Is it Ever OK to use Sales Psychology as an Ethical Marketer? (#Ep14)

Is it ever "OK" to use psychology tactics in your marketing if you are an ethical marketer?

If you don't - will you ever make sales?

In this episode I'm opening up the discussion, and exploring where to draw the line between techniques that help with communication, and techniques that border on manipulation. By the end I hope you'll feel more comfortable with where you draw that line (it will be different for all of us), and I share my guiding principle that will see you right however you are sharing your sales message.

Comment below with your thoughts, I plan to revisit this topic in the new year and would love to open up a discussion including your views!

You can download your complimentary guide to "Three Techniques to Validate Your Offer Before You Launch" here: https://www.orangesheepresearch.co.uk/validate

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Transcript

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If I start talking about sales psychology to you, how do you react to that? How do you feel? Does it feel like something you're comfortable with, or does it feel like something that could be seen as manipulating or coercing your audience into buying something they don't want to buy? Now, I know a lot of people are nervous about using psychology in marketing and it's something that comes up a lot, So I have recorded this episode today to help you with that. Because, this isn't about pushing through discomfort to do things you're uncomfortable with. This is about drawing a line between where sales psychology is helpful in helping you communicate the message that the people that need you need to hear. And becoming pushy or manipulative and, um, coercing people into buying something they don't need, which is obviously as a listener to this podcast, I know is something you do not want to do. So let's get started. Using marketing to persuade people to buy your thing is hard, icky and not an effective use of your time. It's an upside down way of doing things. Introducing Upside Up Marketing. Helping you create offers people want to buy and share them in a way that feels good. All over a nice cup of tea. Hello, and welcome to the upside up marketing podcast. Today, we are going to be talking about, yes, this very sticky subject. Um, it's a topic that stirs up a lot of emotion, a lot of fear, um, some anger and a lot of uncertainty among those of us business owners that wants to do our marketing in an ethical way. Um, and that is sales psychology. Uh, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Katie Spraberry. I have spent my adult life, trying to uncover how and why people think and behave the way they do through my psychology degree and my subsequent career in market research. And the last 10 years I have been running my own business, helping small businesses. Like you. Really understand their people understand that ideal clients so that you can create offers messaging content that people actually want an Alliance with them. So you can set it without having to resort to any of these disgusting icky. Unethical marketing tactics. Um, and so, yes, what I wanted to talk about today is so psychology. So sales psychology. What I mean by that is using psychological principles to encourage decision-making. Okay. And that definition on, on the face of it sounds awful, doesn't it? That sounds like you're trying to manipulate people into taking a certain decision, but Actually sales psychology is necessary to some extent, because. Our human brains are very complex things. An economist would love to believe that if you are weighing up whether to buy something or not, you look at all the pros, you look at all the cons, then come to an objective balanced decision, which is in your best interests. But that is not how our brains work. And in fact, our brains work against us in a lot of ways, um, in terms of how we interpret information, which bits of information we pay attention to and how we make decisions. So today I want to talk about some of the biases that our brains, um, impose on us, um, in, for, you know, for good evolutionary reasons, but not always helpful for us. Um, and as marketers, what we can do to help people overcome the things that are holding them back from making progress and doing things that would be good for them. And veering too far into that manipulating and coercing and making people make decisions that are in our best interest if we want the sale, but not their best interest, because it's not actually going to be the thing that's going to help them. Um, so by the end of this episode, I'm hoping that you will find your ethical balance, your red lines. Um, what it is that you can go away and use to make your marketing more effective at communicating the value of your offer. Um, and what you want to avoid because it beers into that area that you're uncomfortable with and you absolutely want to avoid as an ethical business owner. And as a, as a listener of this podcast, I know that is exactly what you are and what you aspire to be. So. Firstly, why are we even talking about this at all? Why can't we just tell people what our product is, what our service is and how it will help them, and then they'll buy it. Well, like I say. As humans are complicated beings, and most people don't make decisions purely on logic, even if they think they do that is really not how the human brain works. Often. We will come up with. Really logical reasons for decisions we've made, but actually that is us sort of retrospectively finding a logic to justify a decision that our emotions made in the first place. So is a really tricky thing. I mean, if you think about the John Lewis Christmas advert. It's a whole. Emotional story, bringing us in, bringing us along with it, making us feel something, making us believe something. It is not just someone standing in the store saying we've got really big shops. They've got loads of stuff. We've got home where we've got gifts, we've got toys, we've got clothes. We've got baby section, we've got a cafe. Um, the prices are reasonable for what it is and it's all great quality stuff. Come on down. You'll find what you need. Logically, that's all we need to know to go and shop in a shop. Isn't it. But. Our human mind needs more. And that's why emotions and all that kind of thing becomes more and more relevant. So. What is it? Our brains are doing, that's holding us back so badly. Our brains through evolution have. I have become remarkably efficient. At processing information, but in order to do that, They have developed a set of biases. Mental shortcuts. If you like to help us get from information coming in to what we're perceiving and seeing in the world. More quickly. And some of these are very useful in some contexts, but very. Tricky and other contents, not always the most useful they can need to us missing things, misinterpreting things, and, um, coming to the wrong decisions for ourselves. So I'm going to go through a few of the ones that might affect us as marketers, speaking to our ideal clients. And the weight ideal clients might misinterpret what we're saying or miss things we're saying. Um, and what we can do about it. So the first one is, um, Status quo bias. Now this is. Our brains wanting to keep things essentially the same, because the same is safe. We know the same. We know where we're at with it. Even if they're a bits we don't like we know about them, our brain doesn't like being surprised and anything new. Brings in different, scary, uncertain possibilities. So especially if you're selling a service that promises to change people's lives. That is going to be very, very tricky. Unless you can overcome this status quo, bias and help people get past that fear. Of staying still. Another psychological principle that really gets in people's way when they're trying to make a decision. His choice overload. You might think that having a choice of any size, any color, any fit, any cup would be exactly what you would want. You know, cause people can really bespoke design the thing that they want to have, but. Actually the more choices there are, the harder it is for us to make a decision and be the less satisfied we are with the final decision that we make. Just think about when you're sitting there in front of your TV and you want to watch something of an evening, how long do you spend scrolling through every app to see what films there are? Every genre. We could sit there for ages and we still like, whatever one we end up with, we just go, ah, that'll do. You know, Whereas when there were only four television channels, you watch what was on and you enjoyed it. And you were much happier with that so in many cases, the more choices you give people, whereas it sounds like it might be a really good thing for them and they really appreciate that. It actually makes it very hard to make any decision at all. So if you think about you're putting together a package. And you think, well, okay, I'll have the basic package, but then they'll have options to add. You know, VIP level with one call with two calls, with three calls in a whole group session, you know, the more of these options you add for different bits of support that you could tack onto your programs. The harder it's going to be for people to make any decision at all. So keep it simple and help people make the decision. Whether that decision is like yes or no, that is none of your business. The business is that they make a decision and it's the right one for them. So that's choice overload. And you'll have to, excuse me. I've got a lot of notes today because it is like I say, a tricky subject and I want to make sure I'm doing it justice and clearly. Articulating what it is. I want to say about it. Okay. Another one. Primacy and recency effects. Now, this is people's tendency to remember the first thing in a list and the last thing in a list. More clearly than anything that was in the middle. So if you're listing key benefits and you start with the best one. And then the next one is the second best one. And next one is the third best one fulfilled fifth, six, seven. And then your eight foot point is. The one that you just thought of, cause you felt like you had to have that many bullet points and it was, uh, you know, something really bland, like feel more confident generally, you know? Um, The thing they're going to remember is that rubbish one that you put last, because we're more likely to remember the most recent thing that we saw. So This is one we're applying. Some sales, psychology really is helping you communicate. It is not taking away. It's not manipulating. It's helping people realize what the most relevant Sadia bits of information are. So if you're doing a video. Bullet point list, for example. You want to make sure your absolute strongest points are at the top and at the bottom. And the weaker ones are in the middle. And if they're too weak that they look old in the middle, leave them out. People don't need them. In fact, three bits of information is the most effective number of bits of information that people need. Anyway. So there's another one, the rule of three. It's been proven that three benefits are the most. Persuasive number of benefits fewer than that, it doesn't sound enough more than that the latter one start detracting from the earlier ones. So have three things and put them best ones top and bottom. That's my tip for that. And that is all about, yes, making sure people can access the most important information and you're not distracting them with stuff, which is less important. So that's, that's one way that south psychology. I couldn't really help you Overcome mental biases and help you communicate more clearly. Rather than manipulating people. So those first three were fairly cut and dry. These are mental shortcuts, which means that the ideal client is not necessarily picking up on the most important information and it's things you can do to help with that. These next psychological principles. I'm going to be talking about a little bit more in the gray area. And they can be used for good. And they can be used for evil. And I think that ultimately. Whether it's good or evil comes down to the intention behind it. So always be checking in on yourself with what's the intention behind this. Am I trying to get the sale or am I trying to help them without understanding? Um, your understand more. So I go through the examples. So the first one. Is, Anchoring. Now. If you haven't heard about this before this is most commonly used in sales, when it talks about price anchoring. So. People who are uncertain about something. Um, rely heavily on the first bit of information they received to put the second bit of information in context. So if you just go in and say, here's my program, it's 1500 pounds. They've got no idea. If this is good or bad. This might be like way outside their expectations. Um, or if they don't know what to expect, they're just like, okay. Right. Is that, is that good? Is that bad? I'm not sure. I don't feel I have enough information to make a decision. Um, so something that is commonly done is price anchoring, and there are two ways to do this. You can anchor the price. By having like a bonus stack say, so. About by bonus stack. I mean, you know, you get all this stuff and it's worth this, you know, you've got this many one-to-one to me, which are worth this, you get this course, which is worth this. You get these work books, which are worth that, and all this together is worth this much. Plus then you get these bonuses, you get this extra course that I recorded. You get a invite to this workshop, all of these worth this. All this stuff is worth 10,000 pounds. Uh, but today you can take it all the way for just 1500. That is price anchoring that 10,000 pounds makes that 1500 suddenly sound like very good value. Okay. The other way to do it is to break it down. As in over the lifetime of the course, what the cost would be per day. And then say, oh, this course cost less than a cup of coffee from your favorite coffee shop every day. And that makes the price sound a lot more reasonable because it breaks it down and compares it to something that doesn't feel very expensive. And then it says, okay, well, it's just like getting that, not very expensive thing everyday for six months. So those two ways of price anchoring, um, they help people in that they help people put the price in context and understand the true value of it. But you can see this used in a very sort of bro sleazy way. For example, you've probably, um, looked at sales pages. You might've even bought courses and programs where. The value, the bonus stack. Is, you know, sort of this PDF document value 3000 pounds or something like that, you know, it really hypes up and inflates the value of what is in there. If they've never had that on sale for that amount. Um, I would really be questioning where they got this value from. Have they just plucked it from theater? So used properly. So comparing the real value with the price that they're going to pay. I would argue that is clearly communicating and giving them something to compare it to, to put it into context. Or, you know, talking about other things they might have tried and how much that would have cost and how good value your thing is against that. For example, I would say that's putting into context and helping, but artificially inflating values, plucking figures out of thin air. Um, for me that borders on the unethical would be sleazy. The don't do this sort of area. Like I say, you find where you feel comfortable. For me, that's where I draw the line between those two. Okay, the next one is, um, a tricky one for me to talk about because it's one that I promote all the time. As being like the way to cut through and get noticed by your ideal clients. And that is by using the language they would use. So mirroring their language. People feel more connected to those who communicate like them. So, if your audience, would be saying, oh, I feel really stuck in a rut at the moment. And your content is saying, do you feel that you have blocks that stop you from progressing as fast as you would like to. They're not going to resonate with that as strongly as they would resonate with. If you came out and said it, do you feel stuck in a rock? And they're like, yeah, I do. I feel stuck in a rock. Um, you know, it's joining in with that conversation in their head, it's making it so they don't have to do any extra interpreting or processing with their brain. Um, in order to understand what you say, you're saying. It makes it easy for them. It makes them feel, um, connected with you. And it really helps you cut through all the people who are talking about blocks to fulfilling your full potential. Um, because it's, it's talking like they think so immediately, it sounds like you understand them and you get them. Now where this bit becomes tricky is that this is a tactic that is used by, for example, your classic used car salesman. The, you know, the people come in, they're dressed in nice clothes. They're obviously very middle-class. So they change their language to be more middle-class then the next people come in they're obviously. Yeah, looking for something cheaper, they're obviously a bit more sort of the earth. So they tased their accent and the words they using again, um, to manipulate people into trusting them and buying a car. Now. Where I would therefore draw that line with this. Is, um, for me, You still have to be yourself, you know, don't change how you talk and how you communicate so far that you're unrecognizable and inconsistent, depending on who you're talking with. Your job is to find the ideal clients that suit you, that match you. So you can be yourself. You can be real, you can be authentic. I had a lovely rant about that word. Lost. Um, last podcast episode, which is why that one got some air quotes, which you won't have seen if you were an audio, but just know they were there authentic. They were there again. But so you can be yourself with them basically. And then it's just a case of making sure that you've understood how they're thinking and how they're talking about it. So you can talk in a way that aids, their understanding that for me, is where I draw the line with that one. You might have different thoughts. I would love to hear them, okay. The next one. This is one that is absolutely. Prevalent in the online business world, it is like an epidemic. It's everywhere. It's everywhere. And that is, um, it's called the foot in door with technique and what it is playing on is people's. Desire to be consistent with how they've behaved in the past. And people's desire to be consistent means that once they've made a Swan commitment, for example, purchased her.$9 offer or a$27 offer or, you know, a small offer. They're more likely to make a larger one, like later on. And this is why you see people using things like, um, trip wires. So as soon as someone who's given their email address, first small commitment. They then asked to spend a really tiny amount of money for something that is excellent value. Slightly larger commitment. And then, because they're now consistently like defining themselves as a client of this person, someone who likes this person, someone who buys from this person. It makes it a lot easier to get that bigger commitment onto the larger high ticket programs. Um, I say later on. Might even be within the next day or few hours or something, um, so it is doing these small commitments in order to make it easier for people to make the bigger commitments. Now. This is. A tricky one because obviously. If you're only putting the small value thing out there in order to make the big value purchase later. Because you're playing on the fact that people like to be consistent. That sort of going for borderline sort of manipulation. And using psychology to. Um, trick people, not trick people, but do you know what I mean to coerce people into buying? Um, but. On the other hand, that small ticket thing might be a really, really valuable thing that actually really, really helps them. And it might showcase your support and the way that you help people so well, but it helps them make that decision as to whether the bigger ticket thing is for them. So I think this is one that comes down entirely to intense. I think that it is really nice to be able to offer something that's cheaper for people to test you out with first, before they make the bigger ticket. I think that this. Consistency bias. It's kind of a by-product of it. If you're doing it with the right intention and you're making sure that every step of the way, what you're offering is actually genuinely something that will be valuable to those people. And not just valuable to. You as a business owner in terms of moving them along that purchase ladder. Um, so yeah, That's what I would argue for that one. Okay. The final. Psychological tactic I wants to talk about today is one that I feel. More often than not. Veers into the. Unethical the manipulative, the, this isn't really a great thing to do. Um, area. And that is. Really. Agitating pain points. Uh, pain points in marketing. So talking to the struggle. Talking to the pain. People feel talking to the problems and frustrations they have. Um, it's a powerful marketing tool, and I'm not saying we shouldn't do this at all because actually recognizing the struggle and where they are now is a really good way of showing empathy, showing you understand them and showing that you are able to help them. Uh, however, anything that takes that pain, uh, ramps it up just to make them more likely to buy. I would argue that. I would argue. Quite strongly that falls into manipulation. The worst case of this I've ever seen was a coach. Uh, a VSL video sales letter. Selling his program. And I really liked the first bit of it. Like, I really loved the way it, um, subverted the normal way of doing things. I thought we had some really good stuff to say. I was like, oh, you know, I'm quite enjoying this. But then we got to the bit where he was. He suddenly turned all pro marketer, which I actually thought was quite counter to the whole first bit of the video, but that's so it. So his argument was. The pain point he was trying to, um, Talk to was the pain point of being so wrapped up in your business and working such long hours, that you are struggling to, um, engage in your family life. And you know, you're not giving your kids the attention they deserve. Okay, fair enough. People will feel that, you know, anyone who is, has worked that hard. Well, no. The guilt that comes with having to say to your kids, no, sorry. I can't play. Um, I have to work. So fast. I mean, it's not a pain point. I would particularly love to be highlighting, but I know that it is one that exists for people. But it went on. He took that and he cranked it up and cranked it up and cranked it up until there were cartoon children sitting there with their heads in their hands. And he's talking about child neglect and the psychological impact that has on your children and how like you're ruining them for life because you're working such long hours and blah, blah, blah, on how it was just like, oh my God, like, did he actually just say that? Is he actually doing that to people?'cause. Yeah, there'll be some people who are genuinely have that worry, but there'll be other people who are just working quite long hours and who are now suddenly thinking, oh my God, am I neglecting my children? Am I messing them up for life? And. Anyone who at the end of that sales video, then doesn't buy his thing. They're still carrying this away with them that this is what they're doing and the impact they're having. When you do. Um, psychological experiments or any scientific experience I imagined. You have to run the path, an ethics board. And one of the things they are looking at is are the people in this experiment going to be harmed? Are they going to walk away from it? Feeling worse about themselves than when they walked in. And if they're going to feel worse about themselves and you haven't done anything to mitigate that it is not allowed. And I would say the same should be true for sales pages and sales, videos, and copy, and anything that you're doing in your marketing. If your people are going to walk away, feeling worse about themselves than they did at the start of reading your content. Then you need to have a serious look at yourself because not everyone is there to buy. People are on social media or their. You know, they're looking at courses and programs and things cause they want to improve themselves. But that doesn't mean that you're going to be the right thing for them. And if you are making them feel that awful, they're either going to be buying out a fear. And which case they're probably not going to be the best clients for you. Cause people that buying out of fear are not in the right mindset to take positive action and be great advocates for your program. Or they going to walk away. Feeling so much worse about themselves and you have had a negative impact on those people at a negative impact on their day and potentially their life. So. I think that anyone like my goal is anyone who reads my content. Even my sales materials. Um, my sales pages watch his videos where I'm setting comes away. Feeling. Inspired, you know, I want people to feel like, gosh, I really took something from that and I know how to make an improvement, whether or not they choose to work with me or not. I want them to have learned something that they can action and take forward. But I really believe all of our content, even our sales materials should be in service to the people that we want to help and whether or not they're the people that buy from us, they still need to go away feeling good and feeling positive and feeling inspired and empowered. So that's my, that's my rant for today. Um, and something that I think if you take that principle into all this house, copy, whatever sells psychology. You're using whatever tactics you're using. If you take that one principle away. That when people have finished reading it, watching it, whatever you want them to feel better? Then when they first started. Or at the very least you don't want them to feel worse. I think that is a solid base in which to base the ethics of your marketing. Now I recognize that this is a really emotive subject. It's a very controversial subject, and everyone's going to draw the line somewhere different. I've given you a short list there of, um, psychological principle was that. We need to overcome in our marketing or, but can need to be used carefully. There are going to be tons more. So if you've got any that you want to add, Um, or if you've got any views agree or disagree with anything I've said so far, I would absolutely love to hear from you. My goal with this episode is not to preach to you. But to open up a discussion. If you are listening on audio. So not YouTube on audio. Then if you look at the show notes, the very first thing the show notes say is send me a text. If you click that. Then you can share your views with me. Um, I can't message you back. So you're not opening yourself up to a whole damn discussion where I try and sell to you. That is not how I work. Anyway. I hope you have worked that out by now, but you know, the possibility isn't even that I can't text you back, but I will get that message. Um, and if you're on YouTube, I'd love you to just pop in the comments, what you thought, because, I'll be revisiting this topic in the new year. Um, I think it's a really, really important while I think there needs to be more discussion about it. In the online marketing world. And I would love for you to input with that. Um, this podcast is now taking a break for Christmas and in the new year. I'm so excited for what I've got sort of lined up for it. I'm going to start talking a bit more about this sort of thing. I'm going to bring in guests for their views. I'm going to be looking at how you can put the ideal client right at the center of your business, and really make sure that you're offering a messaging is. Aligned with them and helping them and helping you, So so much in store, but right now, before I lose my voice, I'm going to bet you adieu for 2024. Thank you so much for listening. And please do get in touch with your opinions, your views on this or anything that we've talked about on the podcast. Or any questions you have that would give me ideas for future episodes. I will see you all very soon.