Section Four: Using Psychological Triggers
Psychological triggers are simply words, images, and sounds that can be used to promote a particular response. When it comes to the use of these triggers in your sales effort, two of your post powerful tools will be words and the way you choose to present them.
Here are some things to keep in mind that will help you make the most of psychological triggers in the sales copy you compose, as well as some visual approaches to help those triggers do the job.
To a degree, the use of keywords sprinkled throughout your copy is an example of using psychological triggers. Keywords provide the basis for rapport between the reader and your copy. Chances are that the consumer is already looking for something in particular.
Keywords are evidence that he or she is at the right place to find that which is desired or needed. Thus, having important keywords in the text is one way of causing the triggering of a reaction that ensures the consumer will keep reading through the web site, assured there is something of value there.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you want to use phrases and words that speak to the mindset of the reader. For example, including words that describe applications with special meaning to your target audience will help to elicit the desired response.
Someone who is looking for financial software for a faith based organization is likely to respond very positively to such words as stewardship, accountability, and trust. Triggers of this type resonate with some of the reasons why the individual may be searching for a good deal on financial software, and will easily help to draw in interested persons.
Triggers can also be used to invoke the emotions of the reader as well. Invoking a sense of fun into the search, while still being professional, is often enough to get people to take a few moments and check out what you have to offer. Humor may not be right for all products and services, but in many cases, the strategy works.
If you market office products and cater to busy administrative assistants trying to keep the boss happy, you may want to try a tag line with a trigger that speaks to the frustration that can come with the job. Something along the lines of “tired of searching the Internet to keep your boss from popping a vein?
Get everything you need here!” can help to soothe frayed nerves and at the same time creates the impression that there is no need to look anywhere else.
Guilt is also being a trigger that can be used to good advantage. Using verbiage that conveys a sense that failure to purchase your good or service is something akin to a dereliction of duty. Of course, this tends to work better when the intimation is somewhat understated, since that does not insult the intelligence of the consumer.
Something along the lines of “a day without software is a day with a lot of wasted time” hints at the advantage of buying your product and impressing the boss with a high level of productivity. At the same time, the intimation is that without the software, the reader will not be as productive and thus will not be able to do the best job possible.
Preying on the sense of responsibility, then trigger motivates the consumer to read further and learn what your product can do to make the day a successful one.
Motivation through the written word is another example of a great psychological trigger. The vast majority of people want to do a good job with everything they do. However, they also want to accomplish that good job in as little time and with as little effort as possible.
Using triggers in your sales copy like “easy to use”, “cuts hours off your workload” and “increase your free time” will definitely play to the desire for more success with less investment. Using these types of triggers in headlines throughout the text is one way of getting noticed, but don’t forget to work a few of these motivational style motivators into the main text as well.
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