Mastering the Art of Persuasion: Unconventional Marketing Tactics That Drive Results

Thanks for joining me as I shared my favorite sessions from a sold out marketing conference in Boston that I attended. Let’s pivot from what I have recapped recently (see very bottom for past posts) and dive into Persuasion Marketing.

I have an obsession with Nancy Harhut. I am catching replays with her presentations on persuasion, I have followed her work over the years. I raved about her book (she listed my name in the acknowledgments), and tune in when she shows up on a marketing podcasts.

Today’s recap is from her session labeled: 6 Surprising, Rule-Bending Tactics to Overcome Irrational Tendencies.

Word of Mouth

Don’t lead with your most positive word of mouth

Doubt = Trust

Review example from Yelp: “Due to previous negative experiences with other companies, I was very skeptical that ___ live chat box would be able to help me with my issue. But he took me through each step. He helped me resolve my website problem. Now I’m back online. And I’m very grateful.”

Led with a doubtful testimonial because it makes you trust the company more.

Pro tips from Nancy includes: don’t just show the 5 start reviews. According to Northwestern University, highlight the 4.2-4.5 reviews.

Ask for requests

Make a request you know they’ll refuse

She mentioned having a request for mentors to take juvenile delinquents to a zoo. People said no to the request but what if it was worded with a different approach? Such as, “would you devote for 2 hours a week, for the next two years counseling these kids”? Still no!

Next step: stack them (the questions/the request). “Will you be willing to devote two hours a week to the take a juvenile delinquents kids to the zoo. How about just one Saturday a month taking them to the zoo”?

50% of the respondents said yes!

Lead with a big request. Then pivot to a reasonable one.

Tip from Nancy: “would you be willing to …” to increase the “yes” responses. (think sales questions)

Pricing

Lead with your highest price

Price Order Effect. In a bar, the beer prices were rotated around. The leader of the study found, the most expensive vs least expensive. People get the first one on the list, or the next one down, 2nd most expensive, you increase in revenue. This caused a 4.2% revenue increase. (Source: Donald Lichtenstein, University of Colorado)

I actually changed my pricing page on my site to match this next tip. What if you only have an item that is just one price. She shared an example: “wouldn’t be surprising to see a price tag of up to $150” but “as little as $39.99.” This is the whole ad:

If you look at the features of the ___, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a price tag of up to $150, which would still be lower than most of its competitors (some cost over $300). At the moment of writing this review, you can get ____ for as little as $39.99. If you select 3 packs, you will only pay $82.47 (which turns out to be $27.49 per watch).

Final tip: Lead with higher prices.

Tip from Nancy: Left digit bias, emphasis on the first digit of a price. ($501 vs $498), people see a $100 difference, we don’t process the difference when it is just $3 difference. This creates a bigger impact on our results.

She shared three other tips during her presentation but these three from above had the most impact on me. Which one will you start using?

If you are stuck on growing your personal brand. I can help you. I offer private one on one consultations for growing your online presence, I also do workshops for businesses. Reach out to me with my info below to get started.

Here are my most recent blog posts and previous sessions takeaways: