Product Launch: How to Use Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion to Boost Sales

How to Use Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion to Boost Product Sales

In this post we break down Dr. Robert Cialdini’s 6 principles of persuasion and apply it to the online world of business.

More specifically we’ll apply it to product launches so you can prepare your marketing collateral and successfully launch your next product.

First off, can you influence a non-buyer to take action?

What makes someone say YES to buying your product or service?

This post doesn’t imply selling to customers using questionable ‘dirty sales tactics’, we’re talking about selling by ethical means!

You may be surprised, but there is a way (ethically speaking) to influence someone into buying your products or services. It’s been scientifically proven to work.

In his book, INFLUENCE: The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini, a renowned social psychologist, helps us get into the psyche of our future customers, so we can understand them better and even more so, we can understand what goes through their minds before they make a decision to buy from us.

Knowing the six principles of persuasion will help you with any marketing you’ll have to do when preparing for your next launch! Think writing email sequences to your list, creating Facebook Ads to attract new leads or running webinars, the 6 principles outlined by Dr. Cialdini will help persuade those people sitting on the fence to take action and buy your product!

So, let’s dive in and see what those 6 Principles of Persuasion are.

The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini

Did you know Cialdini’s book is based on 35-year scientific research?

It’s been published in the ’80s before the Internet era and yet digital marketers everywhere have been quick to apply Cialdini’s principles in the ecommerce world to help boost sales and conversions.

Below you’ll see what Cialdini’s 6 principles are and how you can apply them in your online business:

Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion as listed below.

1. RECIPROCITY

As human beings generally speaking, we’re inclined to return favours and pay back debts. In the online world, a blogger who offers HELPFUL and VALUABLE information on their blog is more likely to convert a site visitor into a customer. What this means, when you give value via any means, blog posts, social media or even emails, you’ll find that the people will start to appreciate that value. This action of providing ‘free’ valuable information to your readers helps build relationships and trust so people will be inclined to reciprocate next time you offer something to sell.

2. COMMITMENT/CONSISTENCY

The principle of commitment in the book states that humans have a deep need to be seen as consistent. To translate this into marketing terms, if I see a freebie offer on your site and give you my name and email, I am more likely to do a similar action when I see your next offer. That next offer could be your product or service.

3. SOCIAL PROOF

We’re social creatures. We follow what others do. If I see a number of people saying nice things about a certain brand, I’m going to presume that this brand is awesome! Think social media followers, Facebook & Instagram ‘likes’ and testimonials displayed on your website. if I see this on your website, I am more likely to trust you and buy from you.

4. AUTHORITY

We’re more likely to obey someone who has authority, for example a doctor. We trust everything a doctor tells us. In the online world, think influencers. The influencers are seen as authority figures by their audiences. And oftentimes it doesn’t only need to be an Instagram influencer that you ‘follow’. When you mention an authority figure in your marketing materials, people associate you with that special/famous person and they’re more likely to trust and buy from you. For example, this is exactly what we’re doing in this post. We’re mentioning Dr. Robert Cialdini because we believe in his research and want to share his wisdom with you. He’s a well-respected researcher and because we’re talking about him in this article, you now might have an even higher opinion of us 😉

5. LIKEABILITY

You’ve heard other marketing ‘gurus’ say: People buy from those they like and trust. This statement comes from Dr. Robert Cialdini’s research. What this means is that we’re easily persuaded by someone we like. In the online world, how can you make yourself more likeable? Perhaps you can share something personal about yourself that people can connect with. For example, if you’re a dog lover, display a photo of yourself and your pet dog on your website. At Bumper Leads, we have a brand mascot Samantha. She is a real cat who resides in our office. We’ve had a few of our customers make nice comments about Samantha, and we’re pretty sure she is one of the main reasons why customers buy from us!

6. SCARCITY

Scarcity is the perception that products are more attractive when their availability is limited. It’s almost our natural inclination as human beings. If there’s less of something, we want it more! Smart marketers use this principle in their advertising copy, when running launches, in their emails and promotions. For example, the words “Last chance”, “Don’t miss out!” indicate scarcity and ooze the FOMO vibe. At Bumper Leads, we apply this principle in product launches for our customers and this is when we see the highest rate of conversions! We’re advocates of ethical launches. So if you’re running a FOMO-style campaign, be sure to honour expiry dates with every promo.

OVER TO YOU

If you’re struggling to sell your products, there could be scientific reason as to why this is so! Maybe it’s time then to incorporate Cialdini’s six principles of persuasion into your marketing to help you increase sales of your new product or service.

As you can see it’s possible to influence someone to take action in the digital world. That action doesn’t have to imply a purchase, it can work for any type of ‘conversion’ you’d like to achieve in your business, eg. get someone to download an eBook.

If you’d like to learn more about the principles of persuasion, we highly recommend this book by Dr. Robert Cialdini, especially if you’re planning to launch your next product or service!

And if you need help building out sales funnels for your product launches, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! When you’re ready, click here to book a time to chat with us.

We also post marketing tips on our Facebook and Instagram account, and we’d love for you to join us there!