The Psychology of Marketing

Most marketers are not qualified psychologists. However, many marketers have an appreciation for the field of psychology - a keen interest in the human psyche and how people think, feel and behave. Successful marketers implement psychological techniques into their marketing initiatives to effectively attract, engage and compel to buy.

This article is not a neuromarketing piece - although neuromarketing is a fascinating area with lots of persuasive evidence, FMRI brain scans are a little outside our territory! Instead, this article will present a few basic psychological techniques that you can easily implement into your marketing communications…

Here at CSI Media, we love using bullet-point lists in our content. When we write in prose, we prefer shorter paragraphs! Why?

Well, studies suggest that the attention span of the average human is 8 seconds. (We hope this article managed to keep you hooked for longer than 8 seconds!) This means that, on average, after 8 seconds of focusing one specific stimulus, your brain will become distracted and seek new stimuli...

Furthermore, people have a limited amount of space in their short-term memory. Therefore, besides being much easier to scan, your writing will be much easier to remember when it is clustered together in bullet-points.

When writing in prose, we advise on short, concise paragraphs, integrating your key term/s for SEO purposes.

Studies consistently show that emotional appeals resonate more with consumers than functional appeals. Placing more emphasis on how the product or service can improve the user’s life appeals to their emotional state. Subsequently, they become more ‘involved’. Of course, the price and technical specifications are still important considerations, but try to combine these with emotional appeals.

Some of the bigger brands are excellent at emotional appeals. A pair of Nike trainers isn’t just about the quality of material or the price, it’s about the connotations associated with the brand, how it empowers the individual and improves their sporting performance. Think of the range of TV advertisements and their content. The best and most memorable (or ones that grate on us the least!) are usually those which evoke emotion, whether joy, laughter or sadness.

When a brand evokes an emotional reaction, a more natural, stronger connection is made between product and consumer.

Website personalisation is the practise of dynamically tailoring your website to the wants and needs of each user. Think of when you visit Amazon or Netflix - their systems tailor content, and suggestions for products based on your behaviour.

Your journey gives an insight into the consumer’s intentions and, therefore, targeted pages, information or products are presented to the user, based on their navigation thus far. Some websites can identify whether a user has visited before. This may indicate a higher level of interest and, therefore, specific content can be presented.

WARNING - PLUG: Here at CSI Media, as part of our web development service, we build websites with hyperpersonalisation. Contact us today for more information...