Psychology of Marketing: Tactics That Work

Small and medium-sized business owners now have more work to do than ever. And the reasons are obvious: the attention span of your prospective customers has significantly reduced; bigger competitors are increasing their advertising budget, minimizing the chances of SMEs.

Therefore, your primary focus in your advertising and marketing strategies should be grabbing the attention of your prospects as quickly as possible; otherwise, someone else in your industry will. And to do that, you must understand and be able to use what they love to see, hear, or engage with.

This is precisely where the psychology of marketing comes in. However, it goes beyond knowing what these marketing psychologies are; instead, it is more of identifying and employing marketing psychology tactics that work. That is why we have written this article, exploring the tactics that work in marketing psychology and how you can use them.

But First, What’s the Psychology of Marketing?

We presume you understand to a considerable extent what it means, but we believe a concise recap would do better justice to this article.

The psychology of marketing is relatively self-explanatory. Basically, it means bringing the principles used in psychology into your marketing and advertising strategies so your marketing can be more targeted at influencing customer behaviors and decisions.

Bigger businesses employ marketing psychologists to help them with this. However, the truth is, as a small business owner, you do not need to hire one (maybe just yet) or be a psychologist yourself before you can enjoy the spoils of psychology in marketing. Inasmuch as you are human, you can also learn how to incorporate psychology into your marketing strategy and, more importantly, which of them to use.

Overall, what is important is that you put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients, figure out what and how they think, and try to create something that would appeal to their school of thought.

Below are five psychological tactics that work and how to incorporate them into your marketing going forward!

Top 5 Psychology of Marketing Tactics That Work

1. Social Proof

Why do you think social media platforms are becoming more popular daily? Because, as humans, we always crave validation, whether consciously or subconsciously. And social media makes it easy for us to get the validation we want.

We can also make our target audience validate us by including social proofs across our digital outlets – websites, social media accounts, newsletters, and so on. Let them know what consumers like them enjoy by doing business with you. It makes them feel confident that they are going into safe hands. Your social proof may include reviews and testimonials, awards and recognitions, using the “best sellers” section, showing customer activities, etc. Here is how to use social proof to make a client say yes to your proposal.

2. Urgency and Scarcity

People tend to value items that are limited, scarce, or hard to acquire over abundant items. That is why Rolls Royce is valued more than the regular Toyota Corolla.

When it is scarce, consumers are forced to “rush” to buy it before it sells out (for product-based enterprises) or before the offer closes (for service-based enterprises).

Interestingly, this tactic works for all kinds of businesses, whether you operate a donut shop, offer social media marketing services, or are an HVAC repairer. A practical example: Product A currently has 700 orders, and there are only 790 of that product in your inventory. Include a few customer ratings and reviews on your landing page and encourage people who do not want to miss out on your offer to make a purchase as quickly as possible.

Creating a sense of exclusivity enhances the value your target places on your brand and makes people want to associate with you. Bigger brands know this and have hacked it to their advantage – you, too, should!

3. Loss Aversion

Loss aversion is a tactic in marketing psychology that allows you to target people focused on avoiding loss. This category of people would rather not make gains than lose. So, what you have to do is create a marketing campaign that explains and shows that such a consumer doesn’t stand a chance of losing.

What does this psychology of marketing theory look like? Simple, since people do not like to miss out on opportunities, create a sense of urgency for your products or service, incorporate some social proof, and sell it to this category of people.

4. Reciprocity

Trust us, it has the same meaning as what you think – nothing extra. Your business does something for your customers, and they also reciprocate with something. It creates a win-win situation, and many people have proven to enjoy this concept.

An example is providing a discount code or samples for anyone who refers a client to hire your service. This is also closely similar to creating a lead magnet. Just that, in this case, you are not the only one giving; you are also earning not only a contact detail but more than one from a single source. The difference isn’t entirely wide – they are almost the same.

“If you buy 5 items from the store between April 7 and April 25, you’d get one more item worth $20 for free.” This doesn’t only create a sense of urgency or that they do not stand to lose anything – it also shows them that they have more to enjoy when they choose to do business with you instead of your competitor.

5. Anchoring Bias

Lastly, the psychology of marketing that works is the Anchoring Bias. This involves creating a “faux” value for a product or service to draw attention to the original value. For example, instead of buying Item A for $30, Item B for $30, and Item C for $20, why not buy Item A, B, & C for $65 as a single package?

This also works perfectly in the subscription model. Instead of choosing a monthly plan for $10 per month, why not choose the annual plan at $100 per year?

The truth is, both pricing works perfectly for you, but doing this would help people purchase your higher offer, ensuring cash flow in your business. Any small or medium-sized business that cannot boast of cash flow would soon be out of business. That’s the fact.

Instead of getting $20, you can get $100 at the best bargain possible, depending on your pricing model. That’s all about the Anchoring Bias.

Need Help With Your Marketing Strategy?

Marketing can be overwhelming, especially if you are just starting as a small business owner. But you do not have to do it alone. The team of expert digital marketers at Draps Marketing is here to stand with you throughout your marketing funnel, helping you from lead generation to converting your leads into paying clients.

We understand how the psychology of marketing works, and we can make it work for your business. Ready to get started? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation session with us today, and let’s talk about your small or medium-sized business.