever I need a little cheering up. Much in the way that music can make us feel happier, visual stimulation can do the same. Laughter is the best medicine and all that.

6. Do some form of exercise

Before lockdown, I was going to the gym three times a week mainly to improve my mental health and it was working. Needless to say, things haven’t been quite as active at home. But you don’t need a gym membership to work out, nor do you need it for the necessary discipline.

There are plenty of workout apps and YouTubers offering free workouts to keep you active. And it’s not all about weight loss – exercise has other benefits including combating mild depression and anxiety.

7. Create a workspace for yourself

If you’re fortunate enough to have the space for a dedicated working area, I strongly suggest you take advantage of it. Why? Because working in bed won’t necessarily get you in the mindset to do your best work – it might feel cosy at first, and much better than maybe being in the office, but your energy levels won’t be as high as they would if you got up. You’d be surprised at how productive you can be at a desk rather than slumped amongst your duvet and pillows.

Environmental design psychologist Dr Sally Augustin says that making your brain feel comfortable in its surroundings is the main focus when making a clear and tidy area for your workspace. That can include something like a white noise soundtrack to promote concentration and trying to get natural light in your room or using “cooler-toned light bulbs” to help your brain tell the difference between your work area and the rest of the house. But for those who don’t have a dedicated room, any clear space can help with minimal physical and auditory distractions.

You can even try things like:

• Turning your laptop or computer off when you’ve finished work and move to a different area of the house
• Going out on your lunch, even to the garden, just to replicate your usual routine in the office
• Opening a window to let some fresh air in (if that’s an option)

Little changes can go a long way to prolonging your comfort.

8. Take regular breaks

One of the biggest things I don’t do while working from home is take regular breaks. But, as I’ve realised, our eyes need time away from your screen to prevent eye fatigue, headaches, and even nausea.

There are also other benefits to taking breaks from work such as combating “decision fatigue”, boost motivation, and make you more productive. It can also help your memory – much like decluttering a room, breaks can consolidate your memories and “tidy up” your brain, ready for your tasks when you return to work.

Plus, from me to you, we actually deserve breaks at work. there’s a reason we’re given them, and a much bigger reason as to why we should take them. Our brains need fresh air and our bodies need to move – sitting at a laptop or computer for 9 hours straight isn’t good for anybody. Especially during this time.

9. Do the things you’ve been putting off

We often procrastinate because we think we have the time to do things later. But when something like a pandemic forces you to stay indoors everyday, you suddenly realise how uncertain life can be. That’s not to say you must use every waking minute doing something but taking a step back and thinking about the things you’ve been avoiding can ignite a little bit of motivation.

For instance, what have you been putting off and why? Do you honestly have the time to make those things happen now? It could be as simple as clearing out your underwear drawer or as difficult as you thought ringing to make an appointment would be – now to realise it was so much easier than anticipated. before you know it, another task is ticked off the list.

10. Create a to-do list

My memory isn’t what it used to be and to-do lists have been a godsend during this pandemic. It helps me to stay focused and organised and I’ve seemingly been avoiding things that don’t actually bring me much joy, i.e. binge watching netflix and scrolling through social media.

These are things that feel much more enjoyable when you’ve actually done something productive, though some days it’s okay to sit and do nothing. Finding the balance is key, but to-do lists can really be a helping hand.

There are tons of apps for that sort of thing but my favourite is Todoist (RIP Wunderlist).

11. Cancel plans if you need to

This one is a little controversial as there’s often a debate over whether you should cancel plans with people or stick through it in an act of resilience. But I think it’s more nuanced than cancel or don’t cancel.

My advice:

• If you need to cancel/postpone/rearrange something, and it’s possible to do so, do it.
• If you can’t, and it’s safe to do so, explain your reservations or concerns so the other person or people are aware and can accommodate for any requirements you need.
• If you’re regularly cancelling plans, there may be something more serious going on that you need to address. There are people you can talk to if that’s an option to you, such as trusted friends and family or an external services like the Samaritans or CALM.

The important thing is not to feel guilty as that will compound your feelings even more.

In most cases, if you’ve made plans with someone or a group of people, you must have a decent enough relationship to consider it in the first place. Which, in turn, means they should respect your decision and avoid forcing you to do something you don’t want to. Good friends will tell you to put yourself first, not make you feel like you mustn’t.

12. Be conscious of your language around mental health

There’s been a lot of talk about mental health in the workplace over the last few months and for those working from home, communication will be through services like Skype, Google Meet, and Zoom. That can be quite a shift for people who prefer in-person contact and so using this technology comes with pitfalls – namely misinterpretations.

On the subject of mental health, it’s important to consider the language you use in emails and on video calls that may make people uncomfortable or feel excluded. A few of my tips are:

• Avoid words like “crazy” or “mental” when describing something unexpected – consider alternatives like “ridiculous” or “unbelievable”, for example.
• Be wary of how you talk about other people, even if they aren’t in the conversation.
• Don’t be offended if someone calls you out and don’t attack them for it. Take it as an opportunity to learn.

It can be difficult but calling out language you feel is discriminatory can prevent it from becoming more normalised. By being more aware and actively inclusive, you can help create a safer environment for everyone.

13. Give social media a break

Social media has its good and bad points. It can help you keep in touch with friends across the world, enjoy memes, and find useful news depending on where you look. But it can also be a toxic place and not the kind of environment you need if you’re struggling with your mental health.

If it’s all getting too much, consider logging off or deactivating if the temptation to go online is too strong. But, if you just want to readjust/rework (not sure what the word is) your timeline, you can:

• Use Twitter lists for a more condensed experience
• Go through your following list and unfollow people who make you feel down, uneasy, or uncomfortable
• Mute people if you need some time away from their tweets

Whatever you do, remember it’s your timeline, not anybody else’s.

14. Try ASMR

Something else I do that gets a bad rep is ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) but it works for some people. It’s a neurological experience conjured by listening to soft voices, resulting in tingling sensations in parts of the body.

It doesn’t work for everyone, and could end up being an irritant, but studies have been carried out assessing the sensations and what they can do to the brain.

15. Feel your feelings…

There’s a tendency to mask your emotions to conform to a cult of positivity. Do you feel pressured to do self-care, smile away your feelings, think of others who have it worse so you shouldn’t feel bad about yourself? Then try something different: just feel. If you’re frustrated or overwhelmed, just feel that and be in that space for that moment and let it ride out. Think of it like a storm that comes and passes. There might not be a rainbow right after but your mind will be a little clearer and you’ll be better prepared for when it comes back.<br> <br> As simple as it sounds, letting all of your emotions out in one go, or at least the majority of them, will allow more time and space for you to enjoy later on. With less distractions, you can work on all of the things we’ve mentioned so far, making even the smallest of changes to improve your mental health. it all makes a difference.

16. …But don’t be hard on yourself

My last piece of advice is to take it easy. It’s tough out there but that doesn’t mean you have to be tough on yourself. I’ve noticed on social media people suggesting you must use all this “free time” to improve yourself, learn new things, be productive. But just trying to survive and be okay can be a struggle so if you’re doing that right now, you’re being productive.

Doing what you can do is enough, more than enough in fact.

Stay home and stay safe

Whatever you decide to do, the number one priority during this pandemic is to stay home and stay safe. Wash your hands regularly, wear masks if you have them when you go out, keep 2m apart, and only go out when you absolutely have to.

The relationship between psychology and marketing

As humans, we’re ruled by our emotions, thoughts and desires. Just as psychology investigates these motivations, marketing tries to sway them. That’s why understanding the human mind is a fundamental part of nailing any advertising brief.

An evolutionary perspective sheds light on the reasons we react in certain ways. Our reaction to certain colours may stem from instinct: the colours blue, black and purple cut our appetite perhaps due to previous warning signs of them being poisonous.

There’s really a lot to be said for sensory marketing. Big brands capitalise on colour association: fast food chains know that the colour red suggests speed; grocery stores are known for pumping ‘fresh bread smell’ into the shop to encourage people to buy more (it works.)

A study also showed that making your home smell like citrus increased the value buyers were prepared to offer. The association with cleanliness that the smell evokes causes people to think of the property as better. Similarly, hotels such as Ritz Carlton purposely make their lobbies smell a certain way to evoke a homely familiarity through smell.

The magazine itself

The Psychology and Marketing Journal was established in 1984 and published by John Wiley & Sons. The editor-in-chief is Ronald Jay Cohen. It is a peer-reviewed journal which attracts scholars and authority figures to write on topics which they’re passionate about. It was started to offer an academic perspective on how psychology was becoming increasingly incorporated into advertising.

Whilst most articles surround psychology and marketing directly, there are special issues which discuss topics such as artificial intelligence. The journal’s earlier work was simpler, related to traditional advertising and based on data sourced from face-to-face surveys in shopping centres. Today, most studies centre around digital marketing and information sourced online. It is the job of the editors, such as Anil, to look for peers to review submissions and enhance studies.

The most powerful reason people buy

If you want to make someone buy your product, what should your focus be? The price? The design? The website? The customer journey?

Well, of course, it really depends on the product. If you’re a high-end Swiss watch company, the selling point is going to be the features. Make the most of its appearance with high-quality images to show it off. The price is something that can fall to the bottom of the page once you’ve got someone’s emotional buy-in.

If you’re selling something cheaper, small things such as the colour of the ‘add to basket’ button can have a big impact. It’s well known that the cheaper the product, the less time it takes for someone to decide if they’re going to buy it or not. If the button is green, people take that as another subconscious nod to go ahead with the purchase. However, when the button is made red, the colour alone causes the person to reconsider, even for a fraction of a second.

“If you are buying a phone online and the price is $100 with free shipping or $90 + $10 shipping, the first always gets chosen as people don’t like the idea of paying extra, even though there’s no difference.”

Anil Biligihan

Breaking the cycle

“I’m teaching a class to marketing professionals and they’re all fascinated by learning how to utilise marketing tactics within their own companies. But, they admit that after class, they just go back to what they know. They find it hard to break out of what they’re comfortable with.”

Anil Biligihan

Interestingly, people don’t remember the prices of things. They split things into ‘high price’ and ‘low price’ when there’s a comparison, but don’t recall the exact figure. This means if you market yourself as a cheaper alternative, even if you slowly increase your prices afterwards, people won’t realise; their habits will keep them coming back for more.

People also aren’t very rational. They’ll drive to a bookstore 20 minutes further away to save $20 on a book, but won’t factor in the extra time and petrol it’s cost them instead.

Building a long-lasting relationship with your audience

In the same way that we make friends with people who are like us, we like to buy from brands we share similarities with. Brands with the same values as us appeal more because they help to affirm the image we have of ourselves (more on this with confirmation bias.)

Offer value for free, and make them a fan of what you’re doing before they’re a customer. Brands that do it well are the ones that are honest.

Increasing perceived value

You have to provide value. That’s imperative. The equation for value is:

The perceived value of the product – the cost of the product = value

A lot of marketers think that in order to increase product value, you must decrease the price. However, you don’t have to do this. You can keep the price the same and instead increase the perceived value of the product. Furthermore, the benefits don’t have to be utilitarian, rather they can be hedonic or social. People now, in particular millennials, are a lot more socially conscious and responsible. They are more likely to buy from companies that are environmentally aware, for example, because they perceive them as better brands – they care more than just about themselves.

People instinctively want to belong to a group. So brands that create this sense of belonging naturally succeed. Apple does this really well. Their products make you feel part of something bigger. Their UX is not only intuitive, but it makes people’s lives easier. This sense of belonging also trickles down to microlevels such as iMessage. When messaging someone with another iPhone, your messages are blue. If not, the text messages are green. Simple things like this create a sense of inclusivity. You may prefer to use an android phone, but small things like this which make you feel excluded from a social circle are sometimes enough to make you conform.

If you create a product that not only works but makes people’s lives easier in other ways, then you create something which is harder to replace: ease. Apple makes their products sync together beautifully; they work together so well that it’s easier to continue buying Apple products. The value that they create by understanding people and their lives is what makes their technology popular.

Playing with emotions

For anything over a few quid, emotion is selling the product first and foremost. With expensive products such as a Swiss watch, the advert always centres around the emotional side. If it’s over £50,000, that’s a huge consideration. But, if the advert is saying “it’s not just your watch, but a watch to hand down over generations”, suddenly you’re not thinking of the enormous price tag, but rather your great-great-grandchild. A family heirloom. Framed with emotion, spending the money is an investment. Worthwhile. After all, the cost is being split across generations.

Furthermore, if you make a price easier to pronounce (use fewer syllables) then more people will buy. This works even if the figure is written down and being bought online, so never actually spoken aloud. So we shouldn’t assume decisions are made primarily due to the price tag – often this is barely a factor at all.

“Information comes in bitesize chunks as that’s all we have the attention span for. Rather than reading product descriptions, people read other’s opinions. If you see someone you aspire to be using a product on social media, often that is all that’s needed to encourage you to make the purchase.”

Anil Biligihan

The impact of technology on psychology

Technology has changed everything: the way we shop, date, travel, everything. Not only do we live in a world filled with convenience, we’ve become more impatient. Where before getting something delivered to your home was helpful, we’re only interested today if it can arrive the next morning. 2-hour shipping is already a thing. The world is getting increasingly demanding and attention spans are almost nonexistent. Technology provides instant gratification and means that if we get bored we can simply move on.

The impact of this on imagination is noticeable. With everything so visual, gone is the need to be able to create something in your mind’s eye. We’re always connected and have access to entertainment 24/7. So naturally, our tolerance for monotony is lower.

“A lot of people don’t read the articles that they share. A study proved that you could fill a piece with gibberish but post it with a catchy headline, and people would still share it. This is because people don’t have the patience to read long copy, so never actually click on it, but want to be seen to be engaging with the right things.”

Anil Biligihan

The Internet has changed how many people we can compare ourselves to. Our once small social circles can now span continents, and things such as wealth and opportunity mean nothing when you’re comparing yourself to a model on Instagram. Technology has fueled the sense of dissatisfaction that can manifest within ourselves, as well as given ground to mental issues such as anxiety, depression and FOMO. More and more people are taking digital detoxes: to step back from screens and the online world now seems to make us feel more human. It’s as though we have to take time to be our true selves rather than the online versions which we continuously promote.

At least 50% of our communication is none verbal: facial expression, body language, tone of voice. These all play a part the meaning of what someone says – something which is stripped back when in a digital universe.

Keeping psychology in mind

In a digital-first world, it’s more important than ever to take the time to discuss things in person, and focus on the psychological impact of marketing, as well as simply harnessing it for our own benefits.

Thank you to Anil for his time and expertise on all these topics. Be sure to read the Psychology and Marketing Journal to see how to keep psychological thinking involved in your marketing strategy.

“We are trapped in an involuntary merger of personal necessity and economic extraction, as the same channels that we rely upon for daily logistics, social interaction, work, education, healthcare, access to products and services, and much more, now double as supply chain operations for surveillance capitalism’s surplus flows.”

Life has always been bewildering and labyrinthine. It’s not a 21st-century phenomenon.

Humans’ minds and bodies have always had to meander through societal shifts, establishment whims and internal exasperations. Yet the technological revolution that we currently find ourselves within the midsts of has brought with it a torrent of flummoxing and unnatural complications. Less than 15 years into the social media age, we’re already seeing a backlash.

Though our lives have become more and more intertwined with technology, a steady shift in the desire to appear detached from the online world is taking place as people become more “motivated by seeking new experiences and engaging more in self-examination”. This is what Robert McCrae and Paul Costa coined ‘Openness to experience’, one of the traits in the Five Factor Personality Trait Model.

However, though the positives of self-awareness and mindfulness are numerous, the opening of the mind to the world and to the reality of life can be a daunting task. For those that have lived in darkness and apathy from young, the introduction of new-age trepanning can lead to ever more lonely, confusing avenues.

Emotional accessibility isn’t something everyone’s born with. British people are well known for their inherent reservation, and the Christian belief system that guides the western world works only to exacerbate this trait. The way mindfulness works isn’t always compatible with western society, especially in a generation where social media is ripe.

Indeed, as the tentacles sprouting from the significant torso of social media’s body continue to take an ever-tighter grip of society, the heart of the ‘Openness to experience’ theory starts to manifest an uncomfortable contradiction. Not only are our relationships, our culture, and the media cycle being shaped by this behemoth, but so is our worldview. Self-examination and the lust for new experiences is increasingly being observed through the lens of social media.

The ‘Openness to experience’ trait is one that is proven to be subject to corruption through vanity. Traditional media has long had this impact on a small percentage of the population, but with the rise of social media, mini celebrities have been made of us all. And with every post we are all performing.

Vanity eats away at the true meaning of openness. How much this is affecting our psyche is yet to be proven, though the rise of the influencer — particularly the lifestyle and travel blogger — and the clamber of others to reach this zenith, is striking. The vacation for inner peace and cultural experience wanes, while the vacation for dopamine-inducing-likes grows.

Addiction and retention

Many studies have been conducted down the years equating personality traits to social media use and addiction. In the 2016 paper, Big five-personality trait and Internet addiction, Kayik et al reported that all personality dimensions had a significant effect on Internet addiction — individuals who were less open to experience, agreeable, extraverted, conscientious, and more neurotic reported higher levels of internet addiction. Marino et al in 2016 also found that being less open to experience, less emotionally stable, and less conscientious is associated with Facebook addiction. Ershad and Aghajani discovered in 2017 that similar personality constructs are associated with Instagram addiction too.

Openness is an aspired trait. It helps us to stand out as something different, it helps us to be noticed, and it helps us to show the world that we are interesting. Yet the fact that those who are less open to experience are more susceptible to social media addiction creates an unhealthy contradiction, one that spawns a desire to lust after something which inherently doesn’t feed the soul.

The way social media gobbles up everyone in its path only intensifies the problem. Those who gain nothing but small dopamine hits get taken hostage, doing things that they don’t ultimately enjoy for likes, while the yearning to compare one’s self to peers, acquaintances, and celebrities lingers on in the background.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2019, Alexandra Mondalek, a New York fashion reporter said, “I was putting too much weight into who was viewing my Instagram. I would worry about how a post was performing instead of making important calls. I felt a certain pressure to make a brand of myself, and there was so much anxiety in that.”

It’s not something one can easily leave behind either. Social media apps have been intentionally designed, in the same way as cocaine and heroin, to alter the way the neurotransmitters operate within the brain.

Infinite scroll, a feature on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, allows us to endlessly swipe down without ever getting to the bottom of the page: created to enhance our addiction and allow no time for our brains to catch up with our impulses.

The ‘like’ system has been equated by teenagers to winning money or eating chocolate, such is the rush of dopamine.

“A region [of the brain] that was especially active is a part of the striatum called the nucleus accumbens, which is part of the brain’s reward circuitry. This reward circuitry is thought to be particularly sensitive during adolescence.”

Taken from The Power of the Like in Adolescence: Effects of Peer Influence on Neural and Behavioral Responses to Social Media [link]

When Facebook’s founding president publicly stated in 2018 that the company “set out to consume as much time as possible” and was “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology” it made headlines worldwide, though 18 months on, governments and legislators have made no concerted effort to modify social media platforms. Targeted advertising has received plenty of flak, though the day to day whirring behind the machines of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube have received little introspection.

A pandemic left in its wake

Despite the inaction, there is little doubt that social media is playing havoc with our mental health. Melissa Hunt’s study from 2018, titled No More FOMO, found that people who limited their social media use to 30 minutes a day felt significantly better after a three-week period, reporting reduced depression and loneliness. Jacqueline Hogue and Jennifer Mills’ 2018 study found that “young women who were asked to interact with a post of someone whom they perceived as more attractive felt worse about themselves afterwards”. And And Mai-Ly N. Steers’ study from 2018 found that the “link between social media and depression was largely mediated by the social comparison factor”.

Though it undoubtedly connects the world, the dominant and all-conquering nature of social media has allowed the behemoths of the industry to completely overlook human welfare.

It’s unlikely that Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook with ill-intentions, yet his creation has brought with it a world of pain, spinning a whole generation into a full-blown identity crisis. Meanwhile, his workforce, inevitably in this late-capitalist world, have used this pain and bewilderment to their advantage for monetary gain.

The openness with which many use social media has left untold vulnerable. Not just to surveillance capitalism, or even bullying, but to themselves too.

As we all wrestle to find out who we really are, in times of trouble or times of tranquility, the large, onlooking eye of social media continues to loom above us with unrelenting judgement.

The once dark avenues that were wrongly navigated towards are now constantly alight.

There’s no room for error, individualism.

For us, likes are happiness. For them, time is money.

But that’s not the whole story.

Customers can stay loyal to your brand if they like you. But the real way to retain your customers isn’t through conscious decision making – it’s by creating habits.

With habits, your customers will be programmed to keep using your business or product, guaranteeing return sales.

What are habits?

Habit is a word that’s used a lot, but not always understood. So, to make things clear:

By unconscious, we don’t mean that you do them in your sleep. We mean that they happen without any conscious thought behind it. You don’t think about performing a habit. You just do it without even realising why.

For example, if someone says “good morning” to you while you’re out on a walk, you’ll say it back. There’s no thought process behind it, it’s a habit to say morning back to someone when they say it to you.

If someone is offering to make a drinks round, I will automatically say “yes please!” and hand them my cup. I don’t stop to think about if I actually want the tea or not. I’ve conditioned myself into a habit of just accepting them.

But, with some of my team members’ reluctance to put the kettle on (I’m not going to name names here), I don’t think it’s such a dangerous habit to have.

You need to engineer habits within your customers that will automatically keep them coming back for more. It’s less about loyalty, but tying your brand to unconscious behaviours.

How habits are formed

One of the best ways of explaining how habits are formed comes from the book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal. If you haven’t read it, I would recommend it for further reading after this article.

They use the ‘Hook’ model to describe how habits are created. This is broken down into 4 different stages, as follows.

1. Trigger

Habits are unconscious behaviours that need to be caused by something. The trigger is the cue to carry out this action.

They are arguably the most important part of setting a habit. Triggers can be a wide range of different things, but generally come in two different types:

• Internal triggers: This can be something like an email, or an app notification.
• External triggers: These triggers exist outside of your product, and can be something like a conversation about your product or even a time of day.

You can’t control external triggers, so you might want to consider building internal ones for your company.

To find the best trigger point for your business, you need to think about why customers use your product in the first place. Are they using it at a particular time or to help solve a specific problem?

If so, build your triggers around this. The more natural and helpful your triggers are, the more likely the habit will stick.

2. Action

This is the actual action and habit that people carry out once triggered.

But don’t just get confused thinking that it’s just trigger > action. There are four stages in this cycle, not just two.

All actions are done in anticipation of a reward.

If we go back to my tea example from earlier, the trigger is someone asking if I want tea. The action is me saying “yes please!”. But that’s not a solo action – it’s done in anticipation of the reward of a nice, hot cup of tea.

Habits don’t become habits if people don’t get anything from them.

3. Variable reward

Did you know that levels of “the happy chemical”, dopamine, increase in your brain when you’re expecting a reward?

The idea of getting an award literally makes you happier. It’s not the act of receiving it itself – it’s the anticipation of getting one. The best way to describe it is like a kid at Christmas. Remember how amazing it felt to know that Santa was coming – or to see your pile of presents before opening them.

Rewards literally make people happy and motivate them to take action. It’s the age-old way of telling your customers what exactly is in it for them before they buy.

Hooked outlines 3 different types of reward:

• The tribe. This might also be known as social rewards. It’s driven by our need to feel connected to others and social reinforcement. It’s the same reason FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is a powerful motivator.
• The hunt. This is due to our need for resources. It’s compared to how we used to hunt for food – only now it’s been replaced for a need for material resources and information.
• The self. This is any kind of personal gratification award or a way to overcome personal obstacles. It’s the same satisfaction you might get from completing a Sudoku puzzle, with nothing to gain other than the pleasure of knowing you’ve finished it.

The point is that rewards don’t have to be the same to form a habit. They can come from a range of areas, the most important part is to ensure that you are offering one that’s enough to convince your customers to carry out the action.

4. Investment

The investment stage isn’t just about money. Customers can also invest their time, data or effort into your product.

This stage is an important one in forming habits because the more people invest in it – the greater the chances it will have of sticking. What’s more, the more people invest, the more they value the product.

It’s called the IKEA effect.

As most of you will have probably experienced, IKEA is a Scandinavian furniture company that flat pack its furniture. This makes it easier for you to transport it home but means that you need to dedicate a few hours of your time building your furniture.

The IKEA effect was named in a 2011 research paper, which claimed: “that labour alone can be sufficient to induce greater liking for the fruits of one’s labour”. Fundamentally, this means that the more time and effort people put into a product, the more they’ll love it.

People will value their IKEA furniture much more than other store-bought items – because they had to assemble it themselves. That extra bit of labour keeps people coming back for more. That, and the promise of hot dogs.

The gamification method

Gamification is the process of integrating game mechanics into products. The idea is that the product now becomes more of a game, giving you rewards for completing actions and passing levels.

Generally, gamification has mixed results. It’s a great way of bringing customers into the product but doesn’t always offer enough substance for users to create habits. That’s because, at its core, gamification is a novelty. And novelties wear off fast.

Let me use a real example to illustrate this, with the mood tracking app Daylio. On this app, users could track moods, activities and make notes about their mood, giving more insightful data and statistics to understand behaviours. Having recently launched all our data on mental health, this feels like a good example to use.

Daylio uses a gamification process giving you daily ‘streaks’ you don’t want to break and using achievement badges for users to collect. There’s also a set of ‘secret achievements’ that you can’t see until you unlock them, making you want to explore the app more.

Unfortunately, these rewards are few and far between. And as soon as the gratification for that wears off, there wasn’t much reward back in it for me.

The app went from fun to something I had to do. As soon as that switch happened, my effort level went. The habit didn’t take and unfortunately, I was lost.

This was of course just my experience of it. It could have been enough for other users to form the habit. But for me, the gamification model wore off too fast to make an impact.

Triggers are essential

One thing that gamification gets wrong is that there’s often a reward – but no trigger.

You cannot build habits without a trigger. To reemphasise this point, let me remind you of Pavlov’s dog experiment.

Dr Pavlov discovered classical conditioning by accident. He was performing an experiment on dogs, measuring their salvation in response to being fed. But doing this experiment, he noticed that the dogs would salivate before the food was brought, responding to the sound of his assistant’s footsteps.

Digging deeper, he started ringing a bell before the dogs received their food. The dogs then associated the sound of the bell with their food. On hearing the bell, they started to salivate.

It was an unconscious action. The bell was the trigger, the action was the salivating and the reward was food.

You need to find a metaphorical bell to ring to build your own habits.

Habits in action

One of the easiest ways to show how habits work is through apps like Candy Crush and Evernote.

Both of these apps have free versions that customers don’t have to pay for. Yet, they’re incredibly successful at converting paid users. In fact, the Candy Crush games collectively made more than $1.5 billion in revenue from microtransactions in 2018.

The secret to this is habits.

By letting users play or use the app for free, people get used to them. They form habits. Then, because they’re so used to it, they don’t mind spending more to upgrade their account or paying to continue the habit.

It’s not just apps where habits can be formed either.

I get my eyebrows waxed every couple of weeks. And this is now a routine habit for me, because of the way they’ve programmed me to book.

I book and pay for my next appointment while I’m having the current one done. This is a habit, with a trigger of finishing the current treatment. When it’s done, I’ll automatically walk to the counter and pay for the next one. They even have my card details on the system, so the whole process takes a minute. I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s a habit to just get my phone out and jot the next appointment in my calendar.

21 isn’t the magic number

There’s a common myth that it takes 21 days to form a habit. This just isn’t true.

It comes from plastic surgeon Dr. Maxwell Maltz, who once published this quote:

“These, and many other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.”

That quote does not mean a habit is formed in 21 days. It means that is the minimum amount of time he had noticed for people to adapt to change.

In actual fact, it can take 66 days for a habit to be formed. That’s over 2 months. But it varies from each person, the habit and how often they do it. If you do something every day, it’s more likely to stick quicker than something you do every week.

66 days. Now, it’s no wonder free trials that are only 7 days long don’t work. You haven’t got time to form a habit.

Aim for small habits

Small habits are easier to form.

It’s easier to get someone to do a 5-minute task than it is to encourage someone to run marathons. It’s why people give up on exercise after the first week of January after setting ridiculous goals to completely change their diet and hit the gym 5 times a week.

The best habits are made from small changes.

There’s an app called Fabulous, designed to help you create rituals and build habits. On the free trial, it will take you through a pre-programmed ‘journey’ that only starts with one, small goal: drink a glass of water when you wake up.

It slowly gets extended out with more habits. But the point is to start small and make little changes.

The only problem with this app is that you only get a 7-day free trial before you need to pay…. Which then undermines everything else about the habit forming system. It’s a shame they didn’t apply what they knew about habits to their own product.

Build habits and keep your customers coming back for more

If you want to keep your customers coming back for more, you need to build habits. Keep in mind this advice doesn’t work for every business.

You don’t need to form habits if you’re selling conservatories or cars as these tend to be big, one-off purchases. Getting into habits is more about small repeat purchases. Like grabbing a coffee from a certain store or paying for a monthly subscription.

Habits involve a trigger, action, reward and finally, investment. They take time to form and take as long as 2 months before they become a truly unconscious action.

However, building successful habits will add untold potential for your business. Customers will stay loyal and buy from you, not just because they’ve had a good experience, but because they’re programmed to do it automatically.

First created in 1962, the brand taught us an expert lesson in how to appeal to the mass market by selling a desire to belong to a community. In this case, an upper-class, dinner party hosting community where no mint was too thin.

You see, the delicate thinness of the After Eight mint was a big part of its appeal and perceived ‘upmarketness’. But it wasn’t just that.

The individual wrappers (added to help stop leaking mints spoil the entire pack but accidentally elevating the ‘luxury’ of the brand), the carefully designed packaging, and the early TV ads that oozed high-class status were extremely effective.

They all came together to make ordinary people feel that by buying the mints, they too were part of the elite.

And ultimately, that’s what sealed its future.

Sure, the desire to belong to the upper echelons of society may have waned over the years. And the mints themselves may no longer have the same luxurious perception of years gone by.

Yet, over 1 BILLION mints are still made every single year and shipped to 50 countries around the world.

Why? Because so many of us want the social acceptance that being a good host brings. (Ok, we’ll admit that After Eight mints are rather tasty too!).

There are layers of complexity in this but it’s essentially just a basic human instinct to belong to and be accepted by the herd.

And that instinct is something many luxury brands use to their advantage. Whether you’re buying a Rolex or a Rolls Royce, you’re buying a status symbol. An object that helps you feel you ‘belong’ with that social class and increases your perceived social acceptance.

But they’re multi-million-pound brands. What about small and medium business owners? How do you work out who your herd are and how you can market to them effectively?

Know your herd

Essentially, the herd is whatever social group your target audience feels part of. For a handful of brands with universal appeal, the herd could be the general population. For others, the herd could be much smaller and number just a handful.

Either way, the rules are the same: people want to be liked by the other people in the herd. They want to buy, think, and say similar things to other people in the herd.

Indeed, conformity is a subject that has been studied by psychologists for decades. Take this clip (below), covering an experiment by Asch in 1951, as an example.

Apple is a great example of how conformity works in the real world.

For many people, buying the latest iPhone isn’t just about upgrading their tech. It’s about being an Apple user and having an affinity with all the other Apple users out there. If they don’t own the latest device, they may feel they no longer are accepted by the group and may begin to feel left behind.

And that’s where the fear of missing out (FOMO) comes into play.

In marketing, you’ve probably heard about FOMO before. It’s often a term that’s attached to an explanation about the importance of scarcity of a product. While that’s absolutely true, few people are talking about the fact that the fear of missing out is simply another example of people wanting to be part of the herd. We’ll come back to this later.

When marketing to the herd isn’t herd marketing

At this point, we need to make something clear. There’s a world of difference between ‘herd marketing’ and ‘marketing to the herd’.

Herd marketing is when you follow what everyone else does. Your competitors start offering free shipping, so you do too. Then they put all their focus on emphasising the low-cost of their product, so you do too.

In both cases, you have no idea if your business will benefit or suffer from your decision to copy your competitors. That’s why it’s foolish to simply be a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ marketer.

Marketing to the herd is a different beast altogether. You’re not ‘copying’ anyone. Instead, you’re using techniques that appeal to that desire to fit in and follow the herd.

And this isn’t something that’s reserved for multi-million-pound advertising campaigns. Whether you’re large or small, you can embrace your visitors’ wish to be part of the herd by using a few simple techniques on your website and landing pages.

How to unlock the power of the herd on your website

We’ve discussed how brands such as After Eight and Apple have successfully used the built-in human desire to ‘belong’. But the fact is, anyone can use the same principles to help boost the conversion rate of their website.

Here are six things you can add to your website to take advantage of your visitors’ desire to belong to a herd.

Testimonials and reviews

When was the last time you read a review before buying something? Chances are, it was pretty recent. Sites like Amazon have made reading reviews one of the staples of the consumer diet. In fact, in one survey, 92% of respondents admitted they read at least one review before making a purchase decision.

Why do we love them so much? It’s not just about checking a product does what we need it to or that it meets a certain quality standard. By knowing that lots of other people have had good things to say about a product or service, our decision to buy is justified.

Celebrity endorsements

In a world of instant celebrities and social media influencers, it should come as no surprise the power an endorsement can have for a product or brand. If you’re in any doubt, just ask Snapchat who once saw £1bn wiped off their share price following a negative comment from reality TV star Kylie Jenner.

But it doesn’t have to be a massive A-lister to get your attention. Anyone who your target audience can relate to is likely to have an impact on your brand and conversions.

Industry awards

And the winner is… often the company who keeps winning industry awards. You see, there’s nothing quite like the vote of confidence an award gives a business.

It tells people the company can be trusted. It tells people the company offers something useful. It tells people that other people trust the company. And that last one appeals directly to our innermost desires to be part of something bigger.

Recent sales popups

Ever visited a website and noticed a popup that informs you how many people have recently bought the product you’re looking at? They’re called ‘recent sales popups’ and are popular on e-commerce stores and even airline and holiday websites.

Variations of recent sales popups include telling you how many items are left in stock, how many people recently viewed the item, and how long since someone last bought the item you’re looking at.

They are all forms of social proof that make you feel part of something bigger and help to alleviate any doubts you have about purchasing. If everyone else is buying it, you can’t be wrong… right?

The best ones also bring in an urgency to purchase.

Limited stock notifications

Remember when we discussed FOMO earlier? Nothing quite makes you feel the fear of missing out as like a countdown timer.

Limited time offers are commonplace, but the one we are most interested in terms of marketing to the herd is the ‘limited stock remaining notification’.

This is a marketing technique that works on multiple levels. Firstly, it creates scarcity and encourages an urgency to purchase before the product sells out. However, it also tells you the product is popular, that other people have bought it. If you don’t buy it, you’re not like everyone else, you’re not one of them, you’ve missed out.

Customer numbers

It’s almost certain that you’ve visited a website recently that’s boasted about how many customers they have. Whether they have claimed millions of people around the globe love them or thousands in their local area, this kind of social proof is very effective.

Precise numbers tend to work best as they are perceived as being less likely to have been made up. But the real point is that by talking about how many customers you have, it adds trust, credibility, and plays to the desire to belong to a herd.

Alternative ways to embrace the herd

So far, we’ve focused mostly on how to market to the herd using techniques on your own website. However, this isn’t the only way you can do it.

Social media is a goldmine when it comes to cultivating a community within your customer base. Whether it’s through your Twitter account or a dedicated Facebook group, if you can get your customers talking to each other, you can cultivate that herd mentality.

Naturally, this can take a lot of time and effort, but the rewards are worth it. A customer herd that’s engaged with your brand can lead to increased loyalty, reduced churn, and increased revenue.

Better yet, a happy herd means more of your customers helping to spread the benefits of your brand through word of mouth and positive reviews.

So, the next time someone offers you an After Eight at the end of a dinner party, smile to yourself in the knowledge they’re simply trying to follow the herd.

The reason for this is simple.

You cannot sell without tapping into human psychology. In fact, how well you do it determines your results. Whatever we’re buying, we all respond to simple psychological ‘triggers’.

Marketers can harness these to boost the persuasion level of their marketing. And this masterpiece contains a gold mine of seriously powerful and proven principles you can harness to boost the results of your marketing.

‘But it was published 35 years ago. Before online marketing’, I hear you scream.

Don’t worry, these principles are evergreen. They are not based on specific advertising channels, platforms or mediums – they are all based on simple human psychology.

Along with looking at other people’s research, Dr Cialdini spent 3 years “undercover” applying for and training at fundraising organisations, used car dealerships, and telemarketing firms.

Thanks to this, he was able to observe and document persuasion situations as they happened.

His findings showed that influence is based on six key principles:

1. Reciprocity
2. Commitment and Consistency
3. Social Proof
4. Authority
5. Liking
6. Scarcity

Let’s take a closer look at each one, with examples of how you can use them in your marketing.

Reciprocity

This principle is based on the fact that by nature we feel the need to return favours and good deeds, and treat others as they treat us.

If you do something for someone with no conditions or expectations, they are more likely to do something for you in return.

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“It’s the principle that suggests that people give back to you the kind of treatment that they’ve received from you. If you do something first, by giving them an item of value, a piece of information, or a positive attitude, it will all come back to you. The key is to go first.

If you smile at a stranger, you get a smile back. If you don’t, you don’t get a smile back. That’s essentially the rule. Whatever it is that you would like to get from a situation, you can increase the likelihood that it will be forthcoming if you provide it first.”

Have you ever received a direct mail piece from an insurance company which included a free pen? That’s harnessing this specific principle.

The free, unexpected gift makes many people want to reciprocate. Even if it’s just giving your offer serious consideration.

It obviously doesn’t work on everyone. However, it works on enough of the population to make a difference to conversions.

How can I use this in my marketing?

Offer free stuff to your potential customers!

Free content, research, or even professional advice, all take advantage of reciprocity. Many people feel beholden to act on your offer, thanks to your gift triggering the law of reciprocation.

Try posting expert tips, how-to guides, latest research, time-saving ideas etc on your website. Your visitors will be grateful for your free help and much more likely to respond favourably to your offers.

You’ll also have the extra benefit of new content for the search engines to index, attracting more potential customers.

A classic example of how this principle is used in digital marketing is to offer free reports, guides, samples, tips, videos, coaching etc, in exchange for a prospect’s email. Ask for an email without offering anything first and your response is usually much lower, as there is no act to reciprocate.

Look at what other people in your industry are doing to come up with ideas. However, try and be original so you stand out from your competitors.

And always test different things, as you never know what will bring you the best results.

Commitment and Consistency

As humans, we subconsciously feel the need to behave in a manner consistent with our past behaviour. And once we’ve made a commitment publicly, we’re far more likely to stick to our guns and deliver on it.

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“There’s a great study that I like to cite having to do with one restaurant owner in Chicago who was able to reduce the number of no-shows at his restaurant by just having his receptionist change two words that she used when she took a booking. Previously she said, “Thank you for calling Gordon’s Restaurant. If you have to change or cancel your reservation, please call.” That was the standard approach and it was producing about 30 percent no-shows.

If she changed to saying instead of “Please call if you have to change or cancel your reservation,” if she said, “Will you please call if you have to change or cancel your reservation?” and waited for people to say yes, as they all did, then no-shows dropped to 10 percent because people were going to be consistent with what they had said publicly they would do.”

In a famous study, researchers asked people to erect a Drive Safely advertising board in their garden. Very few people agreed, even though it was to support a Drive Safely campaign.

Meanwhile, in a similar neighbourhood, four times as many agreed. How come?

Simply because ten days previously, these people agreed to place a postcard in their front window supporting the Drive Safely campaign.

In a nutshell, the initial commitment of the postcard led to a 400% increase in those agreeing to the large board, because it was consistent with their past, albeit smaller, commitment.

How can I use this in my marketing?

Instead of going straight for the sale, try getting your visitors to commit to something small and preferably free, such as a video, report, guide or cheat sheet.

The simple act of accepting your free offer increases the chance of those visitors eventually seeing themselves as customers. And this change in self-perception means they’re more likely to be receptive to your follow up offers.

Simply break up larger commitments or actions into smaller micro-commitments. It’s not only less daunting, but it also triggers this principle.

You can also use multi-page forms to exploit this principle. Rather than have a large complex form, split it up. When a visitor fills in a few fields then clicks through, that’s a ‘micro commitment’.

If they are then presented with another page with more fields, the need for consistency drives them to complete it.

Social proof

This is based on the old adage, ‘There’s safety in numbers’. Cialdini defines social proof as simply people doing what they observe other people doing.

This principle is stronger when:

• We’re unsure what to do
• Those we observe are similar to us

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“People will be likely to say yes to your request if you give them evidence that people just like them have been saying yes to it, too. For example, I saw a recent study that came from Beijing. If a manager put on the menu of the restaurant, “These are our most popular dishes,” each one immediately became 13 to 20 percent more popular.

What I like about that is, not only did a very small change produce a big effect, it was entirely costless and entirely ethical. It was only the case that these popular items were identified as popular items. That was enough to cause people to want to go along with what they saw as the wisdom of the crowd.”

If a potential customer sees that you’re popular with other people, it can draw them towards you. They feel safer in a group and they are more confident that they’re making the right buying decision.

‘If all these people love them, they must be pretty good.’

How can I use this in my marketing?

There are many ways to harness this principle in your business, and the great thing is, they’re easy to implement.

• Show off the great reviews and comments about your products from current customers.
• Got a large number of satisfied customers, members or clients? Tell your prospects!
• Does your product outsell your competitors? You’re popular. Shout about it.
• Got celebrity endorsements? Let people know. ‘If Famous McFamous has bought this, it must be good’
• Has your product or business been mentioned in the media? Excellent. This kind of social exposure attracts other people.

You need to promote anything that shows popularity and customer satisfaction. This will help potential customers to trust you, as that many people can’t be wrong about you!

Authority

Have you noticed that we tend to trust and obey authority figures, even the objectionable ones? We simply can’t resist human nature.

Job titles such as ‘Dr’ and anyone in a position of authority or a uniform, immediately gain our respect and make us more likely to accept what they say. This is why so many health products have a doctor in a white coat endorsing them.

‘If a Doctor says it works, it must be ok’. The trust and proof implied when an authoritative figure is promoting the product cannot be underestimated.

In fact, you probably trust this information because the author of the referenced book is a doctor! A perfect example of the principle in action.

So here’s what the trusted doctor says about this:

“Authority refers to the tendency of people to be persuaded in your direction when they see you as having knowledge and credibility on the topic. What’s interesting is how many people fail to properly inform their audience of their genuine credentials before launching into an influence attempt. It’s a big mistake.

A crucial point here with regard to authority is I’m not talking about being in authority and using that lever to move people in your direction. There are all kinds of problems associated with that, including resentment and resistance. I’m talking about being an authority. Someone who is perceived as a credible source of information that people can use to make good choices.”

Authority is one of the most powerful principles on this list.

Psychologist Stanley Milgram’s famous study showed that test subjects were so deferential to the perceived authority of a white lab coat wearing experimenter, they subjected an unseen person with electric shocks!

Don’t worry, the screams were simulated, and nobody was actually hurt in the experiment.

How can I use this in my marketing?

You can add authority to your own brand by showing off awards you’ve won, books you’ve written, guest appearances you’ve made or high-level partnerships you’ve formed.

You can also borrow other people’s authority by hiring a professional to endorse your brand or product. It can be expensive, but the boost it can give to your results can pay off handsomely.

It’s hard to stand out in crowded marketplaces, but these kinds of things really resonate in people, as they raise you above your competitors.

Liking

According to Cialdini, how much you can be influenced by someone, depends on how much you like them. He also adds a key element of liking is having things in common with each other.

Here’s what the good Dr. has to say about this:

“No surprise that people prefer to say yes to a request to the degree that they know and like the requester. A simple way to make things happen in your direction is to uncover genuine similarities or parallels that exist between you and the person you want to influence, and then raise them to the surface. That increases rapport.

Similarly, uncovering genuinely admirable or commendable features of a person, and complimenting the person on those things will lead to liking. Simple things that we can easily get access to. Instead of burying them and keeping them under wraps, we mention those similarities, we mention those compliments that are genuine to provide. That establishes a rapport that leads to a yes.”

This is why good salespeople try to establish common ground with their potential customers.

If they can find a shared interest, hobby, sport, education etc, they can use that to build rapport and come across as human and likeable.

‘Hey, I’m the same as you. Buy my stuff!’

How can I use this in my marketing?

The best way to harness this principle is to ensure you show your prospects you’re likeable.

How do you do that? The best place to start is on your about page. It’s the perfect place to show off your human side and to bond with your potential customers.

A 2015 study [PDF] revealed that 52% of visitors visit your about page, after your homepage.

This is a sign that they want to know more about you. If your page has your business details and a few paragraphs of self-praise, you’re going to lose that visitor in a heartbeat.

People do not want to deal with anonymous brands. How can they trust you if you don’t show yourself? Why are you hiding? Aren’t you legit?

You can overcome this by including photos of the founders, the staff (Smiling of course), group activities, workplace events, premises, office dog etc. Think of it like your business profile, where you show off the human side of your business.

The more human you make it, the more the customers you are trying to attract will resonate with you.

Only one more point remaining, read it before it’s gone…

Scarcity

What happens when there’s a shortage of something? More people want it. There’s something about human psychology that makes us hate to miss out. Especially on a bargain.

Our fear acts as a powerful motivator to encourage us to act quickly. That’s why the suggestion of scarcity works so well to boost conversions.

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“People will try to seize those opportunities that you offer them that are rare or scarce, dwindling in availability. That’s an important reminder that we need to differentiate what we have to offer that is different from our rivals or competitors. That way we can tell people honestly, “You can only get this aspect, or this feature, or this combination of advantages by moving in the direction that I’m recommending.”

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) has driven many sales over the years, as it’s such a powerful force. The popularity of Black Friday sales, for instance, is staggering.

It is defined as a “pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. It is characterized by the ‘desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing.’”

It seems like if we can’t have something, we want it more. If something is scarce, we’ll pay more for it.

How can I use this in my marketing?

Obviously, we’re not suggesting you lie about availability. But you should announce when you have genuine limited stock.

Any of these will work:

• Genuinely limited stock
• Limited time sale
• Ending a product line and only a few left
• Limited introductory price
• Limited free bonuses

And here are some classic uses of this principle:

• Only 3 left
• Offer expires at midnight
• Only 4 seats left at this price
• Only 2 room left
• Last ones available
• Special deal
• 50% off – today only

Another benefit of this principle is the fact that when you announce low or limited stock, visitors who aren’t quite ready to buy, may feel the need to buy earlier so they don’t miss out. You can read more about this in our guide to psychological pricing.

Finally, please don’t ever fake scarcity. If you overuse it your visitors will see right through you.

Conclusion

All marketing is based on psychology. If you learn how to tap into this in a proven and effective way, you can seriously improve your results.

Dr. Cialdini’s research can be invaluable to your business if you learn to harness it. You may find some of these work better than others for you, so always test everything.

Remember that understanding buying psychology is the key to understanding your prospects. Familiarise yourself with these principles, learn to apply them and you really can improve your results.

For example, someone who believes vaccines cause autism might hear about a young boy suffering from behavioural problems shortly after the MMR jab. Despite major studies showing no link between MMR and autism, and millions of others seeing no side effects, the person will automatically give more weight to the story of the young boy.

In medicine, a doctor might seek information to support their initial diagnosis of IBS and disregard information indicating pregnancy. By focusing on the information they’re looking for – that stomach pain, bloating and nausea are symptoms of IBS – the doctor might argue that pregnancy symptoms are much more frequent and intense, leaving IBS as the only possible cause.

This isn’t by chance.

Despite our profession, personality, and everything our horoscope tells us, the chemicals in our brain fabricate incoming data to intensify our perception of the world: emphasising supportive evidence and minimising anything contrary.

To demonstrate this effect, Pines (2006) wrote about a 51-year-old diabetic male going to the emergency department with lower back pain. The patient reported being in severe pain for the seventh day after heavy lifting at work and said he’d been taking high-dose Ibuprofen every 6 hours.

The nurse told the physician:

“Mr W. is here again. He is here all the time requesting pain medicine and work excuses for lower back pain. He was even here yesterday and was seen by your colleague.”

Since no beds were available, Mr W. was examined in the hall and it was found he had muscle tenderness in his lower back. No rectal or perineal examinations were performed and he was given a new prescription for pain relief.

As the physician was only looking to prove his theory that the man was seeking medication he did not need, rather than objectively diagnose the man’s pain, he missed the problem that required immediate surgery.

In this case, confirmation bias could rest on four claims:

• Biased search, causing the physician to search for information that supported his existing beliefs and ignore what did not.
• Biased favouring, causing the physician to give more weight to information that supported his beliefs, and less to information that did not.
• Biased interpretation, causing the physician to interpret information in a way that confirmed his beliefs, even if it could be interpreted to contradict them.
• Biased recall, causing the physician to only remember the information that supported his beliefs and forget information that did not, or to incorrectly remember the information all together.

You can’t argue with science

Scientists from the University of London examined the part of our brain associated with decision-making, known as the posterior medial frontal cortex, suggesting it could underpin confirmation bias. The findings have since been published in the Nature Neuroscience journal, implying the theory is much more than its previous descriptions of a “curious case”.

During this particular study, 42 adults were split into pairs and asked to individually judge whether the price of real estate properties cost more or less than $1,000,000. Once they’d made a decision, they were asked to wager 1-60 cents to show how confident they were: 1 being not at all, and 60 being 100%.

Next, each participant was placed in an fMRI scanner, shown the properties again and reminded of their initial answer and wagers. They were then shown other people’s answers and wagers – said to be their partners – and asked to submit a final wager based on how confident they were about their initial answer.

The authors found that this brain activity increased for each participant when they encountered another person’s judgement that agreed with their own – significantly more than when they encountered another person’s judgement that disagreed.

It was also determined that when the partner’s judgement confirmed the participant’s initial assessment, the participants’ increased their final wagers and these wagers unknowingly matched their partner’s.

To investigate further, Ben Tappin, Leslie van der Leer, and Ryan McKay explored an alternative hypothesis to explain why we emphasise confirming evidence. They considered the possibility that humans have a desirability bias in addition to confirmation bias, and carried out a study to tell the hypotheses apart.

In the study, 900 participants were asked to state which candidate they wanted to win the American election, and which candidate they believed was most likely to win. This separated the group into two: those who believed the candidate they wanted to win was most likely to win (e.g. the Trump supporter who believed Trump would win), and those who believed the candidate they wanted to win was, in fact, less likely to win (e.g. the Clinton supporter who believed Trump would win).

Both groups were then given recent polling data emphasising that either Clinton or Trump was more likely to win. After reading the information given, all participants stated for the second time which candidate they believed.

The results, now reported in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, showed that the people who received desirable evidence – that their preferred candidate was going to win – solidified their subsequent belief about which candidate was more likely to win, where the people who received undesirable evidence barely changed their belief.

While different, both of these studies confirm the link between false hypotheses and our limited human capacity to process information: coming together as one to create the force of the confirmation bias.

Wason’s rule discovery

Cognitive psychologist Peter Wason discovered confirmation bias in a class experiment based on the 2-4-6 hypothesis rule (1960). The aim of the experiment was to surprise students with how easily their thinking could be led astray and lead to illogical and irrational conclusions.

The students were told that Wason had a rule in mind that only applied to sets of threes, and that the sequence “2-4-6” was produced by this unknown rule. They were then tasked to discover the rule by testing a number of sequences, with the understanding that the rule was in “any ascending sequence”.

For every three numbers the students proposed, they were given a positive or negative reaction depending on whether or not it satisfied the rule, leading them to keep certain numbers and eliminate others. The students tried “4-8-10”, “6-8-12”, and “20-22-24”.

Almost all students formed the same hypothesis and only tried number sequences that would prove each hypothesis and few that would disprove them. They didn’t ask questions in doubt of their hypothesis in fear or breaking their own rule: their pre-existing belief that the initial sequence (“2-4-6”) was based on increasing even numbers.

The same theory was demonstrated by Wason’s Selection Task, otherwise known as the 4-Card Task carried out in 1966. It’s known to be one of the most repeated tests of logical reasoning in psychology and involved students observing a set of four cards.

The students were shown the cards 3, 8, red, and brown, and told that each card had a figure on one side and a coloured block on the other. Their task was to identify which card or cards must be turned over to identify the idea that if a card shows an even number on one side, then the opposite face is red.

Less than 20% of students found the correct solution, and evolutionary psychologists found the task much easier to solve when placed in the context of a social rule – rather than just shapes and colours. For example, “If a person drinks an alcoholic drink, then they must be over the age of 21 years old.”

A higher percentage of students succeeded in this task, supporting the evolutionary theory that mechanisms have evolved through natural selection to solve social adaptive problems: one of the very reasons confirmation bias works well in marketing.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend”

said Robertson Davies in his book Tempest-Tost.

Confirmation bias influences our lives in ways we do not recognise. Even in bureaucratic circumstances like the Iraq war, the report to the President admittedly disregarded important evidence: “When confronted with evidence that indicated Iraq did not have [weapons of mass destruction], analytics tended to discount such information. Rather than weighing the evidence independently, analysts accepted information that fit the prevailing theory and rejected information that contradicted it.”

This decision would have been driven by the two cognitive mechanisms used to explain confirmation bias: challenge avoidance, where people don’t want to find out they are wrong, and reinforcement seeking, where people want to find out they are right.

Where challenge avoidance could help the analysts to avoid cognitive dissonance – the psychological stress that occurs when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs – the cogs in their brain would’ve forced them to seek approval: the exact reason confirmation bias exists.

Moreover, a theoretical approach by Klayman and Ha (1987) suggests that participant behaviour in Wason’s 2-4-6 Rule Discovery could rather be interpreted as a “positive test strategy”. In other words, where a subject tests a hypothesis by examining instances in which the event is expected to occur, or by examining instances in which it is known to have occurred.

The result of the strategy lies on the basis that people seek to verify the strategy that will have the greatest impact on their beliefs of the hypothesis. With confirmation bias having links to the Law of Attraction, in that we receive in person the positive and negative thoughts in our minds, this theory makes logical sense.

Confirmation bias in marketing

Just as the physician argued Mr W. was seeking medication he did not need, we often find ourselves searching for confirmation within our deeper conscious: ignoring the angel on our right shoulder and trusting the devil on our left. A prime example is when we try to rationalise our purchases, falling victim to the bias through confirmation mechanisms like an emotional investment.

When this happens, as well as looking for evidence to confirm what we already believe: that we are deserving of the purchase and other people spend their money on more conflicting things, we continue to validate these decisions through what is known as the Endowment Effect.

This theory was proposed by psychologist and Noble Prize winner Richard Thaler, who in his book “Toward A Positive Theory of Consumer Choice”, argued that people have a general tendency to value items more when they own them.

As an example, he wrote:

“Mr R. brought a case of good wine in the late ‘50’s for about $50 a bottle. A few years later his wine merchant offered to buy the wine back for $100 a bottle. He refused, although he has never paid more than $35 for a bottle of wine.”

He also became famous with Daniel Kahneman for identifying confirmation bias, anchoring (the tendency to rely too heavily on initial information), and loss aversion (feeling the pain of losing ten dollars more intensely than the joy of winning ten dollars).

These concepts have influenced advertising since the days of David Oglivy, allowing brands to tap into consumer behaviours and inject benefits of their product or service in our unconscious mind. Through the theory of confirmation bias, we will automatically give more weight to brands we’ve had a positive experience with and less to the products they’re actually advertising.

“You can find these anywhere”, we say. “But at least I know they’ll arrive on time and the quality will be good. I buy from here all the time.”

This emotional impact is what leads us to focus less on conflicting behaviour and more on brand loyalty, as it’s much easier for our brains to affirm our existing beliefs than go through the decision-making process again: opening up a world of opportunity for brands to fall into our selective attention and drown out their competitors.

Now with everything we know, the phrase “I’ll believe it when I see it” seems false: despite what’s in front of us, we only believe what we already think to be true, i.e. “I’ll see it when I believe it”.