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What is it about marketing that makes people more likely to buy from one company vs. another? Understanding the psychology behind marketing and advertising can help you better understand your target market and make the right decisions about what marketing strategies to pursue.
Marketing influences consumers in a variety of ways. We’ll look at some of the most important aspects in this guide, and share how different marketing approaches can help you encourage consumers to choose your small business over competitors.
The right kind of marketing can help build trust with consumers, allowing your business to become an authority that others look to for advice. For example, your lawn care company can share educational and engaging articles online, causing people to see you as an expert and someone with trustworthy experience.
People are always wary of being scammed or taken advantage of, and they won’t do business with companies that make them uneasy. However, a company that takes the time to build trust without trying to force an immediate sale can profit handsomely as their customers buy from them consistently over time.
Just like you wouldn’t propose marriage on a first date, you don’t want to ask for an immediate sale every time you interact with consumers. Build the relationship first, and then the sales will follow.
It’s been shown that most buying decisions are actually subconscious, meaning that people buy based on what they feel. They then use logic to justify their purchase decisions. When your marketing helps create the right kind of emotions while also providing clear, logical reasons for the purchase, you can grow quickly.
For example, people generally want to feel successful. If you can show them that your product or service can help them feel successful, they will buy based on that emotion. Of course, your product or service should also be useful, and you can provide those facts to back up the decision.
The best marketing approach will figure out what your ideal customers want most, and then show how your product or service can get them to that point. That generally means making them feel the way they want to feel — like a good parent, a responsible homeowner, or a success. The actual features of your product or service then provide the logical justification for the purchase.
When looking at how marketing influences consumer behaviour, you can’t overlook the reality that people like to feel like they belong to a group of similar folks. Marketing that shows your customers as being part of their demographic can be very powerful.
How do you use marketing to create a feeling of belonging? There are several ways. You can use images of people in a specific demographic, like families with young children. You can use language common to a specific subculture or age group. You can also include testimonials from customers with characteristics similar to your ideal market.
Most of all, you need to show that you understand how people in that specific group feel and that you can meet their needs. Johnson & Johnson has built a powerful brand around the image of a mother with a baby and messaging that shows they meet the needs of moms. This emotional imagery makes consumers feel like they belong and that J&J is the ideal partner as they raise their children.
Another common marketing strategy is to use nostalgia to reinforce the brand and encourage consumers to introduce specific products and services to their children or grandchildren. We all have specific books or toys that we have fond memories of, and we’re eager to create the same happy memories for our own children.
You can also create brand loyalty by talking about how your business has been around for decades, and that the audience’s parents or even grandparents trusted it with great results. That makes your target audience more likely to stick with your offerings instead of taking a risk with a competitor.
If you think about it, there are probably brands you use simply because your parents always used them and you’ve grown to trust them. You can create the same connection with your own products and services using nostalgia and built-in trust.
Now that you know businesses can influence consumers’ decisions, it’s time to take action. Think about the ways that your company can make use of these marketing strategies. Can you introduce emotion? Build trust? Create a sense of belonging? Appeal to a long history of customer loyalty?
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