Sales psychology is a secret weapon – yet most people fail to obtain it. Here are 10 of our best psychological “triggers” that you can use in your store today to increase sales and conversions.
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This might sound a little weird to the ear…
But sales have NOTHING to do with numbers – but everything to do with psychology.
Understandably, not everyone realizes this (especially dropshippers).
But from being in eCom for over 10 years, I learnt my sales numbers only went up when I decided to vigorously study the psychology behind the “sale” …
After years of learning, investing and applying what I had learned in my own stores and other businesses, I identified the 10 main psychological tricks ALL marketers need to have in order to exponentially grow their sales and business…
I call these Psychological Triggers.
Curious to find out to find out what they are?
(By the way, you’ll soon realize why I asked you this when you see trigger #3)
I bet you are!
So without further ado, let’s jump straight into trigger #1, which is…
Trigger #1: Create Envy with Customer Reviews
Customer reviews help to create envy in your prospective customers.
Ever heard the saying “keeping up with the Joneses?” It refers to the idea that if we see our neighbours: i.e. the Jones family, buy a car that is bigger than ours – that it makes us feel jealous, envious, and makes us want to buy a car to match, if not beat them.
And so that’s what positive product reviews do: we see others benefiting and enjoying this product, and it makes us want to get the same benefit in our lives.
So, if you’ve got a Shopify store, be sure to include a review app like Stamped.io that automatically emails your customers and asks them to leave a review.
And if you are selling on Amazon, then it is crucial that you use a tool like JumpSend that also automatically emails your customers a series of emails after the sale, asking them to leave a review.
Trigger #2: Use Curiosity to Drive Traffic & Engagement
Curiosity should feel like an itch you NEED to scratch.
In 2009, Colin Camerer conducted an experiment. He took 19 undergrad students and hooked them up to a brain scanner and then asked them 40 trivia questions. They ranged from super easy: “what galaxy is earth apart of?” The answer of course being The Milky Way, to more obscure: “what instrument was invented to sound like a human singing?” The answer being the violin.
The students were asked to do three things. 1) Think silently about what they thought the answer was. 2) Write down how confident they were in their answer, and 3) Mark on a scale how curious they were to know the correct answer.
Ultimately, the study found that curiosity is like a u-shaped curve. When we know nothing about something, we are not very curious. But when we know a little bit about something – we become very curious. But the more we know beyond that, the less curious we become.
How can you apply this to your store?
Again, the spin-to-win coupon pop-up box is again a good example of this. Customer’s only know a little: that they can win a random coupon. But they don’t know exactly which one. This curiosity drives them to take action and sign up so that they can find out the answer.
And for Amazon sellers, a great way to add curiosity to your marketing strategy is to be creative with the review request email titles you use e.g. “I have a favour that I’d like to ask you?” instead of your borderline “How are You Enjoying Your Avocado Slicer?” type of subject line you see after buying something on Amazon.
Trigger #3: Use Photos to Help Customers Visualize
Did you know that photos are the number one conversion factor as to whether someone buys a product or not on Amazon?
If customers can visualize themselves actually using a product, then they are more likely to buy.
For example, this yoga mat here is a great example of a product with good photos. There’s a range of pictures from different angles that you can see, but more importantly – you can see other people using it.
If you run an online store, don’t just include the basic photos of a product against a white backdrop.
Instead, look for photos that the supplier has provided showing it in a real-life context. And if the supplier doesn’t have these, consider buying a test product and taking your own photos. The same applies to if you sell on Amazon.
Trigger #4: Use Photos to Create Emotions in Customers
Similar to trigger #4, emotions are integral to decision making.
But instead of creating photos to help visualize how a product works, photos are also important in creating EMOTION in the customer.
Professional Antonio Damasio conducted a study. He took a group of people who were mentally impaired at feeling and experiencing emotions, but who could still access the rational, logical parts of their brain. He discovered that they struggled to make simple decisions like what to eat for dinner, because they lacked any sense of how they felt about their different options.
In other words – a lack of emotions leads to indifference – and a lack of motivation to take action.
Although words can create emotions, photos are some of the most effective ways to do that. A great example would be showing a couple lazing and enjoying themselves on a hammock, as opposed to just showing the hammock by itself.
If you run an online store, be sure to include pictures of people using the product and – more importantly – ENJOYING themselves using it too!
Trigger #5: Use Price Anchoring to Push Prices Higher
Price anchoring is when you place two products with different prices side-by-side, and it’s most effective when there are at least 3 pricing tiers.
Most people pick the middle-price product. It looks cheap compared to the expensive option, but people will assume it’s higher quality than the cheap option. It’s the comfortable compromise.
If you are running your own online store, like a Dropshipping store, make sure you have different prices. Don’t have everything in your store priced at $9.95.
And you’re selling on Amazon, the safest pricing strategy is usually to price somewhere in the middle of your competitors. Don’t be the cheapest, but ideally don’t be the most expensive.
Trigger #6: Include Product Pictures with Human Faces
Similar to trigger #6, this trigger uses humans – particularly the face – as a way of increasing sales conversions.
Medalia Art, a website that sells artwork, did a test. They used to show photos of their paintings for sale on the homepage. They then swapped those pictures to show profile pictures of the artists instead. The click-through-rate jumped by 95%.
Humans are drawn to other human’s faces, ESPECIALLY the eyes. People are more likely to engage and click if you include human faces. It also helps to build trust, so you should take advantage of this relatively easy hack to build essentially free, bonus trust.
If you’re dropshipping from Aliexpress and your supplier doesn’t have any photos like this, then consider purchasing a test product and taking your own photo with the item.
And if you’re selling on Amazon, then you’re probably taking professional photos for your product listing anyway. So just make sure that 1 of your photos has a human face.
Trigger #7: Pain Is More Motivating Than Pleasure
I don’t think anything can explain this trigger better than Black Friday.
Several people camp in front of stores DAYS before Black Friday starts.
People jump through hoops to take on an exciting opportunity not necessarily because they want to experience pleasure – but because of the FOMO (fear of missing out).
People don’t want to experience the pain of missing out on huge discounts and bargains or have to wait a whole other year for Black Friday to come again. Pain is the strongest factor in the world to make someone take action.
Or take another example. Going back to when you were a kid, you probably saw a TV commercial like this:
“Don’t miss your last chance to own the one that started it all! On August 31st, Walt Disney’s Snow White is going back into the Disney Vault. Get it before it’s gone!”
Disney are leveraging pain as a motivating factor: Disney makes the times when they are available feel more like an event. People rush to buy the movie before it goes away again. (Again, to avoid the FOMO)
So if you aren’t taking advantage of this in your store, you’re missing out on easy sales.
Let’s say you were selling a vegetable slicer. A great tip would be to emphasize how frustrating and slow it can be to chop onions and talk about how this fixes that problem.
Or in your product descriptions – if you sell on Amazon – emphasize how your product can remove a pain point that a prospective customer is experiencing (and wants to get rid of).
Trigger #8: Create a Common Enemy
A feud we’re seeing nowadays in eCom is a battle between two people.
First: The authentic leader. This is the person who is transparent, honest and offers immense value to their customers…
…against its evil brother: The fake guru. The guy who flashes cars, money and luxuries to lure you in and purchase their course that they themselves haven’t really used or practiced.
Here’s my fair attempt. How did I do?
Essentially, this trigger is all about creating an “Us vs. Them” attitude against a competitor you have.
For example, if your store sold dog treats made with all natural ingredients, your common enemy would be processed dog treats.
Finding your enemy does take some time to discover, which inevitably means going deep with your niche research.
Look at your market or niche you are selling in: Who is your common enemy? Identify who they are and position your product against them.
Trigger #9: Phrase Your Prices as Low
When you emphasize how low your prices are using words like “only” and “just”, conversions and sales always increase. ALWAYS.
Carnegie Mellon University researchers did a study. They took a free overnight DVD trial that had a $5 shipping charge. They changed the way it was phrased from “A $5 Fee” to instead say “A Small $5 Fee.” And guess what? Conversions increased by 20%!
The application for this is pretty easy: when you’re phrasing your pricing in marketing materials, don’t be afraid to verbally minimize the price e.g. “It costs just $9!” or “Only $9.95!”
Trigger #10: Incite Customers to Buy by Giving Them Something for Free
Have you ever had a time when someone’s done something nice for you and just HAD to return the favour?
This is what we call reciprocity. And can be something as small as smiling at someone you walk past.
(And if for some reason you don’t smile back, that is pretty weird)
This sense of obligation is very powerful. In 1976, sociologist Philip Kunz did an experiment. He mailed out handwritten Christmas cards that contained a photograph of him and his family to 600 random strangers. Despite not knowing him, almost 200 strangers sent him a card back.
But this trigger works EXTREMELY well in business – we even do this at Wholesale Ted.
At the bottom of every blog we create, we offer our free book “How Six Figure Stores Can Earn $10,000 Per Month” as a thank you for reading our blog and putting you in the right step.
Because we provided immense value at first, you’re more likely to decide to return the favour. It may be by giving us your email to gain access to the book, purchasing our course or buying a product that we recommend through our affiliate link.
This is for Wholesale Ted though. How can you apply this to your store? Well, if you’re running your own online store – like say, a dropshipping store – then personalized coupons are the easiest way to do this.
For example, the spin-to-win coupon pop-up boxes you may have seen that give you a random discount – these are a great example of this. Not only do they feel more personal since the customer gets their own exclusive discount, but because they engaged with your site and had a fun experience, they now feel indebted to you.
And if you’re selling on Amazon, customers almost never expect to get anything with their orders. So if you’re private labelling, including a note with a discount coupon inside the product package can be a nice surprise.
Funny how I left this one last – because now we actually have The Gift to offer you!
Want to learn the blueprint wildly successful dropship stores follow to make six-figures?
Six steps to building a six-figure Dropship store
In it, I’ve included:
- How just one “winning item” can earn $10k/month. Yep. A lot of people don’t realize this… but most stores make the majority of their money from just a handful of items!
- The right way to choose AliExpress suppliers. Picking the right AliExpress dropshipper is crucial to drastically reduce things like refunds. Learn how to pick the right suppliers.
- Why long shipping times DON’T matter. A lot of people are scared to start Dropshipping because of “long” shipping times. You’ll learn why this doesn’t matter inside.
- Why six-figure stores take ONLY 2 hours a day to manage. You’ll learn how they utilize apps like Oberlo to make their stores semi-automated… making managing orders super simple!
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