How to Use the "Fogg Behavior Model" to Influence More People to Buy From You

Have you ever heard of the FBM, the Fogg Behavior Model?

It’s a standard blueprint among app developers today.

You should know about it because as a social media advertiser, it helps persuade prospects to respond to your offers. (I write about it in my new book Cashvertising Online, but let's take a peek here about how it works...)

Referred to as “the three-pronged approach” by Business Insider, the FBM guides the design of social media apps in order to drive humans to take action.

This magical triad consists of: 1) Motivation, 2) Ability and, 3) Prompt. Let me explain...

In order to get humans to take action...

1) They must be MOTIVATED to take action.?

2) They must also have the ABILITY to take action. (“Ability,” in the context of behavioral design, refers solely to the simplicity of the action required.) And finally...

3) They must then be PROMPTED to do more than just think about it. They must also be moved to take the next step, whether that’s clicking a link... completing a form... or clicking a PayPal button.?

Let’s make things easy, OK? Let’s call the three elements (Motivation, Ability and Prompt) MAP for short. Okay, let’s get practical...

Let’s say I’m a landscaper. You’re a homeowner. I want you to hire me to cut your grass. In order for my sales pitch to be successful (regardless of how it’s delivered, online, in print, or in person), you first have to want to have your lawn cut by a professional.

Simple enough, right?

If you’re already satisfied with your lawn and the way it’s being cut (whether by you or someone else), you’re not going to call me.

In other words, you’ll have no MOTIVATION. However, if I can convince you of the joy of having some1

Fact is, I’d be happy to break even on the first “get-acquainted job.” That’s because it costs me five times as much to acquire you than to keep you. The faster I can get you on my books, the less your acquisition will ultimately cost me.

Plus, my long-term client stats tell me? that once I book you, I’ll keep you on board for an average of 4.5 years—and that’s above average. Your lifetime value to me is worth a breakeven on your first cutting.

By offering a killer introductory price, I can undercut the competition and substantially raise my chances of you trying my services. My $29 cut versus their $49 cut.

Who would you try first, everything else being the same?

That was a rhetorical question, of course. Most people would go with the less expensive option. Less risk, less to lose.

?Lastly, my website would also feature the simplest of contact forms and a chat option. I’d test this against a page with a “Schedule-Your-Own-Service” form that allows you to both pick the date of your first mowing and conveniently pay for it online.

(This is how you make things easy for your prospects and push them past prong #2—ABILITY—in the “take action” process.) The saddest thought is busting your butt to get eyeballs on your ad, but once they arrive they’re entirely lost (or bored) because:

1) You’re not guiding them exactly where you want, or...

2) It’s just too much trouble to make the next contact with you, or...

3) You’re not outright selling them on why they need to choose you over the slew of competitors.

I might feature the simplest of price-quote calculators... and a clean, easy-to-complete form that gets my services started immediately.

I’d have another form to simply request more info... plus a Chat Now option—including a smiling rep’s face— to add a personal touch and satisfy the impulse to get questions answered on the spot, along with my phone number prominently displayed.

So—in other words—I’d want to make you jump as few hurdles as possible for you to satisfy the desire that you’ve come to my site to satisfy.

Now—and this is where the “trickery” of social media app design gets interesting.

According to The National Center for Biotechnology Information, there are seven addictive mechanisms capturing and holding our brains’ attention built into every app.

And I'll tell you all about them--and how you can take advantage of their power--in my next article, coming soon.

Or start now learning how to write ads like ad-agency pros: Check out Cashvertising, Cashvertising Online and Smashvertising on Amazon. Visit me online at: DrewEricWhitman.com