If your messaging is going to drive sales, it MUST tap into some basic psychological appeals.

Although human psychology has remained unchanged for years, it amazes me how many business owners spend so little time learning how to leverage its power and yet they'll spend all kinds of time chasing the next "bright, shiny thing."

Today's newsletter identifies ways you can inject some selling power into your sales copy. some of the emotional triggers 

Are you using these psychological triggers in your online copy?

Connecting with your prospects and customers at a psychological level puts you on the path to higher profits.

Here are some of the psychological triggers that compell prospects to take action. 

#1. People are always chasing hope. They hope for love. Wealth. Recognition. Comfort. Safety. Because they are naturally dissatisfied with their lives, the constant search for intangibles is endless. Your job, as a marketer is to sell hope. Show people how your particular product or service fulfills one or more of their needs.

#2. People are jaded. They've seen it all. And they'll do anything they can to make sure they aren't the one that gets played. In fact, their sales resistance meter is set to high from the outset. Assume that. Back up all claims with evidence such as testimonials, survey results, authoritative endorsements and test results.

#3. Most people are followers. We look to others for guidance, especially when we are uncertain about something. We want to know if the product or service we are considering will work for us. So, it's natural to ask, "What do others think about this? What do others feel? What do others do?" Then, we take action based on what we learn. This is why MEANINGFUL testimonials and case histories are so convincing. Side note: when I say meaningful, I mean meaningful. Gerry was a nice and did a great job for us is NOT a meaningful testimonials.

THESE are meaningful testimonials:

Hiring Gerry was one of the best things we’ve done for our business. Not only did he take the burden of writing copy off of me (we release 5+ emails each week plus some lengthy blog posts), but the content was exactly what we wanted. He perfectly captured my voice in a matter of weeks. After that, I no longer even had to read the content he wrote…in fact, I trusted him so much that the first time I usually saw anything was when I got it as a subscriber. He’s just that good. – Matt McWilliams, The Affiliate Guy

We were struggling with making our marketing messages more compelling and less lame until we met Gerry.His persuasive copy helped us perfect the type of pitches that connected with our audience, converting website scrollers into hot leads.Our landing page conversion rate has increased by over 28% and we’re seeing sales results we had never imagined possible. Always fun to work with, we’re excited to see what Gerry will do for us next! – Lisa Borg, VP Marketing Life Clinics

We are now averaging 5-10 qualified leads per day based on the web copy you wrote for our site. It’s unbelievable. We were hardly getting any before. – Elizabeth Gomes, Yonge-Eglinton Laser Eye Centre

#4. People love to buy. What they don't appreciate is being cheated or mislead. We've all had the experience where a professional salesperson "sold" us something. It can be a truly enjoyable experience. Don't think "selling' when you're trying to sell a product or service. Think "'helping." Make appealing offers, and treat people fairly. You can't miss with this attiude.

#5. People value convenience and exclusivity. These are two great motivators behind many purchases. Online shopping is so popular because it makes it easy for people to buy. Always emphasize the convenience and exclusivity of what you sell wherever possible.

#6. You can't force people to do anything. People do what THEY want to do. There's no magical power you can call upon to make them do your bidding. You can urge and push all you want. Your best bet as a marketer? Show how what you're offering meets your prospect's needs better than the other guy.

The next time you sit down to write sales copy, review these psychological triggers and try to apply one or two of them to your messaging.

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Often, this can be traced to:

• Weak or non-existent value proposition
• One-size fits all messaging
• A poorly organized on non-existent selling story
• Incomplete information
• No call-to action
• Lack of readability
• No marketing "system" in place.

With your audit, you'll get a detailed, written analysis of your online marketing. 

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