In our current economy where services are becoming more and more commoditized, the new economy, even now, has begun to center on experiences – the next evolution of services. And not just any experiences, but those that are perceived to be authentic on some level. So a successful business now pays attention to everything that might affect the customer’s experience (yes, including things in which the ROI isn’t entirely obvious or calculable), as well as openness, transparency, honesty, care, and respect.
The way to grab the vital attention of a consumer is to appeal to their emotion and logic, but emotion first. Reel them in with emotion, and remind them why they’re there with logic – and you’ll create loyalty.
Appealing to emotion helps the customer to remember longer – it just makes a more lasting imprint. Visually, try provocative images, images of faces, and avoiding yellow, while blue engenders trust. A gut reaction happens in 3 seconds or less; make sure it’s the right one. Not only that, emotions are processed several times faster than logic. Images enhance comprehension (depth and speed) and memory compared with unaccompanied text. Images of faces can work especially well when the face is looking toward your call-to-action.
Smell and sound also play into emotion and experience.
Consider that the barrage of media most people endure requires you to stand out; make your material easily scannable for the highlights. If you have lots of text, jazz it up by varying font weight, size, face, and surrounding whitespace to imbue each part of the text with the appropriate characteristics.
Color matters, because different colors generate different signals in the brains of your viewers. Test different ones to find what performs best for your situation.
You may think offering more options will increase the likelihood of people buying because they can find exactly what they like, but the opposite is true. Limiting the number of options results in increased sales. Avoid choice overload.
If you have trouble converting prospects due to high-priced items, try selling them on something lesser and escalating as they commit.
Consider offering your prospects a “because” reason for doing what you’re wanting them to. It just might increase conversions.
Including rhymes in your copy might actually help in terms of positive feel and memorability.
Gently tie into negative emotions if you need people to assign a higher dollar value to your widget.
Loss aversion is a powerful emotion. Use that information as you will.
Urgency can make a good sales tactic.
Tell a story if you’re having trouble imbuing a boring product with emotion.
Use the word “you” to make your message feel more personal to the one reading it.
If something on its own isn’t performing the way you want, use some sort of contrast along-side it to make it more appealing.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. As long as it begins with a genuine interest in the other person, you can use it to create rapport and bond.