What Are Dark Patterns and Why Should you Avoid Them?

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know we talk a lot about the role of trust when it comes to marketing. When customers lose trust in a brand, marketers risk losing sales, brand loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and much more.??

By engaging in tricky and misleading user interface (UI) practices such as dark patterns, you may be chipping away at your customers’ sense of trust and even driving down your conversion rate.

Learn how you can avoid these tactics and inspire customers to take action through improved landing pages.?

What are dark patterns?

A dark pattern is a UI design that is created to mislead customers into taking an action they hadn’t intended, such as signing up for a subscription.

Although many of these predatory practices are legal, you should avoid using them at all costs. They’re unethical at best, and marketers who use them risk severely harming their brands.

Dark patterns can have long-term consequences to revenue targets and brand impressions. Trust is delicate. It’s hard to build and easy to lose. Once customers feel betrayed, they are extremely unlikely to return without a strong incentive.

Here are some examples of dark patterns…

? False scarcity is the act of tricking customers into thinking that there is a limited quantity of your product so that they are more likely to commit to a decision to purchase or sign up. Although establishing a sense of urgency can positively impact conversions, this strategy should always be implemented honestly. Otherwise, you risk losing your customers’ trust and business.?

? Misdirection, as the name suggests, is misleading customers into taking action.

? Hidden costs that don’t show up until checkout can have a serious impact on conversions and increase your rate of shopping cart abandonment.

? Confirmshaming is instilling a sense of shame to influence users into making the “correct” decision.

Use bright patterns to inspire people to take action

Instead of misleading customers into taking unintended actions, persuade them to take intended actions by prioritizing conversion rate optimization. Provide relevant and engaging landing page experiences that motivate visitors to convert. Here are tactics you can deploy that will build conversions, and trust.

? Provide a personalized experience. Match landing pages to their respective ads through images, copy, and tone. This approach provides a seamless journey for customers, who are more likely to engage with the experience and consider converting.?

? Craft narratives to reflect where visitors are in the advertising funnel. For customers at the very start of the funnel, include product and brand information to get them excited to learn more. Those who have previously engaged with your brand should be served more specific content, such as features or products previously viewed.?

? Use Social Proof. Social proof is a powerful marketing tactic, and testimonials are one of the best ways to include this. Whether it’s a star rating, a trust badge, a customer testimonial, or a screenshot of a review, these signs of social proof will go a long way.

? Appeal to customers using psychographic data. Psychographics, which track customers’ attitudes, opinions, and behaviors, is an effective way to connect with the people who want the products and services you’re promoting. According to our 2021 State of Ad Personalization report, top-performing marketers who leverage psychographic data see sales increases of more than 20% and 40% higher ROI.?

When you think of your favorite brands, what level of trust is involved? How did they earn your trust? How do you build trust in your marketing strategy? Let us know below!

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