Principles of Persuasion: How to Influence an Audience Even Among the Holiday Noise
If you thought our back-to-school blog series was over, buckle up! Today we’re diving deep into the work of American psychologist, Robert Cialdini. In his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, he shared the six principles of persuasion or factors that influence decision-making, especially when it comes to buyer behavior.
As we enter into the holiday season, standing out from the crowd is nothing short of a challenge. As social media platforms begin to flood with brands (and their ad dollars) vying for consumers’ attention, it’s crucial to create content that resonates and converts. Read on for six science-backed approaches to persuade your audience even among the holiday noise!
PRINCIPLE OF PERSUASION #1: RECIPROCITY
Think of reciprocity like the old saying “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” As humans, we don’t like feeling like owe someone something. If someone does something nice for us, we feel the need to return the favor. So as marketers, we should use this desire for reciprocity to our advantage when it comes to influencing the actions of our audience.
There are several ways this principle of persuasion applies to marketing strategies:
#1 - HAVE A GIVING-FIRST MINDSET
Start by having a giving-first mindset. If you’ve ever taken our Own Your Instagram online course, you’d know that a phrase that consistently guides our marketing strategies comes from the wise words of Gary Vee: “Give, give, give, ASK.” The idea is that you give so much free value to your audience that when you finally do put out the ask, the answer is an easy yes. A prime example of this is the 80/20 Rule, which states:
80% of your content should be useful and provide value to your audience (ie relatable, entertaining, educational, timely, etc.)
20% of your content should directly promote your product or service
When you’ve provided someone with so much free value, it makes it that much easier for you to make the ask and for them to feel inclined to accept.
#2 - BUY X GET X PROMOTIONS
On the same note as giving, consider offering your customers an incentive in exchange for spending a certain amount or purchasing a particular product. Example promos could include:
DISCOUNTS: Spend x amount to get x% off your order
GWP: Buy x and get a free x included in your order
BOGO: Buy x and get x free
#3 - WORD-OF-MOUTH INCENTIVES
Word of mouth is perhaps the epitome of “scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” When you provide a quality product or service, your customers are likely to refer you to their family or friends. When they do so, consider offering the below incentives:
Refer a friend and get x% off your next purchase/service
Leave us a review to unlock x% off your next order/invoice
Share this post to your story or with a friend to be entered into our giveaway
PRINCIPLE OF PERSUASION #2: SCARCITY
No one wants to experience FOMO, so scarcity is the idea that the less there is of something, the higher and more urgent the demand for it tends to be. Stanley’s are a prime example of this. Because their tumblers are consistently sold out, users are QUICK to set their alarms for restock drops.
To leverage scarcity in your marketing strategy, consider:
Launching limited-edition products. Once these products are gone, they’re gone - so if customers are interested in purchasing, they need to act fast before they lose the opportunity.
Hosting a flash sale. Offering a discount for a short period of time will put pressure on your audience to buy now before they miss out on the sale.
Creating seasonal favorites. Pumpkin Spice is a fan-favorite flavor for a reason. Something tells us that if it were available year-round, it wouldn’t seem quite as magical. Seasonal launches like this urge customers to get as much of the product as they can before it’s gone again for another year.
PRINCIPLE OF PERSUASION #3: AUTHORITY
The next principle of persuasion is authority. We tend to trust individuals and brands that have proven to be credible and experts in their industry. Brainstorm how you can position yourself or your brand as a leader in your industry.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Can you secure more press?
Are there influencers you can collaborate with to leverage some of their credibility?
Are there notable brands with a similar audience that you could collaborate with on a giveaway or product/service offering?
Can you amp up the number of reviews on your website or Google?
Is there a certification you could achieve or a seal/badge you could add to your packaging that would resonate with your audience?
The possibilities are endless!
PRINCIPLE OF PERSUASION #4: COMMITMENT & CONSISTENCY
The fourth principle of persuasion is commitment and consistency. As humans, we like to be consistent with our actions. Once we’ve made a commitment to something, our behaviors thereafter tend to be in line with that decision in order to avoid cognitive dissonance, which is a mental conflict where our actions and/or beliefs contradict one another.
Marketers can use this principle to build loyal customers. Consider the foot-in-the-door technique: if you can get someone to commit to a low-price offer of yours (ie a freebie), the chances of them then agreeing to a higher-priced offer thereafter increase significantly.
When implementing this technique, consider creating an email flow to further nurture your customer’s journey down the marketing funnel. For instance, if a user has opted into our FREE 30 Days of Reel Ideas download, we can assume that this person is interested in learning more about Instagram Reels and incorporating the feature into their content strategy. Because of this, we add this individual’s email address not only to our mailing list as a whole, but also to a separate group entirely comprised of users interested in Reels. We then start to warm up subscribers in this group to purchase our ReelTok Course by sending them emails tailored to their needs and pain points surrounding Instagram Reels.
PRINCIPLE OF PERSUASION #5: LIKING
Next, liking is the idea that people are more easily influenced by people they like. This points back to the Know, Like, Trust factor. First, an audience has to know you. Once they know about you, they can then come to like you. Once they like you, they will start to trust you. And where there is trust, there is a sale on the horizon.
As we get closer to the holiday season, make community management a priority to ensure a community is fostered before dropping your upcoming campaigns for the best results.
PRINCIPLE OF PERSUASION #6: SOCIAL PROOF
Last but not least is social proof! If you’ve taken our Own Your Instagram online course, you’ve heard of this principle before. It is essentially a bandwagon approach: people like to do what other people are doing. Similarly, they like to try, buy, and promote what other people are trying, buying, and promoting. Try to amp up as many reviews, influencer content, and UGC as you can for your brand. Then, share this content on social media to show that these people are loving your product and others should too!
For assistance reaching out to influencers, check out the below downloads:
We hope you found this blog post helpful in learning more about the principles of persuasion! For more digital marketing tips, be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our digital marketing newsletter. Chat soon!
