Many business owners don’t realize how much psychology and consumer behavior affects their sales. While it is hard to say why consumers purchase certain things, there are certain psychological traits that can be found in every buyer.
Understanding Traits of Your Consumers
These patterns make it easier to determine how and when certain consumers buy certain things. Although there is an entire science and psychology to figuring out the behavior of customers and prospective buyers, you can learn a few things by paying attention to the most common traits of buyers.
1. Consumers like Being Told What to Do
Many businesses think that having an endless amount of options for their consumers allows them the best opportunity to decide what they want to get. However, this is rarely the case. Having too many choices can cause shoppers to be confused and anxious when trying to make a quick shopping decision.
When shoppers have a limited amount of choices to make, the streamlined buying experience is stress-free and relieving. This is why a call to action is so important, be it online or in person. For example, if you want your customers to visit your store, make a purchase or reach out by email, you need to tell them.
Will the product make their lives easier? Is it a necessity for their work-life home life or personal life or love life? Let them know immediately how making this purchase will improve their life.
Moreover, once they have established the reason to purchase something they need to be told to buy and how to buy it. The simpler the call to action the better, as customers don’t want to deal with something that is too complicated. If a call to action is too wordy or too difficult to understand, businesses are making it harder for customers to complete their products.
3. The Value Should Always be Clear
Think your product is intuitive enough that you don’t need to explain its value? Think again. Consumers don’t want to have to work to understand the value of a service or product. If you blatantly explain why a product is so incredible, they will already have all the information they’re looking for it to complete their purchase. Even if it seems like an obvious truth, stating it openly is one of the best ways to push tentative customers to complete a purchase.
4. Calls to Action Should Appeal to Customers’ Impulsivity
When it comes to your marketing strategy, simplicity is what makes incredibly direct calls to action work. Asking customers to buy, try, and subscribe now appeals to human being’s need to try something new and live in the moment. Relying on the idea that customers have to mull over a purchase will lead you to lose out on a potential sale.
Cater to the impulses of your demographic by always offering them a chance to give into a purchase they wouldn’t have initially thought to make. Whether that means strategically placing certain products by the cash register or using your store’s app to prompt customers to buy one last thing before completing their purchase. While some more tightly budgeted buyers will say no, you’ll see that more often than not, impulsive buyers will go ahead and make the spontaneous purchase.
5.Tap into the Fear of Missing Out
The fear of missing out is an important tactic in sales. Even if a customer has logically thought through every reason they don’t need to make a purchase, when faced with the idea that this is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, they can easily change their mind. Instead of losing out on a great deal or a one-time sale, they’re willing to spend money they didn’t initially intend to just to avoid missing out.
6. Customers Like to Purchase Better than Average Products
Perception is a significant factor when it comes to what customers buy. Generally, the average buyer considers themselves to be above average–which gives them an eye for brands that offer above average products and services. By promoting your company as one that is better than the competition, you’ll be able to improve your perceived value in the eyes of customers.
The most significant way to improve your brand’s perceived value is through marketing efforts like branding. With business cards, letterheads, and consistent branding across digital platforms and printed material, you can easily control the influence you have on your public.
7. Harness Emotion to Drive Sales
Neuroscience shows us that each decision made by any human is informed by emotions. Take this into account as you search for ways to get your customers to connect with your brand. In the case of brands like Apple, many customers are so loyal to the brand because they have formed an emotional bond. When presented with other companies and different types of tech, they’ll choose Apple every time, simply because it’s become about more than a company to them.
For brands hoping to boost sales, understanding marketing psychology is a must. By taking the time to understand the science behind consumer behavior, businesses will better know how to market their products and services.
