Content marketers see the world in a different way – they want their content to be shared far and wide – allowing no forms hinder it.

On the other hand, demand generation focused-marketers believe content such as webinars, white papers, case studies, analyst reports or information that isn’t available anywhere else for FREE – should be GATED.

Now:

Whether you gate your content or not, it usually depends on:

1. The quality of leads you need
2. How widely you want your content to be shared or consumed

In this post, we’re going to dive deep into the pros and cons of each approach, share insights for improving your process regardless of whichever route you decide to take.

But before we delve in – there are a couple of important points we should cover:

• Content and the buyer’s journey
• The content’s purpose, promotion, and value

Content and the buyer’s journey

Modern marketers have learned that consumers advance through a three step process called ‘the buyer’s journey.’

1. The awareness stage

At this stage, prospects know they have a problem.

But they don’t know much about your business. Useful content for this stage includes blogs, infographics, podcasts, videos, case studies, white papers.

2. The consideration stage

During this stage, prospects are beginning to see your brand as an industry authority and a potential solution to their problem.

Content for this stage include webinars, e-books, free courses, software downloads.

3. The decision stage

At this stage, prospects make the purchase decision.

Content offers for this stage include free consultations, product demos/offers, free trials.

Here’s the kicker:

It doesn’t matter what stage you are in, some readers will still think content gating is annoying.

As Thrive themes co-founder – Shane melaugh puts it:

“Some prospects will think any kind of lock or any kind of barrier (such as an opt-in) is annoying. But from my testing, a shared lock will annoy about 2% of visitors and it will increase social shares by about 40x. Decent trade-off.”

Moreover:

How does the buyer’s journey impact the content on your website?

During the early stages of the buying cycle…

Prospects have a lower commitment and a higher tendency to abandon forms than prospects in the later stages.

One way to stand out is to immediately appear transparent and courteous.

In other words:

At this stage, giving away your content for FREE can improve your brand’s visibility, enhance your credibility and more.

———————————————-

The content’s purpose, promotion, and value

Purpose:

What is the content’s goal or purpose?

For example, if the goal is to encourage inbound links, then hiding that content behind forms will potentially hinder you since the gate presents a barrier to consumption.

Promotion:

Along with the goal, consider how you’ll be promoting the content.

For example, if the goal of the content is to encourage sharing via social networks, infographics or in-depth blog posts/articles work nicely since you’ll give it away for FREE.

However, if the goal of the content is to generate leads and grow your email list, then gated ebooks, cheat sheets would be a better fit.

Value:

When visitors see an offer, they consider the value of that content. How much currency is it worth? Is it worth an email address and name? Phone number? Is the content worth filling out a form and sharing information?”

Now that we agree on some of the essential concepts, let’s jump into different considerations around hiding content behind forms or giving content for free…

When, Why And Whether To Hide Content Behind Forms

For starters:

Let’s agree on a common definition on what it means when we say, GATED content

To gate means you are requiring specific information from the user, usually via a form, in exchange for getting access to a specific piece of content.

Examples of content to gate include [but not limited to] ebooks, webinars, checklists, cheatsheets, email series, demos.

Unsurprisingly, most people are willing to give or share their personal information when they perceive your content as valuable and unique.

When done well, gating content can benefit both prospects and business owners.

For example, it’s appropriate to gate high-value content such as research papers, webinars, training or workshops…

Similarly, it’s important to keep some of your best content open and discoverable.

Now, the customer experience is paramount to everything else in today’s business.

Oddly enough…

One of the most compelling arguments against content gating is that it creates a sub-optimal experience.

As Mike Weir puts it [Vertical director – LinkedIn]

“You may get the lead, but maybe the prospect isn’t ready to buy, get emails, calls or sales pitches. We as marketers, have to be more scientific about distinguishing between the people who are ready for emails and calls and the people we might be alienating with it.”

So get this:

Before hiding your content behind forms…

Begin with the ‘END’ in mind:

By asking yourself these four questions…

Every piece of content should be created with a specific stage of the sales funnel in mind.

For example, content such as articles and blog posts should not be gated if establishing stronger thought leadership, increasing site traffic, and improving SEO are one of your main goals.

However, as you move towards the bottom of the funnel, it becomes more appropriate to gate content like webinars, cheatsheets and more…

Second, before gating content – ask yourself:

Is this content available anywhere else for free?

Get to know your competitors to make sure they aren’t giving away the same content without a form…

Or worse – gating content on one of your channels while making it available without a form on another channel you own.

Third, before hiding any piece of content – ask yourself:

Is this content valuable enough?

Since it’s hard to quantify value based solely on the length of a document or by how much time was put into its creation.

The mistake most businesses make is gating content that is simply not significant enough to make prospects fill in the form.

Fourth, how do you plan to use the information you receive?

Since hiding your content behind long drawn-out forms is a sure way to scare people away.

You want to avoid them at all costs unless capturing your audience information is one of your main goals…

As we can all agree that shorter forms have higher conversions compared to longer forms.

Lastly, before hiding any piece of content behind forms…

You should have a robust lead nurturing program in place in order to take advantage of that lead data.

The benefits of hiding your content behind forms

By now you’ll have realized that creating effective gated content is essential for building your email list and growing your community.

It allows you to receive valuable information about your prospects…

And hopefully, a line of communication from which you can build a meaningful relationship with in the future.

Hiding your content behind forms helps you:

1. Capture more leads

The overall objective of content marketing is to attract more prospective visitors to your website.

However, it will be fruitless if you do not convert your visitors into potential buyers.

Now, gating your content will help you capture valuable lead information which enables you to nurture them into a sale with onboarding strategies such as email, remarketing etc

2. Get information about who specifically accessed the content

Granted, some of this information could be fake.

Nonetheless, you will still get enough information from people who found your ungated content valuable or useful.

3. Boost perceived value

Psychologically, we value things we’ve had to work harder to get, and for that reason, people who spent their energy to get the content may view the report itself as more valuable and useful.

4. Sales outreach to those who accessed the content may be easier and more effective

Since you collected a lot of information of those people who accessed the content, it is easier and more effective to offer your products or services later on in the sales funnel.

Unfortunately:

Every sweet has it’s sour…

Hiding your content behind forms does come with some drawbacks you should be aware of…

The drawbacks of hiding your content behind forms

1. Smaller audience potential

It’s hard to get your landing page [where your content is gated] in front of people, let alone – make them fill out form fields.  

Therefore, when your content is gated behind a form – it is not going to be consumed by tons people.

2. Harder to earn links/amplification

One of the most hard-to-swallow drawbacks of gated content is this, it’s harder to earn links and amplification of your content since people generally do not link to a page like this:

3. May leave negative brand perceptions

For some people, gated content leaves a very bad taste in their mouth.

It could be around whether the content was worth it after they filled the form.

It could be about the outreach that happens to them after they filled the form or simply, their interest was in getting the information, not starting a sales conversation, duh!

4. Loss of SEO benefits

Gated content does not get links or engagement.

As a result – it loses a bunch of SEO benefits such as site traffic, more indexed content, lower bounce rates, establishing a thought leadership position and more.

When, Why And Whether To Give Content Away

Let’s face it.

Most business owners struggle knowing whether or not they’re giving away too much free content to their audience.

There’s no doubt when you provide your audience with valuable free content – there’s always a higher level of content they’ll be willing to pay for.

As Nathalie Lussier [Ambitionally co-founder] puts it:

“The more high-value stuff you can give away, the more people will see your generosity and want to buy from you. This happens through the built-in human need to reciprocate. When someone is nice to us, we want to be nice to them.”

Examples of content to give away for FREE include [but not limited to]

• Articles/Blog posts
• Case studies
• FAQs
• Infographics
• Product videos/descriptions
• Podcasts

The benefits of giving your content away for FREE

1. Ability to drive traffic from all social channels

Free content is inherently more shareable than content that’s hidden behind forms. Creating high-quality content and encouraging people to share it freely can significantly up the chances of connecting with a sizable pool of potential customers.

Social, search, word of mouth, email, whatever it is. You can drive a lot more people here.

2. Ability to retarget and remarket to a larger future audience

Giving away content for free is detrimental only when the content marketing strategy isn’t integrated with the business overall sales strategy.

In general, free content should effortlessly be tied into paid content or products later on in the buyer’s journey.

3. Boost your search engine visibility

Giving away your content for free may get you links, engagement, and a bunch of SEO benefits such as site traffic, more indexed content, establishing a thought leadership status and more.

Again, every good has it’s evil… Giving away your best content for free does have some drawbacks…

And here they go:

The drawbacks of giving your content away for FREE

1. Prospects might become used to getting everything for free

If your audience is comprised solely of people who expect you to give them everything for free, when you try using that list to generate some actual revenue, you’re going to get a very poor response.

2. Giving your best stuff for free attracts people looking for handouts

Sometimes it’s smart to hold a little something back in your marketing…

…to tease and fascinate the reader, to seduce them with a bit of mystery, rather than giving everything away.

3. Hard to convert most visits that come to open access content into leads

It might be hard or even totally impossible to convert many or most of the visits that come to open access content into leads.

As Rand Fishkin [Moz] had this say:

“It’s just the case that people who are going to consume that content may never give you information that will allow you to follow up or reach out to them.”

Final Thoughts

Finding the right moment to gate content is important.

Determine where users are in the funnel and tailor your communication to the buyer’s state and commitment level.

Provide stellar content behind gates to demonstrate the value of your offering and prove your worth before asking for something in return.

Furthermore – customers today can quickly discern the difference between promotional content that’s all about pushing your products and services — to the very late stages of the buying cycle.

Therefore, once they trust you with their contact information, use it respectfully. Continue to nurture the relationship, provide incredible value and make it worthwhile.  

The question remains: To gate, or not to gate?

Back to you – What’s your content gating strategy? How often do you gate your content?

Let us know in the comment section below…

We’d love to hear your thoughts!

The post Demand Generation: When to Hide Content Behind Forms and When to Give Content Away appeared first on Invesp.

In today’s fast-paced world, understanding consumer psychology, and more specifically, your potential buyer, is more than a necessity.

Every decision your customer makes consists of several conscious and subconscious emotional triggers.

As neurologist Antonio Damasio argues in his book “Descartes Error”

“Emotion is a necessary ingredient to almost all decisions”

While most people believe the choices they make result from rational analysis of available alternatives. In reality, emotions are the main drivers in the entire decision-making process.

Damasio’s view is based on his studies of people whose connections between the “thinking” and “emotional” areas of the brain had been damaged.

While these people were capable of rationally processing information about alternative choices… they were unable to make decisions because they lacked any sense of how they felt about the options.

Now, there are several emotional triggers you can use to dramatically boost your revenue and drive your conversions to roof, while also acquiring and underscoring customer loyalty.

This post takes a look at the most common emotional triggers and shares few ideas and examples for introducing them into your own marketing activities.

1.Tell Stories

People love stories.

They appeal to the emotional decision making bits in ways facts and figures can’t.

As Princeton’s Uri Hasson puts it:

“By simply telling a story [a person] could plant ideas, thoughts and emotions into the listener’s brain.”

We as human beings, have been telling stories for thousands of years.

The reason?

Stories trigger emotions.

Gerard Zaltman found 95% of cognition happens inside our subconscious [emotional brain].

Now: How do you incorporate storytelling to boost your E-commerce sales?

First, Define your brand:

• What do you offer?
• What market need are you addressing?
• What makes your brand different?
• Who’s your brand for?

Second, Leverage storytelling:

Replace Product Descriptions With Product Stories

Tell your customers interesting stories related to the product.

Zady is a good example of a clothing and consumer goods e-commerce company using the power of storytelling in product descriptions.

Replace “About Us” Page With “Our Story/History” Page

Tell your brand story. How it all started? What inspired you? What problems are you trying to solve?  The team behind your brand?

For example: Trader Joe’s tells a good story on how it all started for them…

 Provide A Face To Your Brand

Harry’s does this very well:

Entertain Your Audience With Good-Old Stories

Gatsby is a shirt!!

2. Inspire Fear

Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something or someone is likely to cause pain or threat.

According to Academia.edu, Fear is one of the most frequently used motivators for getting people to respond to marketing of any sort.

But even though it evokes our emotions, it should rather be used delicately, because most people don’t like threats.

As Bart Schutz explains:

“Multiple variables have been found to influence the effectiveness of fear appeals, such as perceived severity, individual characteristics and -more important -susceptibility. But also the intensity of the fear: weak fear appeals may not attract enough attention, yet strong fear appeals may cause an individual to avoid or ignore a message by employing defense mechanisms.”

Why Fear Drives Conversions?

“Fear appeal” posits the risks that if you don’t “use” or “buy” a specific product or service – dire consequences will occur.

It is a deep evolutionary characteristic in humans that triggers us to avoid potentially dangerous stimuli.

In other words:

We’re driven toward things that give us pleasure and avoid which give us pain.

How To Use Fear Persuasively?

Multiple variables have been found to influence the effectiveness of fear appeals, such as, perceived severity, individual characteristics and more important – susceptibility.

Now, there are few ways you can to take advantage of the effectiveness of fear appeals in e-commerce:

1. Use personally relevant threats (not too small, nor too big).

For example,  You could take advantage of ‘the fear of missing out’ by offering limited time discounts…

2. Make sure you directly boost your customer’s efficacy, by convincingly offering your solution as easy and effective.

For example, Madewell does this well with all of it’s call to actions…

3. Provide a clear and strong call-to-action directly after/next to your scaring message.

According to Wheel of Persuasion, the most important ingredient in an effective fear appeal campaign is ‘perceived efficacy’

For example, this fear appeal calls for the viewers to wear a helmet – something easily implementable:

If your message is sufficiently scary and seems easy enough to avoid, then you simply need to give your viewers a call to action, or a way to assuage the fear (usually with your product or solution)

3. Leverage Greed

“Greed is good. Says Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko, greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love.”

Greed is commonly used in all sorts of persuasion. Just look at the use of the word ‘FREE’ in advertising.

Image Source:

Also, here’s how changingminds.org explained greed:

“It typically involves making the other person believe they are getting an incredible bargain (often without their apparent knowledge). Of course, they don’t get what they had hoped for, but they will do a great deal for you if they think you can give them something for virtually nothing.”

Greed + Free

You want to make your customers say:

“If I make a decision now, I will be rewarded”

‘Free’ is by no means a silver bullet but there are times when it is effective.

From the Hubspot blog, Emma Brudner shared great tips on using fear to sell:

1. Help your customers realize the cost of inaction. E.g “Limited time offer”
2. Emphasize the personal benefits.
3. Point out the hard ROI
4. Play up what they stand to lose.
5. Use words such as “reward” “free” “valuable” “exclusive” “all yours” “gain.”

4. Employ Altruism

Giving back is one of the most powerful tools you can use to enhance customer loyalty, increase brand awareness and boost your reputation within a community.

According to the Cone Cause Evolution Study:

• 85% of consumers have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a charity they care about.
• 83% of Americans wish more products and services they use would support charities.
• 80% of Americans are likely to switch brands (equal in quality and price) to the one that supports a charity.

Therefore, not only will you boost your overall brand awareness and reputation… you’ll also significantly increase your revenue.

Why?

Altruism (giving back) provides a sense of belonging to your social conscious customers (more on that later)

Examples of companies using Altruism:

TOMS

TOMS started with one idea:

“For every pair of shoes purchased, a pair is donated to help kids all over the world who can’t afford shoes.”

They’ve grown from selling shoes out of an apartment to a $300m+ company in just 9 years, giving away over 45 million pairs of shoes to charity.

2. Tentree

Tentree plants ten trees with every product purchase. They’ve now planted over 12,682,850 trees worldwide.

You could start off with something simple, just like TOMS.

• Donate 1-3$ with every purchase
• Promote Local Businesses
• Participate in Holiday Food Drives
• Set Up a Collection Jar
• Hold a Contest
• Sponsor an Event

5. Encourage Reciprocity

The principle behind reciprocity is based on the idea that, we as humans feel obligated to reciprocate (pay back) those who do or give something to us.

This behavior was described in Robert Cialdini’s book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.” We should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us.

In e-commerce, Reciprocity is powerful.

All you need to do is give your customers something with perceived value and they’ll subconsciously feel obligated to repay you.

Free Gift With Purchase

Ulta beauty does this awesomely well by giving away a free bag if you purchase any $40 fragrance.

Ship A Surprise Gift

Each order from Gameklip included a pack of smarties:

And it made their customers happy…

Loyalty Points Program

For example: Gilt is motivating customers to spend more and be more active with their program. Some rewards include early access to sales, an exclusive first look at new products, and preferred customer service.

6. Use Social Proof

Social proof is a demonstration that other people have experienced your product or service –   thereby encouraging others to do so.

Marketers use social proof to increase conversions by easing the minds of worried customers.

Studies show nearly 90 percent of online consumers look at a product review prior to making a purchase.

Think about this for a moment:

When was the last time did you buy something online without reading a review or asking your friend about it?

Exactly… Zero times!

There are 6 major types of social proofs you can use to get that revenue lift:

• Customers – social proof from your existing customers or users (e.g. testimonials or case studies).
• Experts – social proof from credible and esteemed experts in your industry.
• Celebrities – social proof from celebrities or other influencers (e.g. celebrities who have bought your product, or visited your establishment).
• Crowds – large numbers of people who provide social proof (e.g. “300,000+ love “Yourawesomecompany”).
• Friends – e.g. 50 of your friends like “Yourawesomecompany”
• Certifications – a credible, 3rd party entity which certifies that you are a knowledgeable, high-quality or trustworthy source (e.g. “USDA Certified Organic”). (Source: OptinMonster)

For example:

Use a recommend-er like “Other people who purchased this item also purchased”

Display “# sold” and “# of people watching” as seen on every eBay listing.

Put total review counts on display, similar to how Airbnb lists reviews.

7. Build Trust

Trust signals are features or qualities of your site that inspire confidence, belief and assurance in the mind of the customer.

Experts at the Singapore Management University published an extensive study on the relationship between trust and consumers’ intent to buy.

The study revealed people are more likely to make a purchase from a website if they have both high levels of trust and low levels of perceived risk when using the website.

Now:

Here’s how to build trust with your e-commerce site and eventually increase sales:

#1 Social Proof (See above)

#2 Add Your Contact Information

When shopping online, most people have questions that can impact their decision to make the purchase.

You need to add various ways your customers to contact you or your team:

• Phone number
• Live chat during working hours.
• Email

#3 Add Trust Seals and Security Certificates

So what’s the deal with trust seals?

Actualinsights.com did a test and found:

“An overwhelming majority of 61% respondents have cancelled a purchase because trust logos were missing on the website.”

Image source:

Note: Trust seals/badges does not represent any technical security. It just makes a website look legitimate and professional.

On the other hand though, SSL certificates indicate the site is secure technically.

Wrapping It Up:

When evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions (personal feelings and experiences) rather than information (brand attributes, features, objective facts).

Each of the emotions outlined above will make a noticeable difference to your conversions.

But to get above-average results, you need to combine as many as you can.

Be responsible and always remember to look after what matters most: your customers.

It’s important to keep honesty and integrity front and center. As powerful as emotional factors in marketing can be, falling short when it comes to genuine copy and realistic claims can be disastrous.

What specific emotions are you using on your store? Did I miss it? Mention it in the comments below!

The post 7 Ways You Can Use Emotional Triggers To Boost Your E-commerce Sales (With Examples) appeared first on Invesp.

In 1979, psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky published a paper titled, “Prospect Theory: An Analysis Of Decision Under Risk”

 The theory states:

“People make decisions based on the potential value of losses and gains rather than the final outcome.”

Image Source:

According to Kahneman and Tversky, losses and gains are valued differently, and thus users make decisions based on perceived gains instead of perceived losses.

For example, most people prefer winning $50 with certainty rather than taking a risky bet in which they can toss a coin and either win $100 or nothing.

However, Kahneman and Tversky also found:

The same people when confronted with 100% chance of losing $50 versus a 50% chance of no loss or $100 loss – they often choose the second option.

In this piece, we will look at how prospect theory works, the three biases of prospect theory (with examples), systematic patterns in thinking: other biases, and the importance of prospect theory.

Ready to dive in? Let’s get started.

How prospect theory works

Unlike the utility theory which models the decision-making process of rational agents, the prospect theory seeks to describe the conduct of actual individuals.

Prospect theory belongs to the behavioral economic subgroup and it describes how individuals are influenced by the possibility of a loss, than a perceived gain.

According to Tversky and Kahneman, this means that proposed losses cause a greater emotional impact on an individual than does an equivalent amount of gain, so given choices presented two ways—with both offering the same result—an individual will pick the option offering perceived gains.

The 3 biases of Prospect Theory

Prospect theory explains three biases people use when making decisions:

1. Certainty: “This is when people tend to overweight options that are certain and risk averse for gains.”
2. Isolation effect: “Refers to people’s tendency to act on information that stands out and differs from the rest.”
3. Loss aversion:  “When people prefer to avoid losses to acquire equivalent gains”

This post dives deep into these biases and shares few ideas and examples for introducing them into your own marketing or business activities.

Ready? Let’s jump right in…

1. Certainty

According to Li & Chapman:

“The certainty effect happens when people overweight outcomes that are considered certain over outcomes that are merely possible.”

In other words:

We would rather get an assured, lesser win than taking the chance at winning more [but also risk possibly getting nothing]

Consider this example:

Which of the following option would you choose?

1. 100% chance to win $900.
2. 90% chance to win $1000 or nothing ($0)

With option 1, you’re assured to get $900.

While with option 2, there’s a 10% chance you could get $1000 or nothing.

Studies confirmed that nearly 80 percent of people will choose option 1.

The reason?

Most people avoid the risk and take the $900.

Now, consider this example:

Which of the following option would you choose?

1. 100% chance of losing $900
2. 90% chance of losing $1000 or nothing ($0)

With option 1, you’re assured to lose $900…

And with option 2 you have a 10% chance of losing either $1000 or nothing – $0.

Most people would prefer the second option.

Why?

Because when aiming to avoid losses, we become risk seeking and take the gamble over a sure loss, in the hope of losing nothing.

Why certainty affects you and how to use it?

Since people would rather accept a small but certain reward over a mere chance at a larger gain.

To persuade them to take action, consider using the certainty bias to your advantage.

For example, you could:

1. Reward users who subscribe to your email list ‘X% off’ their next purchase

Old Navy does this well by offering 30% off:

This coupon is more appealing and more effective than a sweepstake of say, $1000 – a reward that is large, but highly unlikely.

2. Assure users will save ‘X amount of $’ when they order two or more

Amazon does this well by rewarding customers $100 who purchase two echo devices:

3. Offer free shipping over ‘X amount of orders’

Lulu’s does this well by offering free shipping over $50:

Now, using the certainty effect can result in higher conversions compared to using uncertain promotional tactics.

Customers immediately see value in the proposition offered and are automatically persuaded to purchase more.

But here’s the kicker:

A research done by cognitive lode urges:

“Uncertainty has had something of a harsh time over the years. It’s been bullied by its bigger, more established and confident brother, Certainty.”

• It creates more positive, exciting experiences. Since as humans, we get excited by the unknown.
• It is more powerful in boosting motivation en route to a goal
• Increases one’s investment of effort, time, and money in pursuing rewards.

Also, newer studies from the University of Chicago confirmed that uncertainty has untold power when motivating people about positive outcomes. It gives us feelings of excitement and enjoyment.

In one of the studies:

Two groups were asked to bid on opaque cups of chocolate coins. The cups contained either a certain amount of 5 tasty coins or an uncertain amount of 3 or 5.

Half from each group was asked to focus on the actual bidding process, whereas the other half was asked up front how much they’d be willing to bid for the coin cups.

The findings showed those who were made to focus on the process risked more money for uncertain rewards. They risked around $1.50 for the 3-5 uncertain coin cup, as opposed to only $0.80 for the certain 5 coin cup.

So what does this mean?

[Psychologist] Marvin Zuckerman had this to say:

“The uncertainty effect works best with ‘sensation-seekers’: those who have a craving for and desire to seek out positive experiences.“

Three ways you can use the uncertainty effect

• Add uncertain rewards to existing certain rewards

In order to foster ongoing motivation and higher return rates, use uncertain rewards in-line with certain rewards. [Kahneman and Tversky]

For example, soon after you offer your customers 10% off over the next purchase – you let them know that with all future purchases they’ll receive monthly discounts.

Here’s an example from Bolingo:

• Add uncertain rewards to Loyalty programs

Adding in uncertain rewards to existing loyalty programs will keep your customers excited and likely to invest more effort, time, and money in the future.

Here’s an example from Topps:

• Add uncertain rewards to incentivize loyalty behavior of existing customers

Since uncertain rewards can increase investment over time, frequently give away uncertain rewards to your existing customers.

2. The Isolation Effect

German psychologist Hedwig Von Restorff first documented the Isolation effect in 1933, and found:

“When multiple stimuli are presented, the stimulus that differs from the rest is more likely to be remembered.”

For example:

An item on a list which is a different color, size or font is more likely to be remembered than the other normal looking listed items.

Try to remember this list:

The chance is you’ll easily remember ‘February” because it stands out with a bigger size, different font, and color.

Why the isolation affects you and how to use it?

The Isolation effect [also known as the Von Restorff effect] can be used to your advantage by designing your website so that customers pay attention to what you want them to see and remember.

For example, you could:

1. Make use of shapes that stand out from the rest of the homepage to draw attention to certain elements

2. Choose a color that contrasts strongly with the rest of the site for your Call-To-Action.

Here’s an example from Obvi:

3. Use a wide range of words, tenses, and expressions to make sure important information catches the visitor’s attention

3. Loss Aversion

[We have given 13 different to use loss aversion to increase conversion rates in the past.]

Psychologically, the “pain of losing something is twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining.”

For example, winning $100, then losing $80 feels like a net loss even though you are actually ahead by $20.

However, were we to first lose $80, then come back and win $100, it would shift our reference point and make it feel like a net gain.

Science Magazine did an experiment illustrating how humans find avoiding loss more urgent than winning something new…

Participants were handed $50 at the beginning and then given two options to choose from:

Keep $30 of the $50,

Or

Gamble the whole pot with an equal shot at either keeping the full $50 or losing the full $50.

57 percent of the participants decided to keep the $30.

The next group of participants was asked to:

Either lose $20 of the original $50, or…

Gamble the whole pot with an equal shot at either keeping the full $50 or losing the full $50.

61% of participants chose to gamble the $50.

Why?

Because this time, researchers put the game into a “loss” frame, even though the game itself really hadn’t changed.

The idea of losing $20 was more painful than keeping $30.

As Behavioraleconomics.com put it:

“It’s the reason why we hold onto things in our closets we aren’t wearing; why we pay for gym memberships we aren’t using.”

We tend to place higher value on a good that we own than on an identical good that we do not own (Kahneman, Knetsch, and Thaler in 1990)

Why loss aversion affects you and how to use it?

Loss aversion is one of the reasons we often see phrases like “last chance” or “hurry” in marketing campaigns.

Now, there are few ways to use this behavioral theory without being pushy…

For example:

1. You could incorporate fear of missing out by creating urgency and scarcity

Topman is a great example of how this sort of bias can be implemented on product landing pages for e-commerce stores.

2. Incentivize offers by offering limited-time coupons and discounts.

For example, Memebox offers shop-wide discounts and promo codes to their email subscribers.

3. Offer friendly nudges by sending push notifications and alerts

1-800-Flowers’ does this well by sending trigger-based push notifications with promo codes.

4. Offer free trials of your products or services for a limited period of time.

For example, most software companies use this to their advantage.

Systematic Pattern In Thinking: Other biases

Tversky and Kahneman also introduced a systematic pattern in thinking that affects the decisions and judgments that people make named: “Behavioral cognitive biases”

These biases impact how we buy, sell, think, feel, interact with friends and more.

This means, they also affect how your visitors think and feel about your site, your company, products, and services.

Few common examples of Cognitive biases include:

The Framing Effect

People react to a particular choice in different ways depending on how it was presented.

We tend to avoid risk when a positive frame is presented but seek risks when a negative frame is presented.

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Negative Framed Vs Positive Framed Stimulus

Gerald Smith & Meera Venkatraman study found:

• Positive frames have a greater impact than negative frames on brand attitude.
• Enduringly involved consumers are more influenced by positive frames.
• Less-involved consumers are influenced by negative frames.

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It has been said over and over again the “fear of loss” is more motivating than the “potential for gain”

People tend to avoid risk when a positive frame is presented but seek risks when a negative frame is presented.

The Bandwagon Effect

The Bandwagon effect is the tendency to do [or believe] things because other people do [or believe] the same.

We may hate to admit: But we like doing what other people are doing.

For example, If your visitor sees their friend using your product or service, they’re more likely to use your product or service.

And the more popular something gets, the greater the probability of even more people trying it.

So, how do you use the Bandwagon effect to your website?

Simple. Add social proof.

Fitbit does this well:

You can find a complete list of cognitive biases on Wikipedia or 65 more from neurosciencemarketing.com.

The Importance of Prospect Theory

1.  It’s useful in framing offers and the copy presented to site visitors and customers.

2. It can be used to improve people’s overall experience on your site. When people experience a terrible experience using a platform, they tend to remember it longer.

Having this in mind, we test everything and make sure user experience issues that will be frustrating are dealt with/minimized.

Final thoughts

People make decisions using several common biases.

Understanding these biases can help you persuade them to take action.

However, although prospect theory factors arose as a descriptive model, it offers no psychological explanations for the processes stated in it.

Furthermore, factors that are equally important to decision-making processes have not been included in the model, such as emotion.

Are you currently using any biases on your store or website? Mention it in the comment section below.

We’d love to hear your thoughts!

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