What do you usually do to convince other people to do what you like to?
Which strategies do you use?
Do you try to deliver as much information as possible in order to convince people, but with no result?
So then you will be interested in learning more about psychological strategies you can use to influence people. And hereby I do not speak about manipulation. No…I speak about techniques to influence people without delivering them false information.
The following psychological techniques are proven to work and are useful especially in marketing. They are based on research by Chialdini and Colleagues (1984), which was conducted by three years long “undercover-research”, in which he observed car vendors, commercial agents, fundraiser, advertising people, recruiters and others.
1st Strategy: Reciprocity
We people feel obligated to return the favor when somebody helps us.
This principle is today often used in online but also offline marketing:
- Accepting a month of free subscription at the fitness studio makes people extend it for a longer period and to be willing to pay for it.
- By giving away a free ebook on your website/blog people are willing to leave their email address you can send them your newsletter.
- Working pro-Bono within an organization on a project raises the changes for extending your network, growing your experience, gaining a reference but also for future monetized collaboration if people are content with your work.
2nd Strategy: Social Proof
To know how to behave people are orienting on what others do. Why? People like to decide as correctly as possible, they want to be accepted by the others and to see themselves in a positive light.
Practical examples might be:
- As a Blogger you could write a post and publish a statistic on how many people are visiting your blog.
- If you are an Event organizer you can send a reminder email to all party guests and tell them that most of them have already confirmed that they will come.
3rd Strategy: Commitment and Consistency
People like to behave consistently with what they have promised.
- People are more probable to show up for a free webinar if they have subscribed on their own and filled out a questionnaire about their problems.
- Encourage people to post on Social Media pictures of them together with your product and they will become long-term clients. Works especially well with beauty products. You can also reward them with a surprise for their implication.
4th Strategy: Sympathy
The more you like someone the more you let yourself influenced by this one.
- In luxury businesses e.g. jewelry, fashion, cars, cosmetics etc. hire people, which are good looking. In Conformity with the halo-effect, those people will be perceived also as more trustworthy and honest.
- Make compliments on Social Media and write about positive collaboration experiences with your clients. Making compliments creates sympathy.
5th Strategy: Authority
People are relying on expert advice.
- As a coach, it might be useful to present your prospects on your Website something about your background as a coach and reviews from past collaborations.
- Cosmetics sell better if they are created by a famous dermatologist.
6th Strategy: Scarcity
The less something is available (or seems to be available) the higher the wish to be part of it.
- People are more willing to participate and subscribe to a workshop if they receive the information that the places are limited to a certain number and that they have to subscribe until a certain day and a certain hour.
- And also people are more willing to booking their next travel quick if they see that there are only a few chambers left for a low price.
So these are the main and most common strategies you can use to influence people and make them to your loyal customers.
Maybe you are eager to try some of them out. Hint: Do not try to implement more strategies at once, because you will obtain a better effect by implementing them consequently.