Science of Persuasion-unlocked.

The Science of Persuasion: What is it?

 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini shows us how we can develop our communication skills in order to influence the decisions of individuals. Robert Cialdini is a professor ofsocial psychology at Arizona State University and has conducted a series of investigations on the operation of persuasion in real life.

Let’s take a look at how we can apply some of these techniques in order to obtain benefits (conversions, clicks, shares, sales, emails, subscribers and more!).

If you’re a marketer, social media manager, or simply want to make your project work better, be sure to read these 6 principles of persuasion:

Principle #1: “Reciprocity”

If a request is  preceded by an unexpected gift, it has greater potential to convince potential customers. The gift will make them feel the importance of returning the favor, or to reciprocate.

Social norms compel us to respond to a favor with another favor, in order to not be considered ungrateful. Think about your daily life … Isn’t easier to get a person to do you a favor after you’ve given them a gift or done something for them? That feeling of obligation makes them more inclined to agree to your request.

An initial favor will be reciprocated many times over in the future. The most common example of applying this principle in marketing are “free samples”. But be careful! To use the principle of reciprocity to influence others, we must first be clear about who our target audience, know why we want to influence them, and what exactly those people want. Once you’ve got all this, you can identify what would be appealing to them to receive for free, that way you can implement the principle of reciprocity successfully.

Principle #2 Commitment” (and Consistency)

People will tend to behave consistently with choices they’ve already made, even very small choices. If I can get you to commit to something small (e.g. wearing an awareness ribbon, signing a petition, seeing yourself as a certain “type” of person), then you will be more likely to commit to bigger actions (e.g. giving time or money) later on.

For example, if at the beginning of an evening of drinking, I can get you to acknowledge that you’re a “trouble-maker,” then you will be increasingly likely to be dancing on the bar before the evening is over.

For example Cialdini mentions in his book about an experiment where a group of people were given a cancer awareness button and asked to wear it for a week. Most all thought it was a harmless request, and complied. Some time later, these same people were asked to give a donation to help fight cancer. Not surprisingly, this group of people donated much more money than did the control group. Why? Because in wearing the button for a week, cancer-fighting had now become a small piece of their identity. They were now more likely to behave as a cancer-fighter would.

 Principle #3:  “Social Proof”

When we feel uncertain about making a decision, we observe what others are doing to get “evidence” or social “proof” to see if something is OK or not

We act in the same way that our society does (or social sub-groups) in order to be accepted by it. Even when society is wrong! The famous economist Keynes said: “It’s easier to do wrong with the masses than to turn around and face the masses and tell the truth.”

We tend to follow trends. And you can harness the power of social proof to dramatically increase conversion rates of your website. Messages like: “9 out of 10 people recommend ….” are good examples of the principle of social proof beeing applied to marketing. In this example, the sales pitch is based on the rate of collective approval.

Amazon.com is a company known worldwide for selling goods over the Internet. We can see how they put social proof to use by considering the way they expose buyers and sellers to ratings that others have made about their products. This helps facilitate decision-making, because the decision is backed by other’s experiences. It’s characterized by the star rating (1 to 5), including the number of reviews received. You can also find comments from other users.

Principle #4: “Sympathy/Like-ability”

We’re more likely to be influenced by the people who we like.

If you like someone your more likely to do something they want or ask. This principle is also based on something as superficial as the physical appearance of a person.

Companies that use sales agents within their community use this principle with great success. People are more likely to buy from people like themselves, friends, and people they know and respect. That’s why it’s so important to study your potential customers. I recommend that you read this article on how to execute a study of the “Buyer Persona”.

Sympathy is key to selling. Rarely someone will buy something from someone they don’t like.

This principle can be applied to Social Media Marketing as follows: A company that wants to increase their conversion rates, should simply focus on creating a beautifully executed page with elements that make the visitor feel represented by images, colors, words, and the people shown in it.

The “About Us” part on a landing page is an excellent opportunity to tell and show potential buyers all the similarities between them and us. This easily makes customers feel a connection with someone or something they like and that represents them

Principle #5: “Authority

People in general have a tendency to obey authority figures, even if those authority figures are questionable.

It’s just human nature.

When customers feel unsure about a purchase, they usually look for a testimony from a “person with authority on the subject” to serve as a guide. That’s why the opinion of professionals or experts is already a classic in the world of advertising.

Adidas uses Lionel Messi as an indisputable authority figure in the world of sports, more specifically soccer. There’s no doubt about it. His influence and popularity lead him to be the visible face of countless advertising campaigns, whether sport-related or not. The use of sports figures has been a classic resource of Adidas over the years. On their website we can also see the important aesthetic display of their various campaigns.

Tips:

• If an authority figure or a leader in your industry has made a positive comment about your product or service, make it known by showing it on your landing page or your pricing page. It’ll help increase your sales!

 Principle #6: “Scarcity”

With this principle of the Science of Persuasion, people have to know that they’re going to miss it if they don’t act quickly. It mainly relies on the fact that

things are more attractive when their availability is limited, or when we risk losing the opportunity to acquire them.

The law of supply and demand plays a big role in the principle of scarcity. If the customer perceives a low supply or high demand for a good, they’ll show that they’re immediately interested and even willing to pay a higher price. Opportunities seem more valuable when we find it harder to get them.

Orbitz.com tells you that there are only a few spots left when you look for rooms and flights. If you don’t buy it in that moment, you risk the chance of losing that spot! This is the scarcity principle in action Tips:

• If you sell a product and there are only a few items left, make it known! People will want to buy the product even more.
• Limit the number of units per person. We buy more when we know we can NOT buy more than “5 items per person” 

Combine

What’s interesting about applying these principles is seeing that:

Cialdini’s 6 principles of persuasion are rarely used independently, but rather combined with others as part of one comprehensive marketing strategy.

While I was investigating the Quick Sprout site (for an example of reciprocity) a series of limited offers popped up (e.g., scarcity). The principles can be applied at different times, to different publics or products, and also be used simultaneously. Don’t limit yourself to just one.

However, eventhough these are very useful tools for designing marketing strategies, you should not abuse them, because if they become too obvious, they can actually affect the brand in a negative way.

It’s the customer’s decision that moves the entire marketing process, so that’s where we need to be influential. There may be thousands of tips for gaining customers, but the principles of persuasion guarantee that you’ll influence them and lead to an increase in conversion rates (users to customers).