10 Psychological Concepts To Try With Your Meta Ads
There are specific psychological concepts you can use to increase conversions and engage prospect buyers as they discover your content.
What's up, Marketers! This is?Owais.
This newsletter is about leveling up your paid growth marketing skills by analyzing the best brands' paid strategy, tactics, positioning, and value props.
Marketing is applied psychology.
Using it right (ethically) can have a massive impact on your growth.
Here are the top 10 psychological concepts you apply to your ads:
What: The Fresh-Start Effect can give you the motivational boost you need to make changes and achieve your goals.
When to use it: New years or new beginning.
Example: MasterClass knows how to use new year’s resolution right despite not being a fitness product.
2. The Psychology of Mimicry:
What: We unconsciously imitate the behaviors, speech, and movements of others who are similar to us or if we like them.
When to use it: When your product comes in the “aspirational” outcome category.
Example: This Whoop ad uses mimicry to follow this person’s life and become a Whoop athlete:
3. The Psychology of Idleness Aversion:
What: Research says people are happier when they're busier. Even if we're forced to be busy.
How to use it: Your job is to make them feel “good busy”.
When to use it: If you are a “knowledge” product.
Example: Imprint, a knowledge app, has got my attention just because of this psychology. How? It’s hitting my doom-scrolling (aka idleness).
4. Familiarity bias:
What: It’s the tendency for individuals to prefer what is familiar and to seek to avoid the unknown.
This is my favorite; I keep using it. And it works like a charm.
How: Use familiar screens on your ads to have a pattern interrupt. I use Apple notes, Whatsapp screens, and screen time screens to send messages.
Example: With Apple notes.
Here’s one that reduced my ads from $300 CPA to $48:
Another ad example (I did it). We spent 100K+ because it gave 5x ROAS.
But the latest ones I am going to try are these — you should too (stole for Nice Ads newsletter):
The newsletter author tells us why this is an effective ad:
“The first is virality, the image is funny. It’s entertaining, people see it and want to share it because of how it makes them feel. This is a vital part of anything that goes viral. Making people feel. The image is relatable, we all know how annoying these robot tests and so linking it to your brand is a great way to get engagement.
However one of the core reasons I think this makes a great creative is how seamlessly the product is woven into the ad creative - It informs us all about the product, while still being entertaining. You leave the image knowing what MuddyBites are and that they claim to be ‘Superiorly Delicious’ Sounds good to me.
Original ideas like this don’t stay original for long, someone steals the idea and before you know it everyone is running creative like this. But it’s the people who are first that are remembered! So get on there and think up something creative.”
5. Hick’s law:
What: Hick's law is a psychological principle that states that the more options are available to a person, the longer it will take for him or her to make a decision about which option is best.
How can you use it: Bundle your product to make it easy in your ads for your users to decide.
When to use it: Retargeting is a good option.
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Example: Obvi sells a bundle product when viewers click on this ad.
Here’s the hero of their landing page:
6. Negativity Bias:
What: buyers unconsciously pay attention to adverse news, trends, and stories so that?they can avoid potential losses in the future.
Use negativity to craft compelling messages
When to use it: Any brand can use this with a problem or struggle.
I have a ton of examples for this one.
Here’s?a video example?(look at the thumbnail image):
7. The foot-in-the-door technique:
What: The foot-in-the-door technique is a compliance tactic that assumes agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a second, larger request.
When to use it: Offer free trials, free workshops, and something of value first. Then, make them take the next step.
Example: Code Sanchez offers a paid community for Entrepreneurs, and she offers free webinars & newsletters. Webinars are usually effective for the foot-in-the-door technique. It also develops trust before asking for bigger things.
8. The Psychology of Envy:
What: Envy is deeply ingrained in the human psyche and common to all times and people. Our tribal ancestors feared arousing the envy of the gods, whom they placated with elaborate rituals and offerings. Now, this continues, and you can use it in ads.
When to use it: Fitness or better life products are good to use this concept.
Hook: Y’all have a sibling that’s one up you?
You can use this hook and create a desire around your product.
The script also shares that he didn’t even try it but changed his mind, and he is hooked.
Storytelling and psychology are done right.
9. The Psychology of Least Friction:
What: Most people are inherently lazy and, if not lazy, want to do things efficiently.?They want to take the path of least effort or resistance. This is called the law of least effort.
How to use it: Tell your customers it’s easier to buy.
Example:?Endy ad?shares the “dream outcome” and says it’s not that much of an effort. It’s just one click away.
10. The Psychology of Meme:
What: My good friend, Katelyn Bourgoin, shared this in?her newsletter below?(do subscribe to her newsletter if you want to learn how to use psychology in your marketing):
Your buyers don’t hang out on social media waiting to be sold to. They want to be wow-ed, educated, inspired, or entertained.
Memes are relatable yet fun.
One scrolls through their feed and they’re delighted by the funny memes crossing across their screens (because let’s be serious, we don’t LAUGH at memes, we just loudly blow air through our noses).
Marketing is a matter of relating to your customers.
How to use it: If you are not always trying to be “on-brand” use it to entertain your audience with the latest memes.
Kate shares in her newsletter:
Agitate your buyers’ fears but make it funny
Don’t confuse attention with intention. You can’t just post the top trending memes on your brand’s social media accounts and expect sales to come rolling in.
Use memes?strategically?to highlight problems your ideal customers are already experiencing in a humorous way. This gets their attention, but also makes them curious about your solution and increases their intent to buy.
Thank you for reading!
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