How to Put Science Behind Your Digital Marketing Strategy to Increase Conversions
Brands are always looking for ways to increase their conversion rates. When it comes to social media marketing strategies and tactics, we often think of jumping on trending audio, using memes, sticking to branding and voicing, segmenting audiences, and so on. But what if you could put real science behind your social media marketing efforts?
What is Behavioral Economics?
Behavioral economics provides powerful insights into the decision making process of consumers, helping marketers reach and persuade target audiences more effectively. When marketers have a better understanding of the subtle ways in which cognitive biases, emotions, and external triggers influence purchase decisions and brand loyalty, marketers can frame their messaging for more optimal responses.
Traditional economics assumes that people behave rationally. However, most marketers know, or should know, that purchase decisions are often emotional ones. Behavioral economics incorporates psychological and emotional factors, recognizing that emotional motivations as well as conscious and unconscious biases impact decisions.
Understanding these behavioral science rules allows marketers to anticipate their target audiences’ reactions, helping them frame their messaging for maximum allure. For example, psychology shows that humans are motivated to act when they feel they may lose something; that is why FOMO (fear of missing out) is so powerful.
The bottom line: understanding the actual drivers of human behavior helps marketers create more effective messaging.
3 Core Concepts to Incorporate Into Your Marketing
So let’s take a look at some of the core concepts of behavioral marketing that you can incorporate into your marketing strategies and tactics.
1 | Framing
First is framing. It’s perhaps the most actionable concept for marketers because how you say something matters more than what you say. Pay attention to positive versus negative framing. By reframing how you say something, you can leverage how the brain works, helping nudge people toward the behavior and mindset you want. For example, change “if you have questions…” to “when you have questions…” It’s a small change, but implies certainty.
2 | Priming
Priming refers to contextual factors and how they can unconsciously influence us just before a purchase decision. For our brains, everything matters, even small and seemingly arbitrary things. Details such as color choice and visuals aren’t neutral and they can prime our brains. For example, we associate the colors red, pink, and white with Valentine’s Day.
Here are some practical applications:
- Play on emotions by showing smiling faces interacting, rather than large crowd shots
- Use descriptive language to convey value and significance (e.g. investment instead of expensive)
- Use customer testimonials or success stories that have great short quotes that grab attention
- Where possible, layer all three!
3 | Anchoring
Anchor your target audience’s attention with numbers. Humans have a tendency to latch onto initial numerical values (this is the anchor). The word “some” is arbitrary to humans. But “10” is much more meaningful and sticks in people’s minds. So saying “buy 10 for the holiday season!” has been shown to raise the number of multiples of an item a person purchases. This concept can also apply to bonuses or limits.
Key Takeaways
Putting science behind your marketing strategies can optimize your messaging and increase your conversions. Having a better understanding of how our brains perceive information when it comes to purchase decisions gives marketers an edge, allowing them to craft more effective messaging that primes their target audience to take the action they want.
Need assistance crafting strategies and messaging that primes your target audience for action? Tintero Creative would love to help! Schedule a free consultation to learn more about how we can help your brand grow sustainably with data-driven marketing strategies.