In a business, a marketing strategy is needed. Marketing strategies can be carried out through massive promotions on social media, imposing tempting discounts, working with public figures and influencers for a wider target audience and through newsletters.
However, besides the dominant factors above that can be optimized in Marketing Strategies, there are actually other determining factors that should not be underestimated. This factor is marketing psychology.
The term "marketing psychology" may still sound foreign to the ear. Because this term is not familiar to marketers who focus more on optimizing more popular types of digital marketing such as SEO, SEM, mobile marketing, content marketing, Social Media Marketing, and others.
For Erzedka Friends who are still curious and want to know more about marketing psychology, you can listen to the full explanation in the discussion below.
What is Consumer and Marketing Psychology?
According to a well-known psychologist, Drs. Paulus Lilik Kristianto, as stated in his book, Marketing Psychology, is the integration of psychology and human behavior into marketing activities to achieve marketing goals, namely maximum sales.
Simply put, Marketing Psychology is one of the sciences in the world of marketing to understand the psychology of customers when they visit the products offered and finally decide to buy the product.
Marketing psychology can be applied to social media marketing strategies, promotions through websites, or others. By applying marketing psychology, marketers can more easily understand the habits, traits, tendencies, and other things that customers like before they finally buy a product.
For example, women have a habit of being easily tempted to buy clothes when there are big discounts. They don't care if the clothes are really needed or not, the most important thing is they don't want to miss a discount promo. Therefore, fashion businessmen finally use discount promos to influence female customers to buy and even buy up their fashion products.
How to do marketing psychology?
Erzedka Friends can't wait to find out what are the secret tips for marketing psychology to run smoothly? Therefore, just refer to the following discussion.
1. Applying Social Proof Principles
Simply put, social proof is taking advantage of positive testimonials and reviews from customers who have purchased the product before. Apart from positive testimonials, social proof can also be formed from recommendations from influencers and public figures. Influencers who have many followers and a positive self-image in society make most of the potential customers immediately believe in the recommended product.
To apply the principle of social proof in marketing psychology, the use of social media is the most powerful tool. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as social media with the most massive number of users at this time can be used to upload various testimonials and recommendations from public figures in the country.
2. Applying the Principles of Emotional Marketing
The principle of emotional marketing is useful for growing positive emotions from your potential business customers. For example, a company invites their potential customers to buy products as well as donate to underprivileged communities.
So that even running businesses will also be blessed because apart from seeking profits and profits, they are also able to spread positive energy to all of their customers through the action of inviting them to buy while donating.
3. Making Products Seem Rare
The next secret strategy in marketing psychology is to make the products that are sold seem to run out quickly so they are rare. This can make potential customers compete to buy the product before it runs out because they think that many are eyeing the product.
If your business uses an e-commerce platform to market products, don't include too much stock in the e-commerce. Enter the stock little by little so that it seems the product is running out quickly. Or it could also be through the use of a "limited edition" label on a product to add an exclusive and unmarketable impression.
4. Applying the Decoy Effect Principle
Actually Decoy Effect is a term that is quite popular in the world of marketing psychology. Decoy Effect is to provide three pricing options to make customers spend more money.
For example, a food stall sells popcorn for a small price of USD 2,00 and a large size for USD 6,00. With the choice of these two prices, maybe customers will prefer to buy popcorn with a small size.
However, when the shop owner presents another medium size popcorn option at a price of USD 3,00, customers will be more interested in buying the medium size even though they have to spend more money.
5. Using the Charm Price Principle
In marketing psychology, there is the term "Charm Price" which is using the number 9 on the back of the product price to give the impression of 'cheaper'. Usually prospective customers only pay attention to the front number of the price.
A study contained in the Priceless book also reveals the fact that the number of sales can increase by 24% when using the Charm Price principle.
6. Make a comparison of the initial price and the price after the discount
In marketing psychology, it is undeniable that applying discounts is a strategy that has the most effective effect. By comparing the price difference which is quite far after the discount, it will further influence the psychology of prospective customers to immediately buy the product.
7. Applying the Principle of Reciprocity
The principle of reciprocity is often used by business people today. Usually they use this principle to collect feedback from customers. An example of applying the principle of reciprocity in a marketing strategy is by offering gifts, discounts, points or bonus coins when customers have finished purchasing product transactions.
Those bonus points or coins can be collected and used to get a discount on your next purchase. That way, customers will continue to subscribe to your product.
The decacorn company that applies marketing psychology in the form of the principle of reciprocity is Gojek. Customers are expected to collect a certain number of points in order to obtain a "treasure". These treasures vary and can be used to get discounts in subsequent transactions using Gojek.
8. Promo For Certain Customers
In carrying out a marketing strategy, of course research is something that must be done. When you know which potential customers and customers are loyal to certain products, then make these customers targets for special discounts.
Through this strategy, customers will feel more specialized. In addition, giving discounts is also more targeted because it is implemented through the principle of personalization.
For example, in the Grab application, they provide certain discounts for Mega bank users. The temporary conclusion is that their customers make more transactions using Bank Mega so that these discounts are more targeted towards loyal and engaged customers.
9. New Product Release Regularly
Buying newly released products will give customers the impression that they are always up-to-date and not outdated. Therefore, it is very important for businesses to regularly launch new products on social media or websites.
This fact is also supported by the results of research conducted by University College London through the statement "When we see something new, we see it has a potential for rewarding us in some way."
When seeing something new, a person tends to feel rewarded and wants to buy the new product immediately to outperform those around him. Because being the first to know and buy a product that has just been released is a matter of pride for some people.
10. Launching Exclusive Products with “Limited Edition” Label
The principle of marketing psychology is different from the strategy of making products scarce. Because launching a product exclusively usually involves influencers or the great people behind it.
As was done by the well-known watch company Seiko, which launched a new product in collaboration with One Piece. By adding the description "limited edition" to the product, it will make their customers feel they don't want to miss it to buy immediately before it runs out.
11. Apply a Goal Gradient Effect
In marketing psychology, the Goal Gradient Effect has the meaning of presenting a clear product buying process flow on a sales website. The concept of the Goal Gradient Effect is actually similar to the Marketing Funnel. The Marketing Funnel also explains the concept of the customer's stages before finally making a purchase.
By knowing that the flow of product purchases is very easy, customers tend to be more interested in finally buying the product.
12. Organize Beneficial Events
Don't get me wrong, a free event can also be a means of promoting a product. In marketing psychology, interacting with potential customers in two directions is a very positive and necessary thing.
Through various free events held by inviting experts in their fields, they can reach a wider target audience. In addition, the brand of your business is also better known and remembered by potential customers.
13. Understanding the Types of Consumers
Based on marketing psychology, consumers can be divided into three categories, namely "Tightwads", "Spendthrifts", and "Average Spenders". Each category of consumers has special characteristics and characteristics.
Like Tightwads, they always plan and think before buying something. They tend to be the type who is not extravagant and always save money so they need a specific strategy so they want to buy a product.
Spendthrifts are the opposite of Tightwads. While Average Spenders are a neutral type (not wasteful and not thrifty). They tend to buy things that are really needed or useful things.
14. Applying the "Devil's Advocate" Bidding Principle
The essence of the "Devil's Advocate" principle is that companies must be able to answer various problems and consumer confusion through the products offered. Simply put, the product being sold must have a high value and be able to be a solution to all customer concerns.
15. Shows the Unique Selling Point (USP) of the Product
Since the era of Covid-19 has become rampant and has made all life completely transformed online, many people have turned to opening businesses as a source of their economy.
This makes competition in the trading business even tighter. So a special strategy is needed to deal with it. One of the necessary strategies is to show the USP of the products being sold.
Prospective customers will usually compare a product with competitors' before deciding to buy. If your product has a uniqueness that is able to attract customers and compete with competitors, then you can be sure that your business will be able to survive for a long time in market share.
16. Avoid Using Command Sentences in Copywriting
According to the principles of marketing psychology, you should avoid using command words in the copywriting of an advertisement. Instead, use a softer, less pushy approach.
Here is an example of a copywriting guide that you can use, rather than a sentence like "Subscribe now to enjoy a 50% discount", it would be better to read if a sentence with the same meaning reads "Enjoy full access to all premium features at a discount of up to 50% ”. Sounds more interesting right?
Conclusion
Understanding and applying marketing psychology is something that must be done by marketers or business owners. Some secret tips for optimizing marketing psychology are applying the principle of social proof, applying the principle of emotional marketing, Making Products Seem to be Rare, Applying the Decoy Effect Principle, Using the Charm Price Principle, Applying the Reciprocity Principle, and providing promos only for potential consumers.
In addition to some of the tips above, there are still more secret tips to maximize marketing psychology, namely releasing products regularly and periodically, launching exclusive products with "Limited Edition" labels, implementing the Goal Gradient Effect, holding beneficial events to expand audience reach, understanding types of consumers, Applying the “Devil's Advocate” Principle of Offering, showing the USP of the product, and finally avoiding the use of imperative sentences in copywriting.
Well, that's enough discussion this time about the secrets of marketing psychology. Hopefully useful, yes! Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss other up-to-date article content. See you!