Sales
7 Persuasive Techniques That Will Increase Your Overall Sales
By Anne Howell, 15th May 2019
Do you have a website that is getting lots of viewers but still no buyers? That simply means that your persuasion skills need some improvement. Persuasion is the key to increasing the conversion rate of sales.
You could seriously be making top-dollar in no time once you start applying these simple persuasive techniques to your website
A popular store in Bali, Indonesia, running a 50% discount on select items. Artem Beliaikin | Getty Images
1. Reciprocity
People are much more likely to give to you once you have given them.
This is why giveaways and big discounts are so effective. You can change any visitor into a buyer by giving them even the slightest thing.
There are tonnes of ways that you can use this reciprocating method, including:
- Writing small guide blogs that help your customers out which in turn makes them feel more comfortable buying from the business that cares for them.
- Adding an irresistible price tag to a certain product that isn’t meant to make money but only designed to make a regular viewer into a regular buyer.
Once they have already bought something from you, they are much more likely to buy something else.
- Give people free discounts now and then. Once they have bought something at a discount, they are much more likely to buy something else for the full price.
30% of all consumers would rather buy from a website that they have previously bought from, so as long as you get that first buy, you will be making sales left, right and center.
2. Good Reputation
Even big businesses seek being complimented and liked by others. Thankfully, in e-commerce, it is much easier to build a good reputation for yourself.
You can implement ratings, reviews and feedback options on your site or you can simply have an influencer or expert review and write an article about your site. Once people start seeing that, other people like your products too, it will make them see your business as a trustworthy one where they can shop comfortably.
Plus, your business would be rising to fame in the meantime. Nobody is going to buy something from your site if they feel like they are the first ones to do so.
Alex Moiseev | Unsplash
3. Scarcity
It is instinctive for someone to value something more when it’s limited.
There are many ways that websites are using this old human habit in their favor when it comes to increasing sales, including:
- Offering limited-time-only discounts and deals. Some even include a countdown to make people feel that if they don’t buy this now then they will never have the chance to.
- Including the number of items left. This will make them feel the need to buy your product before its “out of stock”.
- Creating festive specials that are only on discount for that particular time. This just shows how creative you can get with these.
These show how strong, basing your product descriptions on scarcity with making lots of sales as it tackles people’s everyday habits.
4. Show Just Enough Selection
If your site only has one option to choose from, there are only two choices, buy or don’t buy. When there is more than one option, the viewer’s mind automatically starts brainstorming on which one to buy instead of the idea of not buying something in the first place.
Offer a wide enough selection so that the viewer feels free to browse but never too large, as the viewer can easily be overwhelmed and put off if there are too many options to choose from.
Just like how it’s impossible to choose what movie you want to watch when there are mile-long selections, thus you end up choosing nothing at all.
5. Allowing Customization
Just like a self-made meal, the more time and effort put into it, the tastier it is. This is just the same with products. If someone spent time passionately customizing the product to fit their desire, the more valuable it will be to them, so they are much more reluctant to abandon it.
It can be as simple as choosing their own color or design that can get someone attached to something. Why do you think you shouldn’t name a wild animal that you won’t see again? This will stop people from abandoning their carts.
Product Customization and Personalization UI UX Concept. | Dribble
6. Showing The Discounted Price Next To The Original
This is one that you have probably seen a lot and don’t even notice how much they are affecting you.
This is when a product would show its previous cost crossed off, showing the new one next to it. This can go hand in hand with some of the other techniques such as reciprocity.
Everyone wants to save money, so when people see how much money they are saving from the discount, regardless of whether they need the product or not, they will be desperate to buy it.
7. Using Loss Aversion
It has been proven by psychologists that people prefer avoiding losses than acquiring gains. It is better to not lose $10 than to find $10. This is why most of these techniques are based around the viewer missing out if they don’t buy your product. You can even tell it to them straight, “Don’t miss out”.
Everyone hates missing out on something nice, so show them that they are missing out if they don’t buy your product. Here are some ways that businesses are using this loss scenario to gain more sales:
- Use lots of photos: Show the viewer more than one photo of the product you are selling as then they will feel that they are missing out if they don’t buy it.
If you are selling a digital product, show how it can improve their lifestyle. As an example, some websites would show a picture of someone smiling on a laptop.
- Wording differently: Promote the losing scenario more than the gaining. “Don’t miss out on the Black Friday Special” is much more effective than, “Join in on the Black Friday Special”.
- Show how much money is being saved: When doing discounts, it is so much more effective when you add how much money they would be saving if they bought your package or product.
People fear losses way more than anything else so showing them how much money they would save will make them buy your product.
You can turn any viewer into a buyer by using these simple persuasive techniques. We are all masters of persuasion as we are always around people. These persuasive techniques will just open your eyes to how you can use things that are as simple as a product description to turn anyone into a buyer.
