Back in high school, psychology was my favorite class. I loved learning about what goes on inside the brain. Cognitive bias, or the tendency to think or act a certain way outside our rational way of thinking, is one of the concepts I found most fascinating. And guess what? As grown-up marketers, understanding a few of these behavioral psychology concepts can be highly beneficial for all of us.
One of the most important tools of marketing is to understand the audience we are trying to reach and persuade. These cognitive concepts allow us to better understand whom we’re talking to and predict how they will act. Keeping them at the forefront of your mind during creation of your marketing strategy will make for a much smoother, more effective message. Thank you, psych professor!
Let’s go back to the classroom – here are six psychological principles to keep in your back pocket.
Marketing without targeting your buyer persona is kind of like throwing mud at the wall. You throw it hard enough, and some of it will stick. However, the problem with marketing without keeping your personas in mind is that it generally leads to poor conversion rates. Maybe every so often one is successful, but you're also dealing with a lot of misses.
Marketing personas have been there for quite some time. It is a great idea to personify the target segments and strategize accordingly. It does not mean that one persona can define each and every person in the segment but it is capable of providing an aggregate idea of the target population and that is why personas are so useful. However, it takes a lot of effort to make this strategy successful.