The thought of actively selling something is surprisingly scary to a lot of people. But it’s not! People who are scared of being “sales-y” are reluctant to put any flair into their writing lest it come across as sleazy or trying too hard, and that means that their copy is boring and ineffective. If you recognize this in yourself, you first need to know that selling is not inherently wrong – it is the lifeblood of every business in one way or another – and that selling can be done ethically without being boring. Once you’ve got that into your head, you need to start using sales psychology to ensure that you can sell absolutely anything effortlessly.
Here are some simple sales psychology tips that you can start implementing right now:
Make Your Copy About the Customer
What a lot of online marketers and business owners tend to do is to make their copy all about the product. They use endless words to describe that ergonomic laptop stand in minute detail, when what they really should be doing is focusing on the customer. Although you’re going to want to mention it’s height and weight etc., so that customers know exactly what they’re getting, that should only be a small part of the story and you should spend more time writing about how that ergonomic stand will stop the customer’s neck from hurting and their back from aching, so that they can get on with their work more efficiently and with far less pain.
People Buy On Emotion and Justify with Logic
This is a really important aspect of sales psychology that every online marketer must know if they want to sell more. People are emotional beings and emotions tend to rule them. We all like to think that logic is the guiding light in our lives, but we are kidding ourselves. Although many of us use logic to make decisions, there is always an emotion driving us too. That’s why, if you want to make a sale, you need to play on the emotions of your customers. For example, if you’re selling a vacation, you need to play on your customers’ desires by using emotive words. An example would be selling a beach vacation on the fact that it’s relaxing and gives them space to think and time to spend with their loved ones rather than simply saying that it’s a pretty beach in a low tourist area.
People justify their purchases with logic, which is why you need to have those specifications included in your web copy. You need to tell them where that beach is located, how they will get there, how it offers great value for money and a unique experience, so that they can feel like they’ve made the right decision to buy too.
Fewer Options Makes for More Sales
Sales psychology has proven time and time again that, when consumers have fewer options, they are more likely to purchase something. You’ve probably had the experience of loading up Netflix on your TV or tablet because you feel like killing some time only to find that you cannot find a single thing to watch. It would be easy to blame this on Netflix’s lack of choice, but is that really true? For most people, probably not. You are being paralyzed by choice – there’s so much to choose from that you can’t pick anything and you end up watching nothing. It’s the same when you’re looking to buy something.
What can you take away from this? That your landing pages should not be filled with a million different choices. You shouldn’t include lots of buttons to take you here there and everywhere and you should only have one call to action on each sales page. If you offer too many different options for buying, then you might end up not making that sale at all, so do keep things to a minimum.
Most People Aren’t Seriously Interested
In online sales, the 80/20 rule applies, and only a small fraction of people who click on your site are going to be seriously interested in making a purchase. As long as you know that, you won’t be too worried by the skewed visitor/conversion ratio, and as long as you write copy that very clearly targets your ideal audience, this will not be a problem. The key is to work out who your target customer actually is and what kind of content they want to see. That means you may need to do a little market research.
People are More Averse to Pain than They are Seekers of Pleasure
Sales psychology has shown time and time again that people are more likely to act to avoid pain than they are to get pleasure and that is why the tactic of loss aversion can be so lucrative. Basically, if you can create copy that makes them feel they’ll be missing out on something if they don’t buy, they are far more likely to do so. For example, you could offer them a 60 percent saving if they buy your online course in the next 12 hours or you could offer a free ebook to any customer who buys within the next week. If they want that thing you’re offering, and your copy makes it clear they will miss out if they don’t act, then they’re probably going to act. This is one instance in which negative language really can work to sell stuff.
Implement these strategies on your website, and you will be able to sell anything to anyone far more effortlessly than you ever have before.
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