In this article, I will discuss how psychology affects consumer behavior. Marketing and psychology go hand in hand in promoting an online business. The concepts discussed on this post are inspired by Robert B. Cialdini‘s book entitled, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

You can understand more competently the concepts of a successful business strategy or the makings of a lucrative marketing campaign by studying consumer behavior. Thus, how you design your website can greatly influence more conversion and increase web traffic.

This will be a 3-part series of blog posts. Below are the first 3 ways to entice your website visitors and increase conversion:

• Barter

• The first step is to get their email addresses in exchange for FREE items. Once you obtain their email add, you can now introduce them your products. Market your products in subtly and offer them freebies like an FREE ebook or an 20-day premium to your softwares.
• In this way, these potential customers will feel obliged to listen to you because you gave them a free item. Now, they will more likely read your emails and view your blog posts. When the time comes they will finally your product and buy it,  they will ultimately choose you more than any website out there, who never really gave them freebies.
• The concept of reciprocity is the perfect example of Newton’s third law of motion. For every action you give to your audience, there’s always an equal or opposite reaction from them. You website will get more visitors once you give something first.
• This system of barter has been proven to generate positive results. Anywhere on the internet, you are always asked for your email before you can access a website. You need to sign up first to fully access shopping websites like Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, and Walmart.
• Web visitors will always ask the question, “What will I get from this?” If you selling a product, try offering a FREE shipping voucher. If you are selling VPN tools, consider educating people about virtual private networks.

A typical example of barter: exchanging money for certain goods.

• Commitment

• One way to strengthen brand loyalty is to create a sense of commitment or pledge. If people follow your website, or if they follow you on social media, they insert themselves in your world. They have now publicly showed their support.
• They can now easily know what you’re doing and keep up with the latest updates. Humans are known to oblige. So, once you give them exclusive offers for following you, they will also remain consistent to your brand.  They will promote and defend your product.

• Influence

• This is related to the 2nd item. One follower can indirectly recommend your products to their friends. You are more likely to have another website follower if you inform them that their friend is also registered on this website.
• One notable website that uses this strategy is Facebook. The different product pages on Facebook are promoted in such a way that you are told that your friend likes this page. Perhaps, you may wish to give it a “like” too!
• Influence is a used by, not only Facebook, but also different social media websites. These websites know the power of peer pressure and they know that it’s hard to say no to a friend’s recommendation. We have to admit that when a friend raves about a product on social media, it is notably convincing.