7 Social Psychology Studies to Help You Convert Prospects into Paying Customers

7 Social Psychology Studies to Help You Convert Prospects into Paying Customers

Reader Comments (61)

  1. Greg,

    Great post here. I really like your point about labeling your customers.

    I’ve always admired business that do so because its genius. It makes customers feel cool and important, like they’re a part of an exclusive community. We all know belonging is a human necessity because its one of the ways people identify themselves.

    A great example is the Nerd Fitness community being called “Rebels”. I recently used this tactic with my membership community to test it’s effectiveness. Results coming soon! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Thanks for the insight!

    • Thanks man, a lot of good insight here into a very pertinent example; the Nerd Fitness tribe is definitely an ideal situation of “labeling” and showing how it can be a good thing. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. All great advice!
    The running underlying theme seems to be instilling trust into your audience. The more comfortable you can make them, the more likely they are to buy from you.
    If you can do this effectively while not needing to even bend the truth, I don’t see how a person could fail! Believing yourself, every word you put out there, I would think would have huge value!

  3. I nominate Copyblogger for the most useful content on the web. Every article I get–every article–has insightful and immediately useful information.

  4. This is a fab post! “Make an Enemy” was a big surprise for me but once I thought about it – totally made sense. Thanks for this ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. I’ve seen all of the material in this post covered before (no surprise) but it’s always good to have a reminder. It was a good marketing idea to throw in a freebie at the end. Something I’ll need to keep in mind for my next guest post.

    • I think my comment got caught in spam buddy, but what I was saying was that we should chat books sometime! You can check out my reading list on Sparring Mind, it’s my most recent post. ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Jumping on the books comment – cashvertising by drew Whitman. An absolute given and goes over some of these points in his particular style! Loved the article too. The labelling point ill take the most from right now.

  6. OMG! OMG! OMG! Nothing gets me more geeked out than the intersection of behavioral psychology and content marketing. Thanks for bringing up a topic that not many people are talking about. This is especially effective when you apply the practice to behavioral change (like environmental marketing or health care).

    One of my favorite all-time examples of this in practice is a PSA from the Chesapeake Club a few years ago. They knew people would roll their eyes at another environmental message about saving a species that is not cute and cuddly (crabs) so they turned it into a joke about eating them: Save the Crabs, Then Eat Them. It’s been a very successful campaign. Here it is in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMOBPQ55zKw

  7. Nice work! Very well presented and explained.

    Admitting your shortcomings takes quite a bit of tactical thought, wouldn’t you say? I’ve run across people who do it and it only serves to undermine their expertise. Sure, people want to know we’re human, real people, that we’ve been through life and eventually come up smelling like a rose.

    But, people also want to know we’ve “nailed it” and sometimes admitting errors, if not done properly, will make that rose awfully stinky. It’s really something to be careful about.

    • Very true Carmelo, it’s a tough territory to tread and is largely context based when approaching how to handle the situation. Great points and words of warning there.

  8. Gregory, congratulations on writing one of the best (and most important) articles I’ve read in a long time! Critical points for every marketer to know and understand….

  9. All the insights were helpful and interesting. Was particularly struck by the “make an enemy” technique. Would not have thought of that, but it does certainly speak to our human nature.

  10. It was indeed a great read, really insightful, interesting and informative. Of all the 7, i loved the 5th one, to light up the mid-brain of our prospects. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you Gregory.

  11. This is really amazing post Greg! I agree with your point of labeling your customers in the above content; this is where a problem falls and I think you have actually helped me a lot! When you label your clients, it makes your business easier since they really feel being taken care of well and crucial in such business. It is actually encouraging. Thank you!

  12. Amazing write up Greg! This is a wonderful site that has got a lot of inspiration! I really loved the quote: ” Weโ€™re all different, but in many instances our brains are prone to respond in a very similar manner, and understanding”
    I was actually encouraged by this and I have to agree with you that we all may look different but our brains working on the same side of business; it is time to convince and make sure you win your customer’s mind on the spot in a friendly manner. Thanks a lot for sharing. I love it!

  13. Amazing write up Greg! This is a wonderful site that has got a lot of inspiration! I really loved the quote: โ€œWeโ€™re all different, but in many instances our brains are prone to respond in a very similar manner and understanding”
    I was actually encouraged by this and I have to agree with you that we all may look different but our brains working on the same side of business; it is time to convince and make sure you win your customer’s mind on the spot in a friendly manner. Thanks a lot for sharing. I love it!

  14. Awesome write up Greg! I loved your point about making your brain light up. It is really encouraging, inspiring and educating. I think about labeling your customer also serves a very important tip in business and I really agree with you there. I look forward into sharing more. Thank you!

  15. This is probably one of the more interesting marketing articles I’ve read in a long, long time. I love how you take studies that don’t relate directly to internet marketing and show us how we might be able to apply the findings to our own business.

  16. This is the blog post really differentiate from others. For long time I didn’t read a quality post. Thank you very much. Learn a lot of thing about psychology. ๐Ÿ™‚

  17. Thanks for the great info!

    A related concept is the use of genuine empathy with both outbound and inbound calls to customers. Empathy is a very powerful factor employing two of the most powerful variables in social communication:

    (1) It is important to FIRST engage and arouse the Parasympathetic Nervous system doorway which is emotionally engaged by positive future hope, optimism, & possibilities BEFORE engaging the Sympathetic Nervous System which is emotionally engaged to confront past problems and the gap between hope and real consequences – focusing on rational problem resolution. (See Dr Richard Boyatzis, โ€œHow Effective Leaders Coach with Compassion (vs. Coach for Compliance)โ€, Human Capital Institute Webcast, 12/2/08)

    (2) Leon Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory’s dictum: “If you change a personโ€™s behavior [with minimal justification], his thoughts and feelings will change to minimize the dissonance.” That is, we naturally tend to believe the way we behave. People tend to make decisions emotionally first and then use rational methods to justify those decisions โ€“ we tend to believe what we do. Therefore, one must communicate emotionally with the Caller first before moving to rational โ€œwe canโ€ solutions to the Callerโ€™s issue.

    In dealing with a customer who is VERY upset with one’s Company, if you communicate genuine empathy to that customer first, these two powerful variables come into play together with the customer thinking: “Hmmmmm . . . I can’t really be this mad at this Company if I like this person this much, can I? Perhaps is should listen to what (s)he is saying . . .”

  18. Hi Gregory,
    I read an insane amount of blog posts everyday. Usually I just skim them for key information, as most posts about marketing and social media (what I’m usually reading about) are terribly dry. I’ve read this post thoroughly, twice. Your information is stellar and the writing is wonderfully engaging.

    Thank you for the break from monotony,

    Sam Parker

  19. This is a very good post. Need to test out the “instantly” point. And it’s interesting to know how a word can increase the response rate by 20%.

  20. Awesome post! All the points are great, but one that stands out to me is the “Make an Enemy”. I think if we can nail down a common enemy that our target market can see as their enemy, it will trigger the defend drive and cause them to want to purchase something that will help them defend against the common enemy.

    And I love the Mac. vs. PC example. ๐Ÿ™‚

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