From time to time, team members will share their views stimulated from a piece by an industry thought leader. Here, our CEO, Lisa Maier, discusses the recent CMO.com article, “Web Site Conversion: Art And Neuroscience.”
I really do like the spate of articles that focus on the neuroscience of marketing. After all, understanding the science behind the principles of persuasion help all marketers become increasingly effective in our work. While this is not new or different since the rise of the digital era, it continues to be an important focus as it is applied digitally. This article highlights some of the key elements in conversion of websites in an easy-to-understand way.
- Evoke an emotive response. Many people assume that only in consumer marketing is connecting to emotions important. Yet it has been found that emotions guide all decisions, so much so that when pathology is present that prevents connection to emotions, people are simply unable to make decisions. The point is that you can connect professionally and emotionally, whether for B2B or B2C marketing.
- Make it easy. A site that is consistent and makes good use of human behavior tendencies is said to have ‘process fluency.’ Following principles of good website design deliver ROI, so pay attention to this element. When people say your site is “intuitive,” you know you’ve hit the mark.
- Use mirror neurons. When you show instead of tell, neurons in viewers’ brains fire off just as if they were completing the actions themselves. Use videos and process flow images to help people clearly imagine what use of your product or service feels like, and your sales will increase.
- Leverage reciprocity. Give something away that is of value, and there is a pull on recipients to return the favor. Is there any part of your service that can be provided for free?
- Reduce the number of options. Too many options cause confusion and can incite a sense of paralysis. Limit options to just a few and provide clear differentiation between the choices so people can easily decide. It is very interesting that in studies, limiting options by 75% increased sales by 600%.
- Repeat yourself repeatedly. This is really the power of branding. Familiarization, and in particular, with pleasant associations, increases level of comfort with your brand. This comfort yields a higher propensity to choose you. This occurs in the short term and in the long term. For instance, many studies show that having SEO and SEM that results in multiple links on a given Search Engine Results Page will lead to a higher result for both SEM and SEO. This synergistic effect is said to be the ‘branding effect.’
Apply some or all of these ideas to increase the payoff of your online marketing. And if you’d like some help to do so, be sure to call us here at DirectiveGroup: 1.866.925.9524
