Time to leverage AI’s capabilities in your digital strategy (if you haven’t already)
According to the US Digital Marketing Institute, 49% of the value of the NASDAQ and 25% of the US stock market consists of just six companies, and they’re all AI companies. So what does this mean for marketers?
Marketing psychology in digital
Tom Fishburne, the famous creator of Marketoonist cartoons, once said: “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” Today’s consumers are innundated with content. The competition for attention, interest and wallets of audiences can be brutal. As a marketer you need a secret weapon to cut through the clutter. One that reaches deep into the hearts and minds of your customers. Marketing psychology attempts to understand the way that consumers think, feel, reason, and make decisions. The goal of marketing is to convince people, and making a calculated emotional appeal can be just what you need to land a lasting customer. Regardless of what you sell, there is a high likelihood that the marketplace is overcrowded. The purpose of marketing psychology is to gain an edge over the competition. It’s always important to remember that you’re dealing with people. People are emotional. Marketers who understand psychology can use it for their company’s benefit. By capturing analytics of their buying behavior and delivering engaging content that plays along with the mindset of the customer. Here are a few triggers that can help you connect with your consumers on a deeper level and build loyalty over the long term: Trust – One of the most important components in any relationship, trust is the glue which binds people to brands. If you trust an organisation, you are more likely to interact, engage and consume content by the brand. Ultimately, this drives purchase decisions. Examples of this could me customer testimonials, security badges and third-party certifications and displaying these clearly on your site and other digital channels. Give, give, give, then ask – The point here is reciprocation, or the principle of repeatedly giving value to your communities before asking for the sale. One way of doing this is of course through useful content. Giving your readers or customers access to useful, free content, will make them more likely to make a purchase later on when you ask for it. This could be ‘how-to’ tips, insights, data trends etc. So start giving. Authority – Humans naturally gravitate towards figures of authority. In today’s digital world, the number of likes a brand has can help it be perceived as authoritative in its field, as do comments and engagement. Showcasing innovations, reports and ground-breaking research are all powerful triggers that will make consumers see your brand as the authority in its field. Loss-aversion – Perceived scarcity or FOMO (fear of losing out) is one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book. For example, saying offers are available for a “limited time only” encourages sales. Tribalism – People love to associate with those they can identify with i.e. form a tribe with like-minded individuals. Social media has made this much easier. Make it easy for your followers to connect with you, and with each other. Hope you find these tips useful. Happy selling! The Publisher Management Team
Connecting with the people behind the data
According to psychologists, we have genetically evolved to experience the tangible benefits of human connection and studies across all mammals show that our well-being depends on our connections with others. It is therefor not surprising that the modern consumer increasingly cares about personalization. Now more than ever, digital marketers need to find ways to connect with the people behind the data. We live in a data-driven marketplace, no matter the industry you’re in. Many of the interactions you have with customers are online, and data is now a part of every transaction. At the same time, modern consumers increasingly care about personalization. An Accenture report showed that 91% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands who “recognize, remember, and provide relevant offers and recommendations.” Marketers are faced with what is becoming almost a universal truth: Personalization helps advance customer relationships. But when dealing with so much data, and with so much pressure to make things personal, how do you connect the two? The first step is to recognise that there are actual humans clicking through your website or liking your social media posts, not just targets. Campaigns should therefor be centered around building relationships with people, not just metrics and optimization. When customers feel understood by brands, and when they begin to trust those brands, they’re more likely to provide their personal information. But how do you go about it? It all comes down to the assumptions you make about the data you’re analyzing. For example if your sales numbers changed drastically from one week to the next, and impacted one age range in your audience the most, what could be impacting that change that’s external to your brand message? Looking at the data this way means seeing the bigger picture, recognizing that there are many factors that drive a person to engage with a brand or make a purchase. Finding patterns is another part of analyzing data effectively. But to do so while keeping the focus on the human behind the data requires that you’re acknowledging the thought process behind the patterns of behavior. Data is powerful in this way. In addition to gathering metrics and tracking effectiveness, marketers can use data to better understand the intent and motivation behind the action. By following these intuitive steps, digital marketers might uncover, and be able to address, questions their customers have about their products that aren’t answered by their marketing.
