Business success has a lot to do with selling more, after all, more sales mean more money and more money enables more growth. It is what “moves the cashier”, do you agree?
In turn, selling more has a lot to do with being convincing, after all nobody buys products or services without being convinced that it is interesting, isn’t it ?!
So know, to be convincing you need to understand that selling is all about being persuasive because it is persuasion that helps you to be convincing.
And being persuasive has EVERYTHING to do with triggering mental triggers, as they do all the work of inducing people to act impulsively when they encounter something that somehow attracts them.
That’s right, mental triggers drive consumers to buy, increasing sales and helping the company achieve the success it wants.
Realize? Everything is connected!
Very interesting, isn’t it ?! In this content we will show you how these mental triggers can be strong allies in the battle for increasing your sales.
Check out just these topics:
- What are the mental triggers?
- 15 types of mental triggers
- How mental triggers work in our brain
- 3 tips for using mental triggers in your business
- To recap
What are the mental triggers?
What are mental triggers? They are the effect of an action that we receive.
To be clearer, they act through external events, actions or circumstances that aim to produce emotional or psychiatric symptoms of various orders, from joy to need.
These symptoms, in turn, propel us to act immediately, but naturally.
In other words, mental triggers have a purpose: through external action, to get people to take action .
We can compare the effect of mental triggers on our brain as follows: Have you ever had the experience of turning on the lights before entering that little messy room so as not to run the risk of hitting your little finger on the corner of the furniture?
That’s what we’re talking about!
When the mental triggers are activated in us, it is as if a light from a specific region of the brain comes on reminding us of something that we have identified, causing us to take action.
This “lit” region of the brain reminds us and the memory generates identification . It is precisely this identification that tends to impel us to act immediately, but naturally.
Let’s better understand this whole process and its steps:
- An external action;
- A mental trigger;
- A strong memory;
- Identification;
- Emotional or psychological symptoms;
- Immediate and natural action.
Now that you understand what mental triggers are and what their purpose is, let’s understand what their types are.
15 types of mental triggers
Scarcity
Commonly used by large companies, this mental trigger aims to produce a feeling of need in the consumer.
In the book by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky called: “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, the authors prove through studies that, for the human mind, the feeling of loss is about 2.5x greater than the feeling of gain.
In simpler words, this mental trigger is like the phrase used for relationships “you have to lose to value” it also works in business.
Catch phrases like: “These are the last pieces!” give the client the idea of: “Wow! If everyone is buying it must be good and I am not going to miss the chance to buy this product! ”
Realize? The idea in this case is to activate mental triggers by instilling the client’s idea of “I can’t miss this opportunity!”.
Urgency
Widely used by the GROUPON promotions website, this Mental Trigger is very similar to the Mental Trigger of Scarcity, but is more linked to the time factor.
Its use is very effective because one of the worst feelings for humans is the impossibility of choosing. So, as we hate to feel helpless, we act as quickly as possible.
Think: after the term is over, the person’s only choice is to be without that product or service.
After all, purchasing a product and regretting it is less worse than living with the doubt about the difference it would make in your life.
Catch phrases like: “For a limited time!” or “Offer valid until that date” produces in the consumer’s mind the feeling of “Time will end and I will not be able to buy this product! I need to buy!”
A good tip is: use the Mental Trigger of Scarcity and Urgency together! ?
Authority
The PVC pipes and fittings brand, Tigre, recently used the slogan: “whoever uses Tigre is the authority on the subject!”. This phrase exemplifies well how the Authority’s Mental Trigger tends to work.
Phrases and elements are used, from slogans to visual brands to produce the idea on the client: “This brand is an expert on this subject. They know what they are talking about! ” or, still: “This company is the largest in this segment! They are an authority on the matter. ”
The tip for applying this Mental Trigger is to produce this image in the construction and management of the brand.
Reciprocity
One of the greatest weapons of Inbound Marketing, the Mental Trigger of Reciprocity seeks to generate in the consumer’s mind that that company, brand or person cares about it and wants, in some way, to contribute to its growth.
But remember! Your actions must, first, aim to make people’s lives simpler and then generate some profit for you. Never the other way around! After all, people feel bad intentions.
Have you ever heard the phrase: “Kindness breeds kindness!”?
This is how the Mental Trigger of Reciprocity tries to conquer.
Social Proof
“Tell me who likes your business and I will tell you if it is good.”
The old saying that raises the importance of understanding the quality of our relationships, exemplifies well how consumers’ minds work when choosing a company to buy a product or service.
Nobody goes to a place or works with a service provider without social relevance.
In other words, it is important to have a good reputation!
So if you include testimonials from influential, famous people or even experts who speak well of your product or service, growth is sure to come!
To activate this trigger in your business, use customer testimonials, number of market research , images of people using your product or service, social networks, number of website readers, etc.
A good tip: the Social Proof Mental Trigger to that of authority. Use them together!
Because?
Questioning is a recurring action for human beings.
An example of this is when we see children questioning their parents and relatives tirelessly every day about the most diverse subjects and things that surround them.
Not only children, but adults also have a dissatisfaction with knowing the reason for things. Especially when something is offered, requested or ordered.
Thus, explaining why your company exists and how products and services work, for example, will show the relevance of your products , in addition to satisfying your customers’ desire to know.
Anticipation
Used many times by the giant Apple every year, the trigger of anticipation works with people’s expectations of the future .
Have you ever watched a movie trailer and eagerly awaited its release? It’s a very strong will, isn’t it? Yes, the mental trigger of anticipation is activated in your brain every time it happens.
And because the future is uncertain and uncertainty bothers people, showing that a particular product or service solves future problems is effective in the choice decision.
After all, people like good expectations about uncertainties.
Novelty
When we are exposed to something new or at least expected, there is an increase in the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for the sensation of pleasure in the brain.
Technology and auto companies use this trigger frequently. And although the differences between the models are often small, we exchange the old objects wanting the pleasure of using something modern and better.
After all, every year, we are exposed to a new model of cell phone, television, car.
A good tip: work the mental trigger of the novelty together with that of the social proof because, after all, people need to be “inside” the news to be accepted in their daily lives.
Pain x Pleasure
The mental pain x pleasure trigger works on the client’s mind that when purchasing a certain product or service, some very big effort will be saved from that person.
Human beings always guide their actions in order to avoid pain and achieve pleasure .
It is worth remembering that, instinctively, people are more likely to move away from pain than to approach pleasure.
This is because we usually associate the lack of pain and suffering with a consequent feeling of pleasure or, at the very least, of stability and security, especially emotional.
A good tip: know what are the biggest pains and desires of the target audience and offer a solution to these specific problems.
Disregard
Commonly used by Coca-Cola, this mental trigger tries to produce in the consumer the feeling that everyone has something except him.
Imagine the scene:
You arrive at class Monday morning and discover that you have a test, everyone knew, except you who forgot and I study absolutely nothing.
Or yet:
It’s your most loving niece’s birthday. You arrive at your brother’s house and she is there, waiting for a gift, but you forgot.
It would be horrible, wouldn’t it? Everyone knows about a super important event, except you.
So, to use this Mental Trigger in your business, consider your insistence on selling your products or services.
Present the advantages of what you are offering, highlight the answer to the client’s main objections, but don’t be boring. Do not repeat the price of your product dozens of times, focus on its value.
Commitment and consistency
Guarantees of the type: “result achieved or your money back” always pass trust.
After all, what kind of company or brand would put your hand on fire for a product you didn’t believe in? No one!
At the very least when such a guarantee is made available, we minimally understand that the result is easy to obtain .
Do you know those posters printed on the streets with the words: “I bring the loved one in 7 days.”? It is that kind of confidence that you have to pass on!
So, invest in guarantees and produce that mental trigger.
Paradox of choice
This mental trigger is not wanting you to be indecisive.
Between choosing between many and few options, there is no need to ask which is easier.
Between a brand that has 10 equivalent cell phone models and one that has 3 well-worked ones, you can be sure that the first one will have more visitors, but few sales.
A good tip: simplify the processes! Less is more in that sense.
Story
This mental trigger seeks, in telling a story, to generate identification and closeness.
And what makes stories an excellent mental trigger? They affect our emotions and activate parts of the brain associated with our senses.
Upon hearing a story, the subconscious mind creates an internal experience, making us feel the emotions of that narrative, even if we are not experiencing it directly.
Thus, when there is identification with the story told, the connection between you and the reader is much stronger, as it is based on emotions.
Thus, the reader will see you as a similar, a partner, not as someone who just wants to sell a product, wanting to use it.
Simplicity
As its name implies, the concept of this mental trigger is also quite simple.
It basically consists of showing how the content of the product or service is not complex.
Catch phrases containing the terms work well:
- Step by step;
- The 5 steps to;
- Simple;
- The shortest path;
- The simplest and most efficient way;
- An effective system;
- Fast;
- Uncomplicated.
A good tip: if you can combine this mental trigger with your Content Marketing, you will have a great ally in the mission of having your content more viewed by your potential customers.
Curiosity
George Loewenstein, in his theory of the information gap, states that “when there is a blank space between what we know and what we want to know, we are motivated to seek information to fill it.”
This trigger is killer when it comes to generating traffic to your website, to increase email open rates and even to a sales page.
See for example, how three elements receive practically every click on the sales page of Epic, our premium WordPress theme.
To activate this trigger, you should use headlines and flashy subjects , preferably with the following words and expressions:
- Secret;
- Little known;
- Restricted information;
- Few people have access;
- The truth that no one has ever told.
Did you realize how many options you have to use?
Many, isn’t it?
Take advantage of them and apply right now with your customers and potential customers.
How mental triggers work in our brain?
A person’s mental triggers can be activated through one or more of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
The activated senses turn on the light in the little mess room in our brain and help us remember things.
To better understand this, it is essential to understand how people remember things.
Scientists at Ohio University, in the United States, carried out an experiment to map the memories of a human brain and discover where it keeps the memories of the situations that live in everyday life.
They found that “memories are organized in the hippocampus with different patterns”. And so, the events are listed by date and place where they occurred.
We will see more details about this process below.
What does it take to make someone remember something?
Others of our brain-crazy American friends “opened more heads” at the universities of New York and California and saw that to stay in a person’s memory, a cyclical 4-action process is necessary. Are they:
- Attention;
- Understanding;
- Storage;
- Recovery.
3 tips for using mental triggers in your business
The most effective senses in business are those activated in a communicative advertising contact.
The most common for a Digital Marketing strategy to work are:
- The vision activated when we see a logo, commercial, teaser, for example;
- And hearing when we hear a slogan, for example.
BUT! Don’t stop there!
“The sky is the limit” when it comes to advertising creativity.
OOH Media or Out of Home Media, for example, take advantage of the large volume of masses on public roads to make free samples of products and services.
The secret is precisely: to achieve a combination of all the senses to activate the most effective mental triggers.
That awakens the desire for immediate purchase of a product or service.
So, depending on the industry you work in and the products and services you offer, you can reach your consumers via the other senses.
Therefore, we understand that one of the main secrets to being able to have an effective effect producing mental triggers is to make your customers:
- Pay attention to its action;
- Understand your action;
- Store the main message of your action;
- Retrieve your memories with Mental Triggers;
- Realize the need for a particular product and service;
- Act buying.
For example, you have to make people hear your slogan, say, for example:
- “This is a commercial for an electronics brand, isn’t it?”;
- “Isn’t that the clothing brand that has this little song?”;
- “Wow! That smell is a perfume that such a company sells! ”.
Realize? In saying this, he demonstrates that Mental Triggers have been activated.
That is the purpose! Remember.
After that, he can realize the need and relevance of the product or service advertised by the brand that produced the action.
The rest is almost automatic.
Mental triggers activated? Purchase actions will be taken.
So, here are 3 tips to be effective in your mission to activate mental triggers:
1. Work on your Visual Identity (Logo and Visual Media)
Have you ever heard the phrase: “The first impression is what remains!”
IT’S! It is very true when it comes to business.
Work on the face of your company! Perfect it so that every time someone comes into contact with your brand, it is marked by curiosity before being marked by the quality of your products and services.
Remember if! Before I hear you, people will see you.
To help you with that, here on the blog you have complete content on how to create a logo and how to create a more persuasive landing page .
Read, apply and improve!
2. Perfect your textual creativity (slogan and copywriting)
From a good initial reading, people will want to hear from you and know what the content and products and services you offer are.
The investment must be heavy in terms of slogan, communication and copywriting, as these are the departments that will build the communicational identity of your brand.
Remember if! People don’t want to hear “more of the same”, so be innovative and, above all, creative with every word you say.
In this mission you already have good allies! Complete articles on how to create your slogan and what copywriting is about can be found here on our blog.
3. Potentialize your Brand Management (Branding)
Having done all this, now it is necessary to keep the Brand at its maximum level.
After all, it is useless to apply if you cannot maintain it, because that way you cannot achieve the objectives that are expected of an improvement.
To learn more about how to better manage your brand with more efficient branding , access the links and learn ALL about.
To recap …
Remember the persuasion we talked about? Work on it!
Perhaps you are thinking:
“But, what kind of persuasion is this that these people are telling me to have ???”
I’ll answer you! Persuasion is an action on a person with the intention of producing an action that reflects the first.
Seems complicated? Calm down… It’s not!
There is enormous importance in persuading to sell. The ability to persuade is an important quality for any entrepreneur. We often have a great idea, but we are unable to sell it to an investor, for example.
So be persuasive!
“But how, Blogger Cage?”
I answer you: producing in the communication with your possible clients 5 sensations: connectivity, expectation, contrast, scarcity and esteem.
Through what? Mental triggers!