The Power of Influence in Marketing

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Influence is one's ability to exert power over the minds / behaviors of other people. People that are extremely influential can persuade and cause changes to someone or something. For one to grasp the art of influencing people, one has to discover what is already influencing them. One has to learn how to walk before they run, which mimics the concept above. So what exactly makes people fall victim to the powers of influence? What do they use that everyone else lacks? We need to understand several concepts when we are trying to change how people think and behave. However, the difficulty with this, especially in the online community, is how we acquaint with those that visit our websites. After all they are just a point on our stat bar graph or they are just a number on our traffic counter. How are you supposed to influence these people without physically meeting them?

If you cannot answer this question then you are reading the right article. It is not as hard as you think it is, but not as easy as I elude it to be so just pay attention and take mental notes. The general answer is to pin-point and analyze general patterns of human behavior or thought. These patterns help one understand how people operate. One learns these patterns to exert influence over people that surround them. This is exactly why you do not need to know everyone personally to understand what drives them to buy or do what they do. After taking neural and social psychology courses, a lot of this became clear to me and I want to share my epiphany with you. However, it is important to look at the mechanics of the brain before we apply it to the online marketing world.

In my neural psychology course, we took a more in depth look at the different parts of the brain and their function; however, the information is much too advanced and irrelevant to this article. However, in my social psychology course, we analyzed the Triune Brain Model. This theory was developed by Paul MacLean to explain how the human brain had evolved over the course of history. The basis of this theory is that the Triune Brain consists of three complexes: Old Brain, Mid Brain and New Brain. The old brain is known as the reptilian brain, which is primarily concerned with your survival. It takes into account one's situation and determines and perceives any possible threats or benefits. As well as, it controls autonomic functions such as heart beats, breathing, digestion and movement. The mid brain, also known as the limbic system, is primarily responsible for emotions, memories and attention.

Our emotions are produced here which give rise to positive or negative feelings. The new brain, also known as the neo-cortex (new brain), is responsible for controlling logical processes such as rational thoughts, thinking skills, language and speech processing. Our neo-cortex is responsible for any conscious processes; where as the mid brain and old brain deal with unconscious processes. Believe it or not most of the things being processed are going through our unconscious channel, therefore result in automatic emotion, responses etc ... As well as, the unconscious part of our brain helps the new brain to assign priority to certain conscious activities. Therefore, if our thoughts are largely unconscious, how do we as marketers tap into something that is realistically uncontrollable? What should your marketing website or landing page look like to maximize a consumer's unconscious input which could lead to a potential sale which is equivalent to their output. Some key features are:

A) Show some sort of grading scale of your products in which visitors can comment on

These reviews and rating systems work because people believe that the product is good and valid if someone else has commented / rated it. People are never self reliant when charting into unfamiliar territory therefore they look to others when deciding what to do. Why? It is a person's natural tendency to try and fit into the social norm, which is confirmed by the presence of the grading scale. One might find this a lot more profitable than ad-banners because there is personal essence with the reviews and ratings. People feel comfortable because they know another human being was on the other side of the computer writing the review opposed to the ad-banners which are computer controlled.

B) Put the most important action to be done first

This aspect is extremely important because this is the first thing that a visitor consciously and unconsciously analyzes. When you are trying to steer your visitors to a particular product make sure that the product is the first thing they see and is unmistakable. A study done by a marketing company on the sale of watches showed that an ad with one watch on the front page converted 9 times the sales opposed to an ad page that gave the visitors a choice of 9 different watches. Why? It is simple. Giving them more choices leads to a greater chance of uncertainty and unable to make a choice. So the key is to steer the visitor's right to your product. Look at any successful marketing campaign today and you will see what I mean.

C) Elude that the product is almost gone or is in limited quantity

A simple principle of life to always remember is that whether it comes to people or products, people will always want what they can't have or know is in limited quantity. Why does this work? The main reason is that their will be some sort of self-gratification of attaining something that is limited to the general public. This makes the person feel like they are superior to those who 'could not' land such a product. This is a very common tactic and it works like a charm. I recently saw one for a product called 'Guru Blueprint' which advertised that it would only be available for a week and then they would take off the product. Rule of thumb: If something is making you money, why in your right mind would take that product off the internet. The purpose of this tactic is to create hype and convert sales as fast as possible. I guarantee that 'Guru Blueprint' will be up again, especially if it makes its owner some nice coin.

D) Build a mutual relationship by giving away something for free

This is my personal favorite because this is a large part of why I found so much on-line success. When someone gives you something, it automatically triggers a feeling of being in debt to that person. Therefore to get rid of this feeling, one will unconsciously want to get rid of it by giving something back, whether it is through support by being an affiliate or via purchasing their actual product. A perfect example is when a person will give away free e-books, plugins etc ... I find this particularly effective when I want someone to opt in into my mailing list, thereby rewarding them with a free e-book that contains just enough information to be acceptable; however, never enough to be unsubscribed too. I still have people that unsubscribe but the ratio is highly in favor of maintained subscription. Another thing to remember is that people can never get enough. When you give information to people via email make sure it is relevant and correct, because people will respect it more, thus wanting more of it.

E) Personalize your posts

When referring to those that you talk to make sure you emphasize that the product is for them by using the word 'you'. The point of this is that it makes the person feel like the product is more personalized to them. As well as, make the language comfortable, write as your speaking to them and not above them because the more personalized the writing, the better affect it will have.

F) Add your own experiences or stories because it can cause the customer to relate

People commonly use stories in their sales letter to show how they avoid some sort of financial disaster by buying that particular product. We read or listen to the story, causing our brains to react as though we were having the same experience. As well as, telling stories is a great way to persuade a person because if done correctly, their ability to think rationally is lost. This is because they mentally submerse themselves into your story and determine whether or not they want to experience your success or avoid one of your failures.

There are other ways in which people can try to influence people; however, they manipulate them mentally instead of letting them choose consciously or unconsciously. Look out for more tips; as well as, I believe we are now ready to get into the "how to's" and different avenues of online businesses that can be taken. If you found this helpful feel free to subscribe to the blog to get exclusive weekly tips that I share just with my subscribers.

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Source by Matt DiLorenzo