The 6 Golden Rules of Persuasion

And how you can use them in Marketing!

I was recently doing a course by CXL Institute and boy, do they have an amazing repository of great insights!

As a marketer, you would always want to persuade your audience to act. It could be as simple as watching a 30-second video, or it might be as critical a decision as buying a B2B software — the point is how do you get your audience to understand the true value of your offering without being salesy about it? How do you break the barriers and inhibitions of your audience and help them understand what you truly bring to the table? ( given that you have a valuable offering vs not-so-great-content wrapped in marketing fluff )

Here are 6 golden rules that could come in handy for you to persuade your audience to ‘ACT’.

Reciprocity: Accept to Give before You Expect to Get

Have you ever tried offering a drink to someone in a group ( of course, without being creepy about it!) or better give a valuable recommendation to a new joiner in your team? They immediately feel more comfortable around you — are more receptive and have a positive, open body language towards you.

This is plain human psychology! The idea of reciprocity says that people by nature feel obliged to provide either discounts or concessions to others if they’ve received favors from those others.

Psychology explains this by stressing that we humans simply hate to feel indebted to other people!

The idea to is offer value to your audience without any ( or any major ) ask — it could be an eBook, a toolkit, an ROI calculator, a diet plan — something they would benefit from. The result — they would be more likely to buy something from you!

Commitment: People Don’t Like To Go Back On Their Word

Let’s be honest here. It’s human to try and feel good about yourself. You wouldn’t want to recognize yourself as someone who would go back on your words.

The principle of commitment (and consistency, too) declares that we human beings have a deep need to be seen as consistent. As such, once we have publicly committed to something or someone, then we are so much more likely to go through and deliver on that commitment!

Marketers could use this! Think of a multi-page form — You split your large form into multiple small steps (multi-step form). Once people fill out the first part of the form and see there’s more to fill on the second page, they’re much more likely to do it since they already got started with it (unless it’s a 15-page documentary — keep it short!).

My take here is that it’s a double-edged sword. In today’s day and age, readers are skeptical, about EVERYTHING! The world is going through a content deluge and digital fatigue with pandemic-enforced restrictions where you have at least 20 non-work, promise-to-be-good-content emails, every single day! The result — it is difficult to win your readers’ confidence and get a commitment.

Social Proof: There’s Safety in Numbers!

Here’s another interesting one. Let’s think! Did you try bunking in school or college? The more important question is — did you do it alone? Most likely not! It could be the smartest project on the planet or the dumbest prank with your friends — we as humans, believe in the safety in numbers ( even if you are doing something stupid in a group, LOL )

Think about this in your professional space — If your coworkers are working late, then you are more likely to do the same. We’re even more influenced by this principle when we’re unsure of ourselves or if the people we observe seem to be similar to us!

How does this apply in marketing? Here are 2 reasons —

1. Nobody wants to be the only idiot buying your stuff.
2. People don’t want to make the wrong choice at the risk of being judged by their spouses, bosses, colleagues, or friends

Social proof is one of the strongest pivots you could include for your website, your landing page, your case study — you name it! It not only gives a massive conversion push but drives your brand to get your customers to advocate on your behalf.

Think of a prospect landing on your website thinking — “ Hmm, I haven’t heard of them, let’s see…. Oh! They have 15,000 customers including Nike, Adidas and P&G ”— instantly, boosts the confidence in your brand!

Authority: Follow Me!

Have you ever wondered why people with authority, for instance, Doctors, Police Men, or C-Suite Executives have an air of persuasion around them, and more often than not, people unquestionably follow their lead?

It’s another intriguing aspect of psychology — the urge to have an ideal idol to follow!

Marketers could use an authority figure to make their case more convincing. For instance —

• Use prominent athletes if you want to sell fitness products.
• Use well-known doctors and medical researchers on health-related websites.
• Use famous chefs if you want to sell food.

In the longer term, companies should aim to become ‘an authority’ in the space themselves. And the marketers should focus on driving this through thought-provoking, thought-leadership content, and ideas. Establish your brand as THE EXCLUSIVE brand to address the challenges and pain-points of your audience.

Scarcity: Shorter the Supply, Greater the Demand

Scarcity is defined as the perception of products seeming to become more attractive when their perceived availability is rather limited.

As known to most marketers, this is a very good optimization technique to drive conversions ( faster ) if it’s authentic.

There are essentially two aspects of it —

1. Time ( 30 days left! )
2. Quantity ( 2 left in stock!)

Needless to say, you would have seen this principle being used all across from flight booking websites, to hotels, to e-commerce websites and supermarkets!

While being a great tactic, if your users figure out that it’s a buy-bait and a fake-scarcity, no athlete would run away faster than that lead or be as pissed! Your visitors will see right through it and would lose trust in your brand.

Liking & Unity: We Are the Same As YOU

Think of a friend you like. Now imagine that friend recommends you to read a certain book or watch a specific movie? How likely are you to do the same as compared to when a stranger or an acquaintance shares the same recommendation? Well, we both know the answer!

Liking is based on sharing something similar with people you like!

Marketers could use this golden rule to establish a sense of similarity with their buyer — showcase the similarities in company culture, the values and vision shared by your team and how they are aligned with your target audience. A well-executed “About Us” page can go a long way.

Another interesting concept is Unity. Have you ever been at a party or conference and met someone that went to the same University as you did? Or maybe you two previously worked at the same company. You felt an instant connection, didn’t you?

The Unity Principle is the shared identity that the influencer shares with the influencee.

Help your customers, product users identify themselves as a cult or a part of a cool club! Marketers could use it for better conversions in the following ways —

1. Use Specific and Unique Jargon: How do you feel about inside jokes and abbreviations within your closest friend circle? It’s annoying for others but tell me if it doesn’t make your gang feel more intimate. Group homogeneity allows deeper trust among customers and helps them become better advocates for you and your brand while growing the network and community.
2. Convey Exclusivity: In today’s age, most senior executives are looking to ‘be one of the few’. One of the few to bring digital transformation to the company, to be the agent of change for the organization — to be the Knight in Shining Armor! As Marketers, we should be able to tap into this emotion to get actions and make our business case with this emotional hook.
3. Co-creation or Sharing an Experience: At the cost of sounding repetitive, it’s a fact that people like to feel good about themselves. They like to feel that they have contributed to something big and their efforts are valued. Make your customers and prospects a part of your marketing efforts and in turn, your organization — get their inputs on your understanding of their pain-points, invite candid feedback on your product, get their insights on the next product you are launching. It starts with a simple question, “can I get your advice?” but goes a long way in making your customers an extended marketing team.

Marketing is as much science as it is an art. And what’s more interesting is that it is a chess that you play with your audience’s attention with visual suggestions, typography, head-turning texts, and carefully placed hooks.

Leveraging the power of persuasion in storytelling is one great hack to get your visitors to convert more!