The Art of Persuasion
Human beings share six tendencies that allow us to be persuaded.
None of us is immune to these tendencies, which is what makes them so useful to those of us who want to sell products over the Internet. These six tendencies are…
- Scarcity
- Authority
- Reciprocation
- Social validation
- Friendship
- Consistency
This article takes a brief look at each of these six tendencies, and discusses how to use them in your online business.
For a more in-depth discussion see Dr. Robert Cialdini’s brilliant book Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion.
Scarcity
We tend to want something more if it’s hard to get. This tendency harks back to a time when everything worth having (food, clothing, shelter) was in short supply.
Most people in the western world no longer have to struggle to provide food, clothing, and shelter so our focus has shifted toward luxury items. And our tendency to place value on scarce items has shifted with it. That’s why people are prepared to pay huge sums of money for the works of dead painters. After all, once an artist is dead there will be no new works.
You can take advantage of this tendency in your advertising. The easiest way to impose scarcity is to make a special offer, and then place a time limit on it.
A time-limited offer not only forces the prospect to make an immediate decision, but has the additional bonus (for you) of punishing procrastination.
Authority
Authority is an increasingly important tool to advertisers.
Anyone who lives in a modern western country is bombarded with information, and tends to rely on 3rd party experts when forming opinions about matters outside his or her immediate area of knowledge.
Popular methods of utilizing authority in advertising include…
- Quoting the results of scientific studies
- Printing testimonials from qualified scientists
- Printing celebrity endorsements
Essentially, the advertiser is borrowing authority from a 3rd party. While you can borrow authority to promote any product, you must ensure that your 3rd party is a credible source of information in the mind of your prospect.
Reciprocation
Most people are more likely to comply with a request when…
- The person making the request has already given us something (i.e. free gift)
- The person making the request has promised to give us something
Reciprocation works because most of use feel the need to pay our own way, and are uncomfortable accepting something for nothing. Reciprocation may also reinforce the power of friendship and consistency.
Most advertisers use reciprocation by giving out a free sample, hoping to demonstrate the usefulness of their product. Unfortunately, this technique is so common on the Internet that it has lost some of its power.
As people get used to receiving free samples, and realize that this is merely part of the marketing for that product, the less inclined they feel to reciprocate (that’s why I don’t offer free samples).
Social validation
Sheep tend follow the leader. People aren’t unlike sheep, in that we tend to do what other people do.
We’re influenced by the television we watch, the results of opinion polls, and the opinions of the people we meet every day.
Even better, from an advertiser’s perspective, is the fact that most people are completely unaware of this tendency. That makes social validation a very powerful tool.
Common ways to use social validation in advertising include…
- Testimonials
- Published sales results (e.g. One thousand people can’t be wrong)
- Being #1 in the category (e.g. Number one selling vitamin)
- Personal referrals
If your best friend raves about how great a product is, chances are it will carry more weight than it does when the advertiser tells you.
Friendship
The more you like someone, the more likely you are to comply with a request they make of you. In fact, you may even feel honored by such a request.
Friendship isn’t an easy tendency to apply on the web, because you’re essentially selling to complete strangers. This tendency requires that you establish a personal relationship with the prospect. Chances are, if you’re selling a $20 product on behalf of someone else, there’s no direct relationship at all.
Of course, you can still make your website as friendly to the visitor as possible. You’ll help the process of winning over new friends if you supply a lot of useful information for free (reciprocation) on your website, and answer queries quickly and efficiently.
Consistency
A person is more likely to take a specific action if he or she has already made a public commitment to do so. That’s because we tend to want to demonstrate consistency in our lives.
Your use of this tendency can be as simple as getting your prospect to complete a short survey.
For example, a person selling banner advertising might ask 3 yes/no questions in a survey…
Do you use online advertising?
Do you pay for online advertising?
Do you buy banner advertising?
Elsewhere on the page, the person conducting the survey may run an ad that promotes banner advertising. Not only is the advertiser more likely to get a visit, they’re also more likely to get the sale.
Of course, you need to find a way to get the prospect to take the survey in the first place. And the survey needs to have a credible purpose.
In the above example the advertiser might explain the need to understand what buyers of banner advertising want, and offer 100 free banner ads as a reward for taking the survey. This achieves the following…
- It specifically targets people who buy banner advertising
- By taking the survey, the prospect is immediately identifying himself as a ‘buyer’ of banner advertising (consistency)
- The answer to question 2 and 3 reinforce this tendency
- The 100 free banner gift for taking the survey introduces the power of reciprocation
The final page of the survey should thank the prospect for his or her answers (friendship), and immediately collect the necessary information required to display the prospect’s banner.
Once that information is collected (giving you contact information and strengthening the relationship), the advertiser can present a one-off special offer (scarcity) that allows the prospect to add more banner advertising to his or her account at a special low price.
Chances are, the advertiser will get the sale!
Even if the sale is refused, the advertiser can still go back to the prospect with another offer when the 100 banners have been delivered.
The big challenge
None of us is immune to the six tendencies, and they can easily be incorporated into your sales approach.
One excellent method for coming up with unique ways of developing a new sales approach is to take this challenge. Give yourself one day to find five different ways to sell your product.
Each sales approach you develop should include a minimum of three of the tendencies discussed in this article.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds! By forcing yourself to find five different ways to sell your product, you’ll come up with at least one that is very effective. You can then try all five and see which one produces the most sales.
You’ll find more articles by Wayne Davies on The Internet Marketing Ezine: http://blog.mailyourad.com
Related posts
Banner Stands
The main aim of advertising is to project your product before the potential customers in an effective manner, update information on the product easily and in a timely way. One cost effective and efficient way to advertise your product is to use banner stands.
Banner stands are portable, flexible structures carrying colorful graphic images used for advertising. The graphics and the message can be changed frequently as the need arises. Banner stands are versatile and can be used to light up exhibitions, trade shows, retail displays, showrooms and business gatherings.
Banner stands are useful in trade shows. The same set of stands used for one display can be used for a subsequent display in a matter of minutes because the new banner stands can change graphics in no time.
In retail shops, banner stands with promotional messages are often positioned at the entrance of the shop. For retailing, it is critical to attract impulsive shoppers. Research reveals that on premise business advertisements and signs increases the customer’s inclination to buy products.
In addition to being flexible and portable, the banner stands of today come with high color graphics and photographic quality images thanks to changes in sign making technology. Therefore, even small companies are able to use banner stands with high quality visuals.
Basic types of banner stands are roll-up, pole, and counter top and outdoor. Rollup, also called retractable banners are similar to a portable movie screen. The displays have a recoil mechanism that allows the banner to be rewound into the base of the banner stand. These banner stands are easy to set up and the graphics are protected while transporting as they are rewound into the base. They are heavier and more expensive.
The Pole banner stand does not have a recoil mechanism, and the banner is not rewound into the base. They come with adjustable height poles. Countertop or tabletop banner stands are smaller units placed on tables or flat surfaces. Outdoor banner stands have maximum visibility. They are portable and are the easiest to set up.
Banner Stands provides detailed information about banner stands, retractable banner stands, roll up banner stands, banner stand exhibits and more. Banner Stands is the sister site of Promotional Advertising Specialties.
Related posts
The Hidden Treasures Of Fax Advertising
Advertising is a major part of any successful business. Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark: You know what you are doing, but nobody else does. That would be foolish, as well as a waste of time. We are not in business to waste time or to make foolish decisions.
Advertising can come in many different forms. It can be full page display ads in nationally distributed magazines, that produce thousands of dollars in profits. It can be in the form of television commercials that bring in tremendous amounts of inquiries and profits. It can even come in the form of word of mouth advertising that costs you nothing, yet brings you profits still. We will work on getting the best of all advertising mediums for you.
You do need to learn, and remember, one thing before we go on. You need to know that: “The only advertising that costs you money is unsuccessful advertising!” Unsuccessful advertising is foolish advertising. You must take several steps before spending any advertising dollars. Let’s cover some of these steps:
1) Research, Research, Research!
2) Stick to a budget.
3) Test your idea before committing long term.
4) Learn from your competition.
There are several key factors that come into play when it comes to advertising. This article is merely meant to help you scratch the surface, and give you a few key pointers that will educate you enough to make educated decisions.
There are no guarantees when it comes to the world of advertising. You can have what appears to be the best idea in the world, and it can flop miserably. But, if you do your home work (research), these will be few and far between, if even at all.
It is assumed that most of you are not working with the largest of advertising budgets. That is perfectly ok. It is very possible to effectively advertise with little money. In fact, if you are industrious enough, I will show you how to advertise with virtually no money. Just read on…
Fax machines have revolutionized the way that business is conducted in the world. It is extremely affordable for anyone to own a fax machine. You can pick one up at a garage sale or on ebay for under ten dollars. If you are going to be conducting business, you should have one.
How many times have you heard someone say, “I’ll fax that right over to you?” I’m not exactly sure how many times that I’ve heard it, but I am sure that businesses are not using the fax machine to it’s full potential as a powerful advertising tool. The only time that I’ve seen the fax machine used to advertise (except for myself doing it) was by restaurants faxing their menus by request.
Think about it, by using your fax machine to advertise your business, you spend only the time that it takes to fax the message. Also, if it’s a local call, you won’t be spending any money. Even if the call is long distance, you will only incur a small telephone fee because of the information being transmitted so quickly.
Let’s imagine that you have gone through your phone book, and you’ve found several businesses that you’d like to do business with. Instead of having several letters typed, addressing several envelopes, stamping each envelope, and taking the letters to the Post Office, with your fax machine, you can complete the task in a fraction of the time at a small percentage of the cost. You also will not even have to leave your home. You won’t even have to pay for postage.
There is also one more way of faxing, and that is by a modem through your personal computer. With a fast modem and some decent software, you can have your computer fax documents that you have created in it to various individuals, or businesses, at times that you have predetermined. The computer will even try again if the fax does not go through the first time! Imagine that. You can literally be sleeping and conducting business all over the world.
Do not underestimate this powerful advertising medium. It is low cost and it gives your business a very professional looking presence. When properly used (especially through your computer modem), faxing can save you lots of time and money.
Ray Mardo has provided business consulting services to mom and pop stores and Fortune 500 companies. His DJ business LGRE was listed in Entrepreneur Magazine’s top 500 businesses in the nation. These days the Austin Film Festival honored writer spends his time typing away screenplays and novels and internet marketing. Two of his websites are: http://www.raymardo.com
http://www.whoisthecoolestguyontheplanet.com