Five Psychological Insights That Can Help You Dramatically Improve Your Advertising and Marketing
“Before you can have a share of market, you must have a share of mind” – Leo Burnett, advertising pioneer
Warning: This article will encourage you to want to “disturb the peace” when it comes to your advertising style – at least I hope so. At any rate, I’m convinced that, by understanding and using just the five principles of consumer psychology I will outline below, you will get a much bigger bang from your marketing buck, and attract and keep more customers. And isn’t that the goal of advertising?
It’s been correctly stated that advertising very simply is applied psychology. In fact, this is true no matter where it appears – in print, on television, through email or on your website… anywhere actually, with the sole exception of radio, which I will explain shortly.
We live in amazing times. Research in the neurosciences has uncovered many interesting facts about the human brain and how it interprets and reacts to stimuli, including advertising messages. However, it seems there is a lag between what science now knows about advertising and what some businesses, such as many of today’s self-service laundry operations, actually do with this knowledge when developing advertising.
Simply put, our brains contain certain “feel-good” neurotransmitters, such as endorphins and dopamine. These elevate your mood; make you happier; and encourage you to feel focused, happy and optimistic – as well as to gravitate toward the cause of these feelings.
Therefore, to be successful, your advertising messages must attempt to produce increased amounts of these neurotransmitters in the mind of the recipient. This can be accomplished by producing properly structured ads to facilitate the production of these chemicals, using the five principles of consumer psychology I previously mentioned. And here are those five:
Understanding one specific aspect of how the brain works will improve your advertising effectiveness dramatically.
Psychological research has clearly demonstrated that most of us tend to remember the beginnings and endings of what we see (such as movies and advertisements) and forget a lot of what occurs in the middle. The brain is always focused on conserving energy and, in the process, will discard information. As a result, strong openings and finishes are the key to effective advertising. The way to achieve this is to place your most significant content at the beginning of your advertisement and then repeat it at the end. In general, most of the content in the middle will not be recalled in much detail.
Use a lot of visual stimuli – such as photos – in your ads.
Our brain is highly focused on visual input. This is very likely because our optic nerve processes information about 40 times faster than our auditory nerve. Therefore, since our brain is hardwired to make decisions that are based mostly upon perceiving visual input, it’s important to include a lot of it in your ads. In other words, the brain is biased toward the visual, which is the reason I personally don’t use radio to deliver my advertising messages. (Hint: You can show photos of your beautiful laundry and one of a “not so beautiful” laundry to make a strong visual point.)
When people make buying decisions, emotion trumps intellect.
It’s generally accepted that, in the final analysis, people buy on emotion and justify with logic. There are numerous illustrations of this phenomenon. Of course, some are more dramatic than others. For example, we pay considerably more for a first-class seat on an airplane, we spend huge sums on luxury cars, and we are willing to spend $200 or more on dinner for two at a fancy restaurant. Of course, if you ride in the back of an airplane, you’ll still arrive at your destination at the same time as those in first class. A medium-priced vehicle, as opposed to a Ferrari, will still get you to your destination. And dinner at McDonald’s will still fill you up. However, the need to feel exclusive is clearly the underlying emotion in these cases. Did I prove my point?
The actionable tip here is that people will remember your advertising better when it’s associated with emotion – and the stronger the emotion, the better. If your customers (or potential customers) remember your message, you have an excellent chance they will buy your product. I’ve heard it said that we are not “thinking machines that feel,” but rather “feeling machines that think.”
Therefore, advertising for your self-service laundry should contain references to the emotional advantages of always wearing clean clothing and providing it for other members of the family. It also should focus on how nice customers will look wearing clean clothes, and how good and confident they will feel about themselves when they do.
Write your advertising backward.
Unfortunately, most laundry owners who compose their own advertising messages tend to state things that are obvious in terms of bragging or posturing, such as “Our coin laundry is truly great!” Consumers viewing ads with such tired messages typically think, “Well, yeah, we already know you think your business is great.”
Instead, consider saying the complete opposite. For example, perhaps state that your store isn’t right for everyone, and then explain exactly why. However, if you use this method, make sure your story is a good one.
For example, you might say something like:
“You won’t like our laundry if you’re used to one that’s rarely clean, if you’re accustomed to rude and unhelpful attendants or if you’re content with a store that always has a number of out-of-order machines. Our laundromat is always spotless! Our attendants are friendly and knowledgeable! And we’ve got the best washers and dryers in the neighborhood!”
Cool approach, huh? If you apply this method, just be sure to avoid convenient fictions. And write your ad copy in such a manner that you don’t carry the negative baggage of your competitors.
Design your advertising to attract “early adopters.”
“Early adopters” are a great target, and they represent about 13.5 percent of your marketplace. They also represent your best quick source for new customers and your path of least resistance. They are driven by strong needs for information, novelty and status. In addition, they have drastically short attention spans and possess a fondness for moving on. Moreover, they typically are fickle and bore easily. These are the people who have to buy the latest version of cell phone and wear the newest clothing styles. They begin using a product or service as soon as it becomes available or as soon as they become aware of it. They have been described as “people who are all eyes and ears.”
Psychologically, these individuals are more socially forward than “later adopters,” are digital influencers (as well as being digitally influenced themselves), tend to make maximum use of social media and can spread the message to other early adopters for you because they have the inclination to promote change.
The way to their hearts is through social networks of all kinds. With early adopters, if your advertising isn’t remarkable, you’re invisible. Be sure to stress the advantages of using your laundry, the lack of complexity in doing so (as early adopters frown on complexity) and the ease of “try-ability” that your business offers.
To attract this group of prospective customers, your advertisements need to “light them up.” For example, you need to tout your new faster delivery service, your new large frontload machines or your expanded hours of operation. I think you get the point.
And there you have it – five insights that can truly increase the accuracy of your advertising and marketing aim. After all, your failure to hit the bullseye is never the fault of the target.
