How To Increase Conversions Using Simple Psychology

In today’s evolving digital world, it’s important that customers who visit your website or blog convert into paying customers. It’s no easy feat to increase conversions while maximising the ROI of your marketing efforts but applying simple psychology can help a great deal.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is not lead generation per se but more about increasing the rate of existing customers visiting your site and taking an action. It’s the process of increasing and optimising the number of customers that convert after landing on your website. The question is, how do you get a customer to convert?

How Psychology Can Help Increase Conversions

Regardless of how much technology advances, the triggers behind our decision-making remain constant. It is essential for marketers, advertisers or content creators to tailor their techniques specific to their own business model. Not all the same ‘rules’ apply to the same organisations. A retailer might see a conversion as a successful online purchase after customers add the item to their shopping basket. For a marketing agency or content creator, a conversion could be the successful sign-up for a newsletter or download an eBook.

There are a number of principles based on behavioural psychology theory that can help increase conversions but these are our top five.

Use Social Proof To Increase Buyer Confidence

There’s no denying that we are a social species and most of us have a desire to fit in. This extends to experiencing the positive effect that others get when using a product or a service. Including a positive review at a conversion point gives the impression that converting is the right decision.

Social proof can be used to increase conversions in a number of ways such as customer reviews, 5-star ratings, social following and celebrity endorsements. We are inclined to believe and trust in something more when we see an endorsement or someone sharing their positive experience.

Loss Aversion

Science has proven that we feel the pain from a loss twice as much as pleasure from a gain. We tend to do everything in our power to avoid loss and this psychological response opens the door for real marketing opportunities.

Scarcity is one way to further cement that perception which can be achieved by limiting the number of items or a limited time offer. This automatically creates an impression of scarcity which makes the offer seem more valuable and creates a sense of urgency. Customers will feel they could lose out unless they act fast. Using terms like “Act now and save” or “Hurry! Only a few items left” could increase conversion rates.

Price Anchoring To Demonstrate Value

Putting it plainly – anchoring is when we unintentionally perceive the first thing about a product as true or the ‘anchoring point’ on which we base our decision. Customers won’t know the true value of something if they don’t have a point of reference. With all the options and different versions of products out there, we process information from all different angles to determine our best course of action.

In terms of using anchoring to increase conversions, take advantage of this effect by making it obvious when you’ve changed the initial price to a better offer. Include the original price or comparative retail price with your offer clearly displayed alongside. Add in something extra like a small freebie, sign them up for a prize draw or add bonus content when they download your eBook. Anchoring prices with context will justify your pricing and indicate value.

Building Relationships Through Social Actions

We already know that humans are social creatures always on the lookout to make new connections whether personal or business related. Once a bond has been formed, we feel obliged to honour that connection even without realising one has been made. The true power of social media marketing at work.

Make the initial contact and build relationships through small things such as sharing or liking a photograph and commenting on a blog post. These actions could encourage them to return the favour but more importantly, it opens the door to form deeper connections in the future.

Authoritative Brand Alignment

As mentioned before, we tend to follow people with authority or popular public figures. This stems back to the traditional hierarchy of one leader governing the actions of a large social group. For this reason, celebrity endorsements are often used and a good example is Jamie Oliver’s association with Sainsbury’s. This process can be expensive, but smaller companies can harness authority without spending a fortune.

One approach is to form a partnership with a well-known business or influencer to create mutually beneficial opportunities. As a result, your presence of authority will improve.

Another method is to create your own type of celebrity or public figure. Establish yourself or an employee as a thought-leader in the industry and include them in the marketing team. Build on their reputation to gain interest from customers who like and respect them.

If you run the same strategy over and over again without positive results, it’s time you made a change. However you implement the urgency principle, you’re almost guaranteed to see some powerful results. By using the 5 tips above, you can do your part to find what works best for your audience and increase conversions.

Contact WSI eMarketing today to discuss your strategy and how we can help tailor a specific solution for your brand.