There are a number of factors that can impact the success of your content marketing efforts. For example, are you using a marketing automation platform like HubSpot? (If not, you should be!) Are you publishing interesting and helpful content on a regular basis? (You absolutely must be!) Are you collaborating with a content marketing agency on your strategy? (I would submit that that is never a bad idea!)
But if you really want your inbound marketing program to succeed, you need to take a step back from tools and processes, and give some consideration to something more fundamental: human behavior. Understanding what makes people tick is critically important to the user experience.
Below are three psychological principles you can leverage to your advantage.
Perceptual Set Theory
Simply stated, this well-studied theory says that a person has certain expectations and focuses attention on particular aspects of the sensory data they are presented with—for example, the words and images on the page of your website that they are visiting.
So, you’ll make them happiest if you meet those expectations. If, say, the “Buy Now” button for an item is above and off to the right of its photo instead of below it, that may feel a bit jarring. And, that type of reaction doesn’t encourage further engagement. So, knowing how prospects want to perceive your website or other marketing assets is key.
Cognitive Fluency
People make countless “micro decisions” every day. While that fact may not register with us consciously, the processing centers in our brain know it. Consequently, to save on mental wear and tear, they steer us in the direction of simple information and away from complex data.
You’ve experienced this. You get an email that teases something you find interesting. You click the link and visit a landing page that has long paragraphs of text. Almost instantly, your brain is hitting the Eject button, and you leave. The directive to marketers: Don’t make prospects work too hard to understand your offering. Keep your messaging, clear, concise, and easily digestible—or you’ll lose them.
Social Proof
This is a term you’ve probably heard a lot lately… so much so that you may be tuning it out as a cliché. But it’s a way of assessing the world that is deeply ingrained in us, so it’s important that you not dismiss it. We instinctively try to find shortcuts to smart decisions by observing the actions taken by others and mimicking those that have produced positive results. Customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies can do a lot to establish trust and move prospect to action.
Content Marketing: It’s All About the “Software”!
We’ve been practitioners of the art of marketing persuasion for more than two decades. From our offices in Colorado Springs, CO, and Springfield, MO, we help clients nationwide understand and interact with their prospects in ways that increase brand awareness and grow sales. Let’s talk about your content marketing goals and some truly creative ways to meet them. Contact us today!
