10 Psychology Hacks For Digital Marketing
We’ve said it a million times, but the digital world is always evolving and changing. But the way the human brain works, although complex, is something that is almost ever constant. There are a few hacks that marketers have been using for years, far before digital marketing was even thought of, that will catch eyes, spark emotion and drive sales.
These hacks can be broken down into three categories:
- Visual – The way it looks is often the first thing that someone notices about your brand: colour, photography, fonts and shapes all have a huge impact on how a customer perceives your brand.
- Language – Words hold immense power. Whether you’re looking to inspire, persuade or inform, we like to think of the secrets of marketing as an art of storytelling.
- Urgency – To drive immediate action, creating a sense of urgency through copy and offers is key.
Today we’re outlining a few of these in more detail and how you can use them in your campaigns.
1. Framing Value
We all know the old trick of reducing the price of a product by a penny so that the customer feels that they’re getting better value: £3 compared to £2.99. This take on reframing value has the same effect: emphasise the biggest number on your offers to better showcase discounts.
Offering a 10% discount on a £200 product? Highlight the £20 saving instead. For a £10 discount on a £50 purchase, frame it as a 20% off deal. This makes the discount feel more impactful.
2. FOMO is Real!
Fear of missing out (also known as FOMO) isn’t just a social media trend! People hate missing out, whether that’s on an experience that their peers are raving about or a limited time offer. How can you leverage this?
Phasing Out Discounts: Start off with a high level discount and gradually decrease it over time. People love to get a good deal, and this sense of urgency will encourage them to take action immediately. For example, run a social campaign with a 30% discount on Day 1, 20% discount on Day 2 and 10% discount on Day 3. Or let them know that the first 100 customers will receive the biggest discount.
Social Proof: Show off your real life customer reviews and work with influencers who will endorse your products time and time again. A prime example of this for me lately has been the Taylor Swift Eras tour – it’s not something I’d ever been particularly interested in, but after seeing everyone’s TikTok videos showing off their Eras outfits and their Instagram Stories with sleeves of friendship bracelets, I’m devastated that I’ve missed out on this experience! Had there still been tickets available, you can bet I’d be there!
Scarcity: People love to be part of something. Exclusive product collections, exclusive member clubs, limited amounts of tickets or seats for an event, reminders that your product totally sold out before – all these tactics will have people throwing their money at you for more!
3. The Power of a Face
There’s a reason that models make a lot of money – they sell a lot of products! The most successful companies show their products being used in real life, their staff behind the scenes working hard and having fun, or simply a trustworthy face behind their advice. This is especially true in digital marketing where you can’t see and feel a product in real life, and the people in the company are a faceless entity behind a computer screen.
Humans are hardwired to respond to faces, and this doesn’t always have to mean real faces! You can design your packaging with faces, arrange your products to simulate a face (“found faces”!), or even utilise the power of AI to create virtual faces that represent your brand (but be transparent about this or you run the risk of entering the uncanny valley!). This human connection, whether real or implied, fosters trust and makes your brand more relatable.
4. Storytelling
Stories are powerful tools for connecting with your audience. Craft compelling narratives that showcase your product’s benefits and resonate with your target audience. Whether this is your company’s history, their values, and their morals, or a little insight into what goes into the creation of your product, showing your staff working behind the scenes on packing or chatting about their favourite products. Creating a story will build a sense of trust as well as encouraging your customers to support the real people behind your business.
5. Shapes Speak Louder Than Words
We all know how colour can make you feel a certain way, but did you know that subtle use of shapes can influence behaviour? Think of the Kiki and Booba study that demonstrated that most people across cultures would name certain shapes in certain ways. Curved shapes are often associated with comfort and safety, useful for brands to convey a sense of warmth and trust. Upward diagonals like the Nike tick, Amazon arrow, even the leaf on the Apple logo and Meta convey progress and success with energy – think of a graph going upwards.
In every piece of visual marketing, think of the energy it might convey – from product design and packaging, to your graphics and photography, even the shape of your call to action buttons on your website and the fonts you choose make a huge difference!
6. Emotions
People buy based on emotions, not just logic. Tap into positive emotions like excitement, happiness, and nostalgia with your visuals and messaging. This comes as part of your storytelling, your colours, the shapes you use and more. Humans tap into something greater than they see on the surface, to us certain colours or fonts may already have a good or bad association that makes an impact on our buying potential. In the above image, the pastel image with a fluffy font gives a cutesy, fun vibe, whereas the black and white version with a creepy font gives a spookier vibe.
7. Frequency Illusion
Have you ever noticed a specific car everywhere after you decided to buy one? That’s the frequency illusion at work! We can use this to our advantage as marketers even more so in the digital world. Use targeted paid advertising and retargeting campaigns to make your brand appear frequently across platforms, staying top-of-mind with potential customers.
8. The Power of Hands
Images of hands can create a sense of trust and connection. Use hands interacting with your products to showcase their functionality and build a sense of user experience. Hands pointing in a graphic can direct a customer towards a certain action decision. Even simulated hands can give a customer that subtle nudge that they need towards making a purchase!
9. Embrace AI
This is an entire blog post in itself really, but in short, think of AI as your assistant. Many consumers are comfortable interacting with AI chatbots for customer service or product recommendations. Use AI to create a personalised and engaging experience that adds a human touch. My personal favourite way to use AI is to bounce ideas or to get feedback on something I’ve already done – I treat it as another colleague with another perspective!
10. Make Them Laugh
Humour can be a powerful tool to disarm your audience, make them remember your brand, and create a positive association. Memes are something that everyone can understand, and in this day and age, customers just don’t want to see brand posts all the time! They’re far more likely to engage and interact with something more real that they might see from their friends. So use humour strategically, and ensure it aligns with your brand voice!
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