GEN Z Entrepreneur Flynn Blackie Discusses Harnessing the Power of Psychological Marketing
At first glance, it may seem like marketing your product is an easy thing. Well, it’s much more than that. Question is, how far are you willing to go— to give your product the great marketing it deserves?
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Don’t get it wrong though, marketing is not just about proving to prospects that your product is the best in town. It’s much more nuanced than that.
With the rising increase in technology and automated marketing systems, there’s a greater need for human connection, now more than ever. Most prospects want to feel a certain degree of ‘personalization’. They want their emotional chords to be strung. And this is because the buying process is emotional. At least, to an extent.
Most people purchase products based on either of these two— pleasure or pain. Either the product brings a kind of pleasure- joy, satisfaction, or happiness, or it removes a pain point. Think about it.
This is the reason why marketing has to have a psychological element to it. You have to tap into the psyche of your customers and intended ones.
Understand psychological marketing
Simply put, psychological marketing refers to a way of incorporating a range of psychological principles into your marketing. There are many ways to approach adding psychology to your marketing plan, and it’s quite simple. A great way to do this is by making use of your customer’s emotional instincts, and wielding them to your advantage.
GEN-Z entrepreneur— Flynn Blackie, advises that a psychologically inclined human approach should be used in marketing. Flynn is the founder and CEO of the marketing startup MOD Digital. He emphasizes that marketing is not about claiming what’s so good about your product, or why you’re better than competitors. It’s about recognizing the pain points and desires of your prospects and customers and positioning yourself as a solution.
The emotional aspects of marketing signify that there’s a crossover between psychology and marketing. The trick is in getting potential customers to think differently about your business and what it offers. This requires you to craft the right brand narrative. And other times, you’ll have to strategically get prospects in a compliant and ‘ready’ state before you share your intended proposal.
How does it work?
Before you dive into marketing, understand that you would be dealing with humans. You have to keep their emotions, objectives, and feelings in mind.
A recent study in Frontier Psychology demonstrates that capitalizing on consumers’ emotions works. Using a complex AFFDEX framework to measure a group of middle-aged women’s reactions to various ad spots, the researchers found that the women showed ads that are backed with psychological principles, show more positive emotions and engagement.
Beyond the results of this study, there are real-world examples of psychological marketing’s success. By using psychological marketing, President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign boosted donations by 5%. Also, successful multi-million dollar corporations such as Lush and Williams-Sonoma use psychological principles such as social proof and scarcity every day in their marketing.
According to Flynn, relationship building comes first. Afterward, business, sales, and growth are the result of it. There are three steps to tapping into psychological marketing— identify either a strong desire or a deep pain within a prospect, understand the route of the pain point or desire and then address it, position yourself as the vehicle towards or away from it.
“Centre everything around the customer— what do they want? What's causing them grief? Why are they in this position? First show them that you understand, show them you care, and that you know what they need. After you’ve done all these and you’ve shown concern, then show them how you can help them solve it. However, make sure you can actually deliver. Don’t promise what you cannot deliver. That would hurt,” Flynn emphasizes.
Doing it Right
Approaching your client from where they are at psychologically, gives you an incredible advantage over your competitors. However, the most important thing at the end of the day is to connect to your ‘why.’
Flynn is a high-school dropout from the Scottish education system, but going by his success as a digital entrepreneur, it’s hard to guess. In 2019, he dropped out of high school to pursue a career in digital marketing. Today, MOD Digital is now a six-figure agency with more than 60 clients.
Flynn makes use of the psychological approach to nurture leads, and ultimately, get more customers. As for him, this approach has a part to play in his success as a digital marketer. “In our advertising, rather than pushing generic, boring stuff, we personalize and customize our message according to the specific buyer personas. In our copies, creatives, email marketing campaigns, and everything else we do, you’ll always find a tinge of humility and empathy. We inject human psychology at each step so that our client's ads resonate with their audience. With the help of the media as well, we craft a compelling message that drives action.”
Another Aspect of Psychological Marketing
Asides from striking emotional chords in your campaigns and the lead nurturing process, there are other essential principles to guide you by.
The ultimate aim of marketing is to influence your audience’s behavior in a way that benefits your business. For a start, it’s crucial to understand some basic principles of behavioral psychology that trigger your target audience to take action.
Social Proof
Take it or leave it, the truth remains that people are automatically drawn to a product other people have purchased and that those people like and trust already. This concept revolves around conformity, which occurs when people follow the actions of others, based on the fact that those people have more knowledge and experience.
This relates to marketing because when prospects see that their peers have an existing opinion about a service or product that they intend to purchase, it triggers and spurs them to eventually make the purchase. This could be in the form of a review, endorsement, or content share of your blog. Encourage reviews and social mentions, because anything that highlights your brand in a positive way will encourage your audience to trust your business.
Fear of Missing Out
This is a part of scarcity marketing, and the theory is built on the premise that humans put more value on things they feel are scarce, and a lower value on things that can be easily attained. When a particular product or service seems limited in quantity, psychologically, prospects start wanting it more.
This is known as FOMO and it shows how things become instantly valuable when they appear scarce.
Final Thoughts
If the driving force behind your business has nothing to do with making people’s lives easier or better, there’s really no point. Work hard, but work smart too. It’s not about working for long hours, but making sure that those long hours count, and equate to significant compensation. If you want to thrive exceptionally, find a unique solution to a particular problem.
Put your customers at the forefront of your business, understand what catches their fancy and what they value, and tap into their psyche. When you abide by this, your marketing efforts are bound to be crowned with success.