How Dr. Cialdini’s latest work ‘PRE-SUASION’ can help us make a website that converts.
We’ve all heard of the word ‘persuasion’, especially if any of us has been in the marketing long enough, he or she most probably must have also heard of the book “Influence” by Robert Cialdini.
An expert on the science of persuasion, Dr. Cialdini had championed 6 principles of persuasion in that book. And now, 30 years later, his latest work “pre-suasion” makes its way explaining to us how to set up the perfect “privileged moment” for our audience to be ready to embrace our message. What is a privileged moment you ask? Good Question. To know that, read on.
What is a website if not a portal to carry out your message to your audience?Although the ultimate goal is to ensure conversion, a website which does not ‘appeal’ to its audience is more likely to see the visitors leave without making the final call. Leaving you to suffer the much dreaded loss of sales.
What is a “privileged moment”
A privileged moment is that moment before you deliver your message. A privileged moment, in other words, is that time available to you because you’ve got an audience poised to hear your message. In that moment, you place something that focuses the individual on the strength of your message, and thus your case becomes more privileged to have the recipient’s complete focus that is already motivated, by you, to act on the information you give to them.
A privileged moment comes to you when you acquire your audience’s attention, although for a short period of time, but this attention can be used by you to introduce your message to your audience. This message will have the added potential of “converting” them into buyers!
According to one of his interviews, Dr. Cialdini defined his latest work as, Pre-suasion is the practice of getting the recipients sympathetic to your message before they experience it. It is an established science, he says, that happens by changing the state of mind that people are in, before they receive your message.
How do you incorporate this information into your website?
Your website design says a lot about you. In fact it says a lot ‘before’ you, even before you start communicating. This is exactly where there is an opportunity to get your audience ‘sensitized’ to what you put forward as your “message”
A Pick-point you can consider in build up for that “privileged moment”.
Images – If your product is on the expensive side, show images that are more achievement or comfort oriented. Position those images in such a way so that they draw your audience’s attention to your strengths such as comfort or quality, when they look at the product they intend to buy.
An effective communication becomes effective merely by focusing the message that is clear and concise on the message itself.
The truly superior persuaders who, in addition, focused on what they did and said in the moment before the ke their special request, that’s the thing the differentiated those individuals who were just average from those who were truly superior.
They are aligning people’s mind state before they present the request with the central features of their request with the thing that their request emphasizes or highlight . So now people are open and receptive to hear the best features of the offer.
Another Pick-point for you to consider
Theme– Colors set a lot of things straight for an individual mind. For example If you want your target to make an extravagant purchase, use such colors that are known to provoke extravagant decisions. If your product is on the expensive side (again!) – use colors that are rare. All these signals prepare your audience to be able to receive your message with open mindedness and more likely to make the purchase.
From Dr. Cialdini’s study of cognitive working, he understands that neurons in our brain get attuned to any new information when they are charged with a particular concept or imagery and are able to process the message in an especially efficient way.
So if at any time we are able to focus people on a particular concept, they get attuned to that concept for a short span of time. Their action falls in line with the concept they’ve have been focused on. For eg. they’re shown an image which oriented to bravery. Their bravery instincts get stimulated and thus their tendency is to be attracted to any thought even remotely associated with bravery.
Another Pick-Point you might want to consider
Congruence
This is one from Dr. Cialdini’s own Principle of Persuasion. Congruency, basically says that when a person commits to something outwardly, is much more likely to do that thing as opposed to if there is no such commitment made. Your website can pick on this principle by making your customers fill out a form upfront on the landing page
For eg.- if your website sells sports-club merchandise, you could ask them to fill in a few blanks
This way you get them to make a commitment , and the chances they take the final action increases significantly
It is not that the merit of the product does not matter. It does. But if you can supercharge them and put them in a state of mind that they simply become more receptive to the merits of your product.
When an individual focuses on something, that something would naturally appear to be of more importance to that person as compared to other times when it would not be focused on.
Dr Cialdini explains, if we are attending to something, if we’re focused on it , we assume that if we are ‘focusing’ on it, it must be worthy of our attention. Ergo – important
One of the things that channels people attention is – “connection”. People are always willing to follow other who are like them or have been in a place or a position that they are in.
Here a helpful tip comes to mind
While writing testimonials .. instead of showing the biggest clients you’ve worked with, show the ones that a normal audience can relate to. Looking at people like them being benefited or doing business with you, gives them another strong reason to follow their lead and want to do business with you
Also, Dr. Cialdini mentions how ‘mystery’ could be intriguing for your audience. If you give them an opportunity to get their head revolving around what you have to offer ahead, by giving them a tiny hint and leaving them to “read more”. They absorb your message with much more intention than ever before.
