One of the most important aspects of an effective marketing strategy is knowing your target audience. Why? The answer is simple: understanding customers’ habits, behaviour and key pain points can help any business effectively market its products and services to them.

When you take time to understand your target audience, you’ll know what makes them tick, why they choose some products over others and why they’d choose your company over another.

You’re probably wondering how you can successfully get into your customers’ minds to figure out their thinking patterns so you can market in a way that captures their attention. This article presents you with the key: marketing psychology.

Understanding these hidden aspects of consumer behaviour is within the scope of marketing psychology. We'll look at its major ideas together to enlighten you to go above and beyond in your marketing efforts.

What is consumer behaviour?

Consumer behaviour is the study of what motivates individuals and organisations to buy specific products and support specific brands. This field of research is mostly concerned with behaviour, motivations and psychology.

Here are specific elements of consumer behaviour:

• Psychological elements: The way a person reacts to an advertisement is heavily influenced by their own beliefs, attitudes and general outlook on life.
• Personal elements: Age, culture, occupation and background of the consumer all play important roles in shaping their interests and opinions.
• Social elements: Consumers' income, educational level, and social class influence their buying habits.

What is marketing psychology?

Simply put, marketing psychology is the application of psychological principles to a marketing strategy.

In other words, a company can use marketing psychology to shape its marketing efforts and affect people's purchase decisions by using some of the known characteristics of human behaviour.

Now that we've established what consumer behaviour and marketing psychology are, let's look at the psychological advertising strategies that can boost conversions and sales!

1. The psychology of colour

The reason why colour plays an important role in marketing is that it influences customers’ behavior and decision-making. According to one study, approximately 85% of consumers indicate colour as the key reason they buy a particular product.

Different colours are associated with different feelings or notions; for example, red frequently indicates energy, strength, or passion, while orange can make us feel energetic, creative and successful.

We have an in-depth guide on the psychology of colours that you can use to better understand how using certain colours can lure your target audience.

2. Social proof

The tendency for people to conform is referred to as social proof. Other people will probably be more eager to do something if you can make it appear that everyone else is doing it. This idea is useful in social and digital marketing since it allows you to show clearly how many people interact with your business or a particular campaign.

3. Scarcity

The use of scarcity marketing relies on consumers' inclination to value rare goods. This is rooted in the economic concept that demand increases as supply declines.

When it comes to marketing, the scarcity principle states that customers are more likely to purchase a product or pay a higher price if they believe there is a shortage of it.

Run limited-time offers to evoke a feeling of scarcity. Include phrases like "while stocks last" or "just one more day" in your advertisements to alert customers that if they do not buy soon, they will miss out. Customers are inspired to complete their customer journey and make a purchase right away when they realise the offer is only valid for a short time.

4. Authority

An expert has a higher chance of being believed than a random person. Therefore, while collectivism is vital, converting new customers requires a credible expert who can attest to the value of a brand's product or service.

5. Novelty

The concept of novelty is straightforward: Customers are more likely to purchase items that are labelled as "new." We like to try out the newest and best products since we are curious about new and undiscovered things.

You can promote your new products in a clever way. You can label your new products with, “Hi, I’m New!” People love clever and memorable communication. Whatever the case may be, find effective ways to introduce customers to a new product they might love.

By adding a section for new products on your website and promoting some of those products individually via email and social media, you can influence purchasing decisions.

Using marketing psychology to succeed

You can develop personalised, more successful content that your audience appreciates by understanding the psychology of marketing. Hopefully, after reading through these marketing psychology principles, you have a better understanding of how to maximise them.

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