Psychological triggers are the only reason your copy will convert.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.
In this post, you will discover what psychological triggers are and how to use them to write copy that sells like crazy.
What are psychological triggers?
These are specific emotions you must invoke in your readers when they are reading your sales copy.
There are many psychological triggers in copywriting.
The trick is to not use all of them.
The trick is to conduct thorough research on your prospect. Then pick the psychological triggers that most relate to them and add them to your sales letters.
This will make your copy convert well.
Copywriting is about using emotions to sell and psychological triggers are those emotions.
How to use psychological triggers
Psychological triggers are powerful tools that can be used in marketing to influence consumer behavior.
To use them effectively, it’s important to understand the underlying principles of consumer psychology and how they can be applied to marketing campaigns.
One way to use psychological triggers in marketing is by tapping into consumer emotions.
This can be done by creating advertisements or campaigns that evoke specific emotions, such as fear, excitement, or nostalgia.
Another strategy is to use social proof, such as testimonials or reviews, to establish a sense of trust and credibility with potential customers.
Additionally, using scarcity or urgency can also be effective in encouraging people to take action.
For example, by highlighting limited-time offers or limited stock availability, marketers can create a sense of urgency that compels consumers to make a purchase.
Here are the 12 most powerful psychological triggers to help you improve online sales:
- New
- Simple
- Hope
- Greed
- Fear
- Scarcity
- Authority
- Social proof
- Exclusivity
- Curiosity
- Storytelling
- Instant result
NEW
Everybody loves new things.
Relay this fact in your sales copy about your product and you will have people salivating for your product.
Even if your product or service is not new, a new spin on it makes it new.
A little innovation on your part will make your offer seem new.
This is where you should use your imagination to come up with something that will make your product new.
Customers are being bombarded with ads daily.
They might have bought or seen something similar to your product and will not want to buy.
But the fact that your product is new in some way will cause them to want to try it out.
SIMPLE
Nobody likes hard things!
If your prospect gets a whiff from your sales copy that your product might be hard to use, they’ll get discouraged and leave your site.
There is an exception of course.
The exception is that if your product is fairly technical and you are selling it to a technical audience, then it’s fine.
But a too technical product to the general audience will keep the customers away.
Make your product simple to use, and let the prospect know that the product is simple to use in your sales copy.
HOPE
This is the reason anybody buys a product.
This is the reason anybody buys anything.
Hope is the life your product or service will give your prospect.
- How will their lives be easier when they use your product?
- Will they be healthier?
- Will they have more money?
- Or, will they be more attractive?
Whatever promise you make gives your prospect the HOPE that when they use your product, their lives will get better in one way or the other.
GREED
People care about owning things in this society.
There are some things we need, food, water, clothing, and shelter.
And like Forrest Gump’s mother said, “The rest is show-off”.
We all want to show off that we have this and that, even when we don’t really need it or even use it.
The fact that we have it is all that’s important.
Therefore, portray your benefits as owning or having these benefits when translating your features into benefits.
FEAR
This one is exciting.
People respond strongly to the emotion of fear.
When you use this in your sales copies, you will convert more prospects into customers.
But this method has been seen in recent times as a black hat method.
So instead of scaring your prospect into buying from you, use positive emotions by painting a picture of what their lives will look like when they try your product.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t use this tactic, I’m just saying that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar.
SCARCITY
A man cheats on his wife or girlfriend because she’s too familiar and he has seen and done everything he wants with her.
She’s no longer new.
She leaves him.
Then one day he sees her with another man and instantly wants her back.
Why?
Because she’s no longer available to him!
No woman wants a man until he has a girlfriend or wife.
It’s the way the human mind works.
If they think they can’t have it, then they want it more.
That’s what scarcity is.
Position your product in a way that if they don’t take action today, you will take the offer off the table.
People will rush your product.
Especially if it’s a burning problem they want to solve.
Examples:
“Take advantage of this offer today or the price goes up.”
“This offer will only be available for the next 7 days. After which, it will be taken off the table.”
“Only 5 people can get this offer today and it will be taken down.”
AUTHORITY
People feel safe when they are doing business with someone who knows what he/she is doing.
Position yourself as an expert and you will get more people signing up for you.
Nobody wants to do business with a novice.
Even if you are new, read a bunch, practice a lot, and when you feel like you are decent enough, position yourself as an expert.
But you must know your onions.
If you don’t get results for your clients, word will quickly spread that you are a charlatan.
Learn your craft deeply, and then position yourself as the expert and you will make more sales.
SOCIAL PROOF
People like what people like.
On your website, your sales page, your homepage, and wherever you are selling yourself or your product, include social proof in the form of testimonials.
When people see that your offer produces results for others, they will be more willing to do business with you.
Litter your sales page with social proof and it will do the heavy lifting for you.
Some sales pages just have a bunch of testimonials and don’t say much and these sales pages convert like crazy.
There are many ways to get testimonials for your product or services even if you are new and I have mentioned them in a previous chapter.
EXCLUSIVITY
This product is not for ……….
Only smart business owners should get this product.
Only those who want to win and change their lives should take advantage of this offer.
When you show people that your product is not for just any Dick and Harry, people will climb over themselves to prove that they deserve your product.
I already mentioned the effect of using exclusivity previously, the one about the woman at the car dealership.
Make your product seem like it’s only for a select few and everyone will want to prove that they are in that circle.
CURIOSITY
This works in two places.
Your headline and your unique mechanism!
In your headline: Insert curiosity that will make the reader read the first sentence.
Your unique mechanism: Let your prospect know that you created a new way to solve a problem. And they can only get access to this new method that only you know and no one else knows when they get your product.
Even if they don’t have the money immediately to buy your product, they will continue to think about your product until they have the money.
That’s the power of using curiosity in your sales copies.
STORYTELLING
I’ve talked about storytelling previously but I will just recap.
We grew up on stories and these stories kept us glued to our chairs until the end.
And even though we are now grown-ups, the effect stories have on us hasn’t changed.
That’s why you should include stories in your sales copies.
It doesn’t have to be too long.
It doesn’t have to be real.
But don’t lie.
Tell stories about your product or service.
Tell stories about how others have used your product and how it affected them.
Use linking, a copywriting technique I mentioned earlier to tie a seemingly unrelated story to your products or services.
We are humans and stories have a stronghold on us.
This will never change.
Use it in your sales copies and you will have a high-converting sales letter.
INSTANT RESULT
People want things fast.
Everyone is impatient.
If your prospects senses that your product will take a while before delivering results, they will leave to find a product that will deliver the same result faster.
Therefore, find a way to ensure that your product or service delivers results fast.
Add it to your sales copy and your conversion will increase.
But never make a promise you can’t deliver.
If you promise fast results in say, 24 hours, and you don’t deliver instantly, your return rate will skyrocket.
Ensure your product delivers on its promise and your sales copy will convert like crazy.
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