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Science of Selling – What Psychology Can Tells Us About Marketing

– Contributed content –

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6 August 2018. When it comes to buying things, we all like to think we’re pretty straightforward. We go into a shop and pick up what we want or need, and it’s easy to think that we’re not massively influenced by external forces. However this simply isn’t the case, and the psychology of shopping and buying behaviors show that certain marketing methods make us all incredibly susceptible to parting with our cash. As a business owner, this is something that’s well worth brushing up on and getting to know more about, as these techniques can be used to sell more to your customers. Here are a few things to bear in mind.

Get your branding right

Branding is absolutely key when it comes to selling your products. As a rule, consumers prefer brands over smaller and unknown businesses as they know they have a reputation to uphold. Therefore, their products and services are likely to be good quality, and if anything goes wrong with the transaction the brand will be quick to put it right. One of the key things to bear in mind with brands is that the best ones don’t just sell a product, but a lifestyle.

Take sportswear for example. You’re not just selling garments but instead you’re selling the idea of an active, healthy lifestyle. When you’re selling stationery, you could sell the image of being an organised, top-of-the-class student. Regardless of what you do or sell, when you sell a lifestyle based on what your target audience aspire to have, then you put yourself in the best chance for success. This is because we make decisions on what we want from an emotional, rather than a logical perspective. You need to focus on your branding if you want to compete with more established companies.

Value is important

While it’s the emotional appeal that will draw someone in to buy a product, they usually justify it with rational thought. One way they will do this is based on value. Of course this means different things to different people but overall, the item needs to have more value to the buyer than the asking price in order for them to part with their money. They might look at the technical information of a product to make the decision that it’s right for them, or apply the product to real life situations of when they will use it. So as well as using your brand and products to appeal to their emotions, make sure you have enough information for them to make an informed decision about why they’re making the purchase logically.

Freebies are always appealing

It doesn’t seem to be a very good idea on the surface, after all, business is about making profits so why would you give something away for free? However free is one of the biggest buzzwords in marketing and appeals to people more than any other. You could give away products, services or even cash, people can follow you on social media to gain entries to win which will boost your social networking accounts. Not only does this create hype about your business but more followers means more people that will see your future marketing materials.

Even simple freebies such as pens, mugs, umbrellas and cheap wholesale tote bags can all be effective- brand these with your company name and every time someone uses them it’s free advertising for you. You could give these away to interested people at networking events, or send them as a free gift with purchase. You could regularly give them away on social media to followers. This can help to build trust and create a positive association with your company, increasing the chances of purchases being made.

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