As a marketer, you have a list of strategies that guide you in elevating your brand — and that includes helping your customers make the best decisions.
We’ve talked to you about the importance of keeping consumer decisions simple, what goes into consumer-buying decisions, and how consumers build their usage habits. All of these concepts can influence how purchases are made, but what exactly persuades consumers to move forward in their journey?
Andres Lares, co-author of "Persuade" and Managing Partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute, a negotiation training consulting firm, gave us a four-step outline for ethical persuasion and actionable tips you can implement into your marketing strategies.
4-step outline for ethical persuasion
Consumers are a skeptical bunch, and it makes sense: They trust humans more than brands, they are often inundated with marketing messages, and they can be quite particular about what they find valuable. To put it plainly, persuading customers to make a decision can be an uphill battle. And it isn’t something that happens right away, either; persuading customers takes skill and a clear guide.
Here are four steps to ethical persuasion:
1. Building credibility
Persuasion starts with credibility, which is formed through trust. Consumers aren’t just going to follow your lead because you want them to. You have to give them something tangible to work with.
If you’ve spent any considerable amount of time learning about consumer psychology, you may have heard of social proof, the idea that humans are more likely to follow the lead of people they know and trust…also known as credible sources. One major social proof tactic is expert endorsements.
“A commercial for toothpaste has a dentist saying, ‘This is the best brand for toothpaste.’ No one knows who that dentist is, but they’re still a dentist so they’re accredited. That gives the brand credibility because they’re working with an expert, and it carries more weight with us.” Lares said.
2. Engaging consumer emotions
Humans are emotional creatures, and this comes through in their decision-making.
When people think of the decision-making process, they often think it’s logic that solely impacts choices. But this completely leaves out emotion: the actual deciding factor that captures human attention in the first place.
“The emotion is what’s actually going to motivate someone to do something. The emotion is the lever you absolutely need to pull,” said Lares.
3. Using logic
Influencing potential customers that you are a sound option for their needs will still require some logical evidence. After all, this is how consumers convince themselves that purchasing a product is a smart investment.
Lares say the logic your customer uses is justification for them to think back to themselves and say 'This brand must be good because _______. ' That justification could be the expert endorsements your brand received, awards you won or any other proof that your brand will offer value.
4. Facilitating action
You know all about calls-to-action, but what about the importance of making them simple?
“Even if your customer has justified [making a purchase] with your brand, how do you make it as smooth as possible for them to do so?” asked Lares. “You want to minimize friction and channel them in the direction you want them to go.”
A common example of this is a pretty standard interaction between the cashier and the customer: “Would you like a fry with that?”
It’s a simple enough question. It requires little to no brain power on the part of your customer and if they enjoy the item you’re offering, they’ll appreciate your helpful reminder.
“It’s an automated process and it increases the likelihood that it will occur. The likelihood that a consumer will say yes to wanting to make it a combo by adding fries is significantly higher than leaving it up to chance that they’ll make that decision on their own,” said Frazer.
In instances like these, persuasion feels more like a helpful suggestion. Consumers don’t have to feel bad about spending an arm and a leg or getting no use out of the product. You’ve made their shopping experience easier and added additional value.
“They’re things that don’t take up a lot of space, they don’t cost a lot of money, and there’s also immediate satisfaction,” said Lares.
Your customers want to make the best possible purchasing decisions for themselves and you’re the guiding light that helps them do that. When choosing what direction to persuade your customers, it should always be the direction that best serves them.
