How To Use Neuromarketing To Improve Marketing Results
Use neuromarketing to carve a shortcut to your customer's buy button.
The fastest route to a sale is through the customer's buy button which is located in the old (buying) brain (we have three brains - old, middle and new: learn more at Neuromarketing Basics for Marketing Strategy). According to Renvoise and Patrick, co-authors of Neuromarketing: Understanding The Buy Buttons In Your Customer's Brain, the old brain is triggered by only 6 stimuli. Use these 6 stimuli to shape powerful marketing messages including messages in advertising, social media, websites, email, and promotions.
Six Questions To Ask
To ensure that you are pushing the buy button, ask yourself these questions based on the 6 stimuli:
1. Is the buying message written in the native "you" language of the customer's brain?
Your customer wants to hear what's in it for him or her. Begin messages with "you" or "your" and use these words often. This is the "you" language. A common problem for companies is that they speak the "me" or "my" language, which is all about the company.
2. Is there sharp contrast between your product or service and your closest competitor?
The consumer brain becomes numb and tends to turn off when confronted with minor differences between competing services or products. Use contrast to trigger the brain. Discover the differences that matter most to the consumer and communicate them to maximize contrast. One way to accomplish this - especially important for parity products or services - is to use modifiers such as new vs. old, before vs. after.
3. Are your features and benefits tangibly stated in ways that are easy to understand and meaningful to their daily lives?
For example, instead of claiming that your snack food has 20% fewer calories, you could add that "you will spend 10 minutes less on the treadmill." Avoid messages that contain "company-speak" which are expressions that are only meaningful within your company or industry and not to your customer base.
4. Are you maximizing the beginning and end points when the buying brain is triggered to pay attention?
The buying brain is triggered by the beginning and end of messages and is most likely to remember what it perceives at these points. State your most powerful messages at the beginning and end. Don't waste valuable customer interest with unrelated or irrelevant messages at these crucial points.
Remember this: if the brain is not being triggered to pay attention it will look for opportunities to rest. When the brain rests it is not moving toward a sale.
5. Are you using multiple triggers to reach the buying brain?
The buying brain loves visuals so use them liberally. But auditory and kinesthetic messages are also important- and preferred by many. Combine these styles as much as possible, but ensure that they complement each other and do not present different material causing the brain to stop and think. This slows the buying decision.
6. Have you triggered emotion?
Emotion can be powerful because it communicates apart from the rational (new) brain and can be a shortcut to a complex message. One way to trigger emotion is to put your advertising into a story context.
Like the way neuromarketing provides clear, simple guidelines that can help you sell more? Want help to evaluate how neuromarketing can improve your marketing message?
Photo Credit: Brain_Blogger via Flickr Creative Commons
Mission: To help small and mid-size businesses sell more.