Marketing and psychology are two fields that are more related than you may think. Marketing is all about persuading others, which means it’s important for marketers to learn why people act and respond the way that they do.
If you want to be a really successful marketer, you need to not only understand your buyer personas, but also how they think.
To help you better understand your customers, here are 3 of the most universal psychology principles that apply to marketing.
Principle 1: People Seek Pleasure
It’s safe to say that all types of buyer personas seek pleasure. This is best described in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
The takeaway from this visual is that humans need:
- Love and belonging
- Esteem, including achievement and earning respect
- Self-actualization
This applies to your marketing content in the sense that every blog post and landing page that you write should clearly communicate how you will create pleasure for your customer, whether that be through achievement, respect, or security.
Principle 2: People Avoid Pain
Pain and suffering is something everyone avoids. A lack of progress or any sort of embarrassment, failure, or rejection is something we all try to avoid. Being aware of this truth will make you a smarter marketer. As your writing and creating content, make sure you are empathizing with your customer and acting as a sort of protection for them. The best marketing strategies will communicate how your product or offering can help your customer avoid or alleviate pain.
Principle 3: People Don’t Like Confusion
Max Wertheimer’s principle of gestalt research shows that people like simplicity and avoid confusion. This theory states:
- People are drawn simplicity over confusion
- People seek closure
- People prefer symmetry, order, and logical flow
Of all of these 3 principles, perhaps this last one is the easiest to apply to marketing. Websites and all content should be simple and aesthetically pleasing while incorporating messages that are simple and complete. An easy way to remember this is this:
If you confuse your customer, you lose your customer.
Do you use principles of psychology to support your marketing efforts?