Strategically position graspable objects in your creatives. People will feel a sense of ownership of your product, and will be more likely to buy it. | Continue reading
Second person pronouns (e.g. you, your, you’ll) make readers feel more involved. People will be more likely to engage with you and feel more positive towards your brand. | Continue reading
In a large-scale experiment, 7-day long free trials (vs 30 days) led to 5.6% higher conversions, 6.4% better retention, and 7.9% higher revenue. | Continue reading
Boost conversions to your paid product 16.2% to 22.6% by strategically introducing an alternative paid option. | Continue reading
Highly differentiated startups raise 117% more early-stage funding and are more likely to succeed in the long-term, although they take more time to take off. | Continue reading
Including the receiver’s name in an email subject line increases their attention. Open rates increased 6-23%, clicks by 7-32% and unsubscribes fell 11-17% | Continue reading
Dogs make people more attracted to products focused on gains (e.g. fun experiences, risky gambles, meeting new people). Cats increase sales of products that avoid losses (e.g. safety, health). | Continue reading
Privacy policy notices hurt trust - instead of increasing it - when they are excessively formal and legal-sounding. Lower trust reduces sales. | Continue reading
Show a hand touching your product from the viewer’s point of view (e.g. photo of a hand holding a coffee, or a VR ‘hand’ interacting with a phone). Product attitudes and sales will increase. | Continue reading
Startups that continuously A/B test online receive 10% more web page visits in the first months. The boost compounds to a higher performance of 30% to 100% after a year | Continue reading
After a service failure, use appreciation (“Thank you for your patience”) instead of an apology (“Sorry to keep you waiting”) to improve satisfaction, repurchases, and word-of-mouth. | Continue reading
Display some sold-out options to increase quality perceptions of your products and increase sales (31.1% more people said they would buy in one experiment). Don’t show too many or the effect backfires | Continue reading
Promotions on unusual ‘Special Days’ (e.g. World Tourism Day, anniversary of first purchase) are more effective at increasing sales. In one experiment, people were 25% more likely to buy. | Continue reading
Make the pricing of your product options and extras simpler than your competitors. People will perceive you as fairer and cheaper, even if you are more expensive. | Continue reading
GIFs and emojis improve message engagement (e.g. more attention, less unsubscriptions) and outcome (e.g. time spent in app). Don’t use both at once or the effect backfires. | Continue reading
Amazon keeps changing people’s expectations, and it’s not all about free fast shipping anymore. Shoppers are now most dissatisfied with the return and refund handling of non-Amazon retailers. | Continue reading
Customers abandon products in their online shopping carts all the time. Wait 1-3 days to remind them and boost sales. If you remind them too early your message backfires. | Continue reading
To be most persuasive, use 3 positive claims at once in your message (e.g. ad, presentation). They are sufficient to show a pattern, but not enough to make people skeptical. | Continue reading
People overvalue their own creations. In an experiment, people liked an IKEA storage box 52% more and were willing to pay 63% more when they assembled it themselves. | Continue reading
When offering a discounted price (e.g. $16.75), keep the price ending consistent with the original price (e.g. $26.75, not $26.99). The discount will work better and more people will buy. | Continue reading
If a product is priced at above $100, use an ‘amount off’ discount (e.g. $20 off). If it’s priced at below $100 use a ‘percentage off’ (e.g. 20% off). People will be more likely to buy. | Continue reading
People are more likely to choose a product (+13% in an experiment) and willing to pay more (+21%) when it’s labeled as crowdfunded. | Continue reading
Firms with a CMO in 2000-2011 performed 15% better financially. | Continue reading
Feminine brand names (e.g. Nivea) tend to perform better than masculine ones. 55% of the top-ranked brands had feminine names (36% were masculine). | Continue reading
Men respond positively to red, and this applies to prices too. In one experiment, they judged prices written in red as being 66% cheaper. Women are unaffected. | Continue reading
Gifts to customers without strings attached (e.g. spend at least $50) and without a hidden agenda (e.g. to convince someone to buy) increase word of mouth. | Continue reading
Attract many relevant new customers to your promotion by letting them choose how much they want to pay (including $0). The technique sits between free samples and discount promotions. | Continue reading
People prefer flat-rate plans over pay-per-use plans, even if that means they overpay. Both B2C and B2B customers have this bias. | Continue reading
Advertise and showcase hedonic products (e.g. a nice suit, scented soap) using video - rather than still images - to increase how likely people are to choose them by more than 79%. | Continue reading
When a product is promoted using scarcity (e.g. “only 5 available, limited editions) people who miss it get angry and may switch to competitors. | Continue reading
Marketers confuse their personal preferences with customer preferences (e.g. I like this feature, so will my customers). Actively fighting it can remove this bias, but not always. | Continue reading
When people struggle with a difficult task, using a brand can help them perform better. For example, people who drank water from a Gatorade cup exercised harder and longer. | Continue reading
UPPERCASE brand names feel more premium, and people looking for high-end products are more likely to buy them. Mixed or lowercase names feel more mainstream. | Continue reading
Sales of a chicken noodle soup increased 21.1% when people were shown the costs of making it. The effect works for most products. | Continue reading
Use a subjective tone and don’t overwhelm with information. Ideal length is 10min or longer and published during non-business hours. | Continue reading
Color saturation can change how much we like a product (e.g. if larger is better), how much we’d pay for it (18.5% more for a suitcase, in an experiment), and how we use it. | Continue reading
People rated a physicist’s talk as 19.3% better when they listened to it in high (vs low) audio quality. They also thought he was smarter and liked him more. | Continue reading
In ads in emerging markets, focus on functional benefits (e.g. product benefits, quality, value). In developed markets, focus on the emotional experience around the product. | Continue reading
Existing customers feel threatened when customers different from them start using the same brand. Retain them by offering more exclusive upgrades. | Continue reading
Frequent, big, emotional ups and down in content make it more engaging. For example, a 31.75% increase in volatility in movies is associated with a 1-point higher rating on IMDb. | Continue reading
Voice tones that sound stressed (-27%) and emotional (-29%) are less likely to persuade. A focused, low-pitched tone is most effective (+30%) | Continue reading