Applying Psychology to Internet Marketing

By Terry Dean
Posted Friday, August 27, 2004

The best advertising writers are those who have some knowledge of psychology. We are not dealing with "new" people online. We are dealing with the same people who have the same desires they have always had. The same approaches that worked one hundred years ago will also work today. Don't forget that. Advertising mediums change. Effective advertising does not, because effective advertising is based on a knowledge of human nature.

Remember the first principle of advertising. Your prospects are inherently selfish. They will ask one question of everything your web site does, "What's In it for Me?"

That is the first question you have to answer with your web site. It has to tell and show your visitors what's in it for them. What would they get out of ordering from your site that isn't available anywhere else?

Below are four aspects to the human make-up which you can and should use throughout your Internet advertising.

1. Curiosity is a powerful motivation.

Just about every information product you see advertised has the word "Secrets" in the ad somewhere. People are afraid to miss out on something. They are curious to find out just what those secrets may be.

Use this to your advantage. With information products, I love to write the sales letters so that they hit on the curiosity hot button. You can take advantage of this factor of human nature by providing some of the results which were achieved through your information system, but not actually revealing what the system specifically is. You will notice that I do this a lot in the bullets that I create to go in the sales letter. They will tell you that there are 3 insider secrets to ______, but they won't tell you what the 3 secrets are.

The purpose of this is the pull on the curiosity of the reader...and cause them to order.

2. Extravagance at a bargain price.

People want to keep up with the Jones'. They want the absolute best, but they want to feel like they got it at a bargain price. No one wants to feel that they paid too much for anything. So, you need to give them an impressive value at a bargain price.

In many products and cases, this simply boils down to explaining the exact process it took to create the product. For example, with an information product, it may have taken you 5 years of research and $20,000 in testing to come up with the information in this product. If so, tell them about it.

When your company builds a widget, it might search the country for the best wood available. Half of the wood in the factory is rejected. You have over 60 people who actually work on the wood to create the product you sell (in the ad itself you would tell people what many of them do), and you may have 5 people who put it through a strict 13 step test to assure it's quality.

Even if all of your competitor's go through the exact process you do to create the product, it will still be effective for you to tell the story to your customers. This is called preemptive advertising. The person who first tells the story is the one who garners the trade. Anyone else who seeks to follow them ends up looking only as a copycat, not the originator of the system.

Once the customer understood the value involved in the product, they were glad to be able to purchase it at such a bargain price.

What process does your product go through that will add a value to it in your customer's eyes?

3. Fear of Failure and of Making the Wrong Decision

This is the biggest barrier that we have to overcome throughout the selling process. People are afraid they are going to make a bad decision in buying your product. They are afraid you are going to rip them off and not provide them with the product they are expecting.

Everything that you say as an advertiser is immediately looked at with a grain of salt. People have been lied to before when it comes to advertising, so they look at your ads wondering if you are any different. Unless you find a way to overcome this fear of "being taken" in your prospect's eyes, you are not going to close a majority of sales.

There are basically two aspects to overcoming this resistance. The first way is by presenting and adding credibility to your ads. Credibility is produced through your "proof" and through the testimonials which you provide. It is often said that salespeople without testimonials have skinny children. It is next to impossible to build the credibility you need in the eyes of your prospects without testimonials.

The second way to overcome this resistance is by giving a risk free guarantee or a better than risk free guarantee. Let your prospects know that they can return the package for any reason. Plus, give them several bonuses in the package which they can keep even if they return the package for a full refund.

An even better method of overcoming this buyer's resistance is by allowing them to try out the package for free, and having them pay for it at the end of the trial period. Which one you rather buy from? Would you rather buy from the person who gives you the horse to try out for a week and allows you to pay later...or the person who requires up-front payment?

Think about ways where you can overcome the buyer's resistance by offering a more risk free proposition than all of our competitors.

4. Exclusivity

People like to get a "special" deal which is made just for them. They like to be told that they are special. They like to have their names mentioned. They like to have their names engraved on the objects that they purchase.

I have learned how to apply this factor to my own sales. I run a subscriber only special to my 30,000 ezine subscribers now once a month...People love it. They are getting something for a special price or with a special bonus that isn't available to the general public. They are getting it just because they are one of my newsletter subscribers.

All successful Joint Ventures are also based on this element of exclusivity. A special deal was created with the list owners partner ONLY for their customers. No outsider can participate. The list owner cares so much about their list members that they negotiated to get them this special price or special deal. These endorsed types of mailings have been known to produce sales rates as high as 10% - 20%...which is completely unheard of in any other venture.

"FREE" without an understanding of the value is actually dangerous.

Along the same lines, the word "FREE" is actually being overdone online. To some people it appears that everything is free online. Using the word "Free" without explaining the actual value involved does not profit you according to final sales figures.

When you are giving away a freebie from your site, it isn't your goal to just attract visitors I hope. You are not after freebie seekers. Your final goal should be to sell more of your products and services to your visitors. This is not accomplished through just handing out the most freebies.

This is accomplished through explaining the value of your products and services...then offering the freebie. Claude Hopkins recorded that even back in his time you should never offer a sample to anyone unless you have had the chance to tell them your product story. Unless you have actually had a chance to show them the value of your offering, it could possibly diminish the value of your actual product.

Tell your prospects the actual value of the freebie. Then, tell them "why" you are offering it free. If you just listed the value at $97, but never told them why it was worth $97 or why you are giving it to them free, then your statement is worthless. You must both explain why the free product is worth $97 and why you are giving it to them for free. Tell them that you know letting them use it for free will get them hooked and that they will keep coming back for more. Tell them why it is free...or don't offer it at all.

This is why there is so much confusion online concerning giving freebies away at web sites. Some experts recommend giving away freebies. Some recommend that you don't give anything away. It is all a matter of understanding and showing the "VALUE" that you are giving away for free...and if it brings your visitor back to order from you. The ordering process is what you are after.

Remember the marketing statement, "Tell me why, and then I'll buy."

About the Author
Terry Dean is the webmaster at (http://www.bizpromo.com) Visit today for turn-key web site solutions, turn-key products you can sell, and answers to all of your Internet marketing questions. For "115 Internet marketing tips" please send an email to 115tips@aweber.com