17 Persuasion Triggers You Can Use In Your Next Marketing Campaign
Are you looking to improve your marketing results? Whether it's finding new customers, motivating current ones or strengthening the loyalty of your fans - understanding what triggers people to act is key. There are many persuasion triggers that marketers might use in an average campaign and knowing them can make all the difference between a successful one and one that gets lost in the noise.
What Are Persuasion Triggers?
Persuasion triggers are prompts that play on basic psychological principles, like our need for reciprocity, our fear of loss, or our desire for social approval. By understanding how these triggers work, you can use them to your advantage in your own marketing campaigns. One thing that makes these triggers so powerful is that, even if you know they are being used, they can still influence you.
It can be a simple as something like "Liking." Advertisers know that, if they can get you to associate their product with a positive emotion, you're more likely to buy it. So they use slogans, jingles and images that make you feel happy, excited or proud.
Another common technique is using social proof. This is where marketers show you how many other people have bought their product. This trigger works by playing on our fear of being left out or looking stupid. We don't want to be the only person who doesn't have the latest phone or the newest dress, so we're more likely to buy it. But it also ties into the idea of safety in numbers, and the knowledge that others have tried it already and gotten the results you are hoping for. "They seem like me, and it worked for them…"
Reciprocity is another important trigger. This is where marketers give you free samples, discounts or even just a nice email to encourage you to buy their product. There are actually two versions of this trigger being used at the same time. The first is that, when people feel obligated after receiving something for free, they often want to return the favor in some way. The second is that, when we feel indebted to someone, we want to make them happy by doing something for them.
These are just a few examples of how marketers have used triggers for the better part of a century. They are a powerful tactic for making your marketing more effective.
Here are 17 of the most commonly used triggers, and why they work:
1. Reciprocity – This is where marketers give you free samples, discounts or even just a nice email to encourage you to buy their product. There are actually two versions of this trigger being used at the same time. The first is that, when people feel obligated after receiving something for free, they often want to return the favor in some way. The second is that, when we feel indebted to someone, we want to make them happy by doing something for them.
2. Scarcity – This trigger works by playing on our fear of loss. We don't want to miss out on an opportunity or be the only person who doesn't have the latest phone or the newest dress, so we're more likely to buy it.
3. Authority – This is where marketers use experts or celebrities to endorse their product, using phrases like 'As seen on TV' or 'Endorsed by Oprah'. It works because of our unique human psychology that makes us more likely to follow the lead of someone who's an expert in their field.
4."Liking" – This trigger is where marketers encourage you to like and trust them as a person, so we're more likely to buy from them. It works by playing on our desire for social approval and acceptance.
5. Consistency – This is where marketers give us opportunities to set the precedent of being consistent with the choices we've made before. For example, if you've purchased one of their products before. It then gives us the feeling that it is consistent with our self-image to keep making similar choices, so we're more likely to buy from them again.
6. Commitment and consistency – Here marketers convince customers to commit or show intent to purchase, for example by putting down a deposit. Then, because of the consistency trigger, they are more likely to follow through with the purchase.
7. Social Proof – This is where marketers use testimonials, references or recommendations from other customers to give their product credibility and make you more likely to buy it. It works by playing on our deeply-felt need for others' approval.
8. Fear – Marketers use social proof to convince you that lots of other people have already been scared by some kind of danger, so it's more likely to happen to you too. This trigger works on the assumption that we want to avoid pain and suffering at all costs.
9. Novelty – We experience a surge of dopamine when we are exposed to something new, which marketers will play on by creating products that are 'new and improved', or give them a unique spin to make you feel like you've never seen anything like it before.
10. Curiosity – Marketers create curious ads because they want customers to investigate further. The idea is that, if people are intrigued enough by a product, they'll read more about it, resulting in a higher chance of them making a purchase.
11. Consensus – Marketers use consensus by giving social proof that lots of other people have already bought their products, so you might as well too. This trigger is also used alongside scarcity and authority to further increase the credibility of the product.
12. Distinction – Marketers here use their uniqueness to stand out from competitors by using phrases like 'best in class' or 'most cost-effective', which makes their product more appealing. It works by playing on the assumption that we all want what's best for us at the time.
13. Risk Aversion – This is where marketers play on our fear of loss or failure, so we're more likely to buy a product that offers a money back guarantee, for example. It works by trying to convince us that making the safe choice is in our best interest.
14. Uniqueness – Marketers use their uniqueness to stand out from competitors, for example using phrases like 'only available in stores' or 'while stocks last'. It works by playing on our desire to feel exclusive.
15. The foot-in-the-door technique – Here marketers ask you to agree with small, unimportant requests so they can then convince you to say yes to bigger ones later. It works by making us want to reciprocate to kind gestures.
16. The door-in-the-face technique – This is where marketers make big requests first, which you are likely to decline, before following up with smaller ones that you are now more likely to agree with. It's human nature to feel guilty about saying "no," and so this technique gives the prospect an outlet to assuage that guilt.
17. Lowballing – This is where marketers make a big promise and then reveal all the necessary caveats. It works by making you feel like if the product had no restrictions, it would be more valuable to you. At that point, you can offer the "unrestricted" version at a higher rate that is justified in the prospect's mind... especially if you add exclusivity and reciprocity into the offer.
Give these a try in your next message or campaign.
1. Who is your customer and what problem are they trying to solve?
2. Identify the pain points that they are trying to resolve, and the objections that are holding them back.
3. Identify how 1-3 triggers might be employed to overcome each those objections
4. Use those triggers in crafting your message. For instance, if a premium price is likely to be an objection, start by lowballing: "the general public gets this for $19.99, but that only allows for [introduce limited benefits.]" Then come in with exclusivity and reciprocity: "I think if we totally unleashed this for you, the results would be dramatic. I know they would, because our corporate/industrial version [introduce improved results]. I've gotten permission to offer this version to you (keep in mind, we charge companies $997 for this) for your personal, private use for just $147 (please don't abuse this, or I won't get to make offers like this in the future). But I can only offer it to people on this list and only through [date, 3-5 days out]."
Other scenarios might include... "you have the normal everday [product] for [modest price] but our supplier just let us know that they've come across a surplus of [premium material (spun silk, Kobe beef, etc)], which means we can produce a limited number of [item] in [material]-- that would normally set you back [small fortune], for just [3x-7x the price of the "mundane" version]. Like I said, there are only (small number) and we're only offering them to our most loyal customers on a first-come, first-served basis." Or you could use the approach to create a bundle offer.
5. Don't overdo it. Unless you're getting into the long-form sales letter game, you aren't likely to drop all 17 triggers into a single marketing piece. If you use the PAS model, you can use one or two in introducing the problem, another one or two to agitate and maybe another one or two when you present the solution. Especially if you're just getting started with them. Get too heavy-handed with them and you could just make the prosepct uncomfortabl to the point that they walk away.
6. Use them honestly. Don't claim there's a limited supply if there's not, just to build in scarcity. Come up with another reason that is rooted in truth. It will always go over better and there's always the likelihood that deception will come back to bite you in the end. Instead, try something like: "I'm only offering this for the next 36 hours because this is a lot of work and I've got too many other things to get done. But I know it will mean a lot to some of you, so, here we go. I hope you understand."
7. Create a plan with clear steps to achieve desired results. Knowing your outcome will help you decide which of these triggers to use.
And there you have it, a crash course in higher-level persuasive techniques you can use in your marketing to make it more effective. Just remember to treat them like spices in your recipe to bring out the flavor. But if the main ingredients, like your product benefits, customer persona and your offer aren't Grade-A, then the spices aren't going to salvage the dish.
