I’ve been an account manager at Mearns & Gill for over 7 years now, and I have the job of my dreams. But the path to get here wasn’t always an obvious one, beginning with the fact I studied Psychology at university. I loved my degree, I learned lots of things about a whole range of brilliant subjects, but wasn’t really an expert in any of them. At the end of the four years, I attempted to do two years of a PhD in Neuropsychology, but it wasn’t the right time, and I’m not sure I was PhD material. So, I snuck away and started a career that involved retail, business development, events, marketing, and now my job involves all of those things, which I love.

Despite my Mum and Dad constantly telling me that my degree wasn’t a waste of time, and that understanding people and behaviour was always important to almost any job, I didn’t always believe them. But I really believe them now, and I’ve found a renewed love for bringing psychology and behaviour into what we do for our clients. I’ll be real though, I’m doing some refreshing and learning as I go, because I studied psychology when many of our current team were at nursery school (a long time ago), but some of the basics are exactly the same, as well as there being lots of new research and ideas to get stuck into.

So, for anyone who is interested, I’m going to occasionally share some basic principles of behavioural psychology in here, and how to use them in marketing. Some I knew already, some I’ve just learned, and you’re welcome to try them out for yourselves. You might be doing these already, or doing them without knowing, so I’m interested to get your thoughts on this topic too. Drop me a note if you want to chat.

For now, I figured I’d start with some basic principles that might be worth bringing into your 2024 marketing plan.

Emotional Triggers and Brand Connection

Emotions play a hugely important role in consumer decision-making. Understanding psychological triggers means you can create emotional campaigns that really resonate with your audience, and help you to create lasting connections. ‘Storytelling’ gets spoken about a lot, and that’s because telling a story rather than ‘selling at’ your audience, does exactly this, tapping into emotions like trust, nostalgia, or joy, which in turn builds loyalty, and encourages people to recommend you.

Have you told your own story as part of your marketing? Is there a reason for your campaign or product that would resonate with potential customers? Are there things your audience would benefit from knowing, that will make them feel something about your products or business?

Behavioral Economics in Pricing and Promotions

Behavioural economics is a method of economic analysis that applies psychological insights into human behaviour, to explain economic decision making. Or for people like me, it’s understanding why people buy stuff.

There are so many principles that business use knowingly or unknowingly every day to help sell their products, especially in retail. And if you aren’t, it might be worth considering. We’ve listed a few below, but there are loads of helpful socials, newsletters, and books on this subject. I’m getting ready to read one called Nudge of you want to join me.

Anchoring – this is a type of cognitive bias that means people latch onto the first fact they hear about your product, rather than taking the time to learn the full facts about a product. Essentially, first impressions matter, so it’s wise to show people how you can help them, or solve their problems, in the first few seconds of whatever you’re saying.

Scarcity – As consumers, it’s been proven that we feel the effects of losing the chance to buy something, more than the thought of having it, or getting it. And the more difficult it is to get hold of something you want, the more you want it. So, showing that there is only a few days left of your sale, or a small number of a products available, or a limited time to take up a discount, will help to encourage people to make a purchase.

Social proof – In marketing, social proof is that if we see people recommend a product or service, we take that as proof that the product is worth buying, and are more inclined to buy it. In its simplest form, it’s why we encourage clients to share testimonials online, and in human form, it’s influencer marketing. And you don’t have to be on social media for very long to see the impact that the right influencers can have for the right brand.

Are any of these principles things that you should be thinking about this year, and perhaps giving a try?

Influence of Social and Cultural Trends

Using behavioural psychology in your marketing allows you to tap into trends, shifts, and cultures, allowing you to create meaningful content and campaigns that matter to your audience.

Social monitoring and listening could play a valuable role when planning your marketing this year, and by that, we mean monitoring conversations taking place online, that are relevant to your brand, products, services, or your industry in general.

Join relevant groups on Facebook or Linkedin, follow hashtags, use specific tools (there are lots) to follow all mentions of your brand, or a competing brand, online, Use X (artist formerly known as Twitter), where lots of great conversations take place, despite the sometimes harsh environment!

By doing this online, you’ll start to notice trends. What are issues that your audience is mentioning regularly? What are they saying about you or your competitors?

How do you listen to what your audience is actually saying about you, or the industry you are in? Would you benefit from knowing more? If you are listening, how are you using this to shape how you’re talking to your audience?

So that’s just a taster of some behavioural psychology principles and techniques that you can bring into your marketing this year, and there are so many more! If you’d ever like to chat about this topic, or about how we could work together to bring some of these ideas into your own marketing and comms, get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.