10 Sales Psychology Hacks for killer online Sales & Conversions

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Have you been struggling to make online sales? Tried everything but no results? Read along to know how I converted my almost good for nothing Instagram page into a five figure generating monster!

A couple of years ago I began an Instagram business profile and put my soul and heart in it, I was selling accessories, watches, clothes keychains , mugs and so on, now despite having 15,000 organic followers the sales were bad.

I would hardly get one or two sales on a lucky day, at the end of the month the results were disappointing. However, at the same time many people were making tonnes of money off Instagram and other online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter , Pinterest and so on. I discovered that I wasn’t the only one, there were many struggling to make a mark on the social app.

What could I be possibly doing wrong? A little research into sales and psychology turned my business upside down! Now I was getting more orders than I could handle, there must have been a few things that I started doing right!

As much as we believe that customers are rational, in reality they are not. They are impulsive and a lot of purchases they make are to fulfill a psychological or emotional need they long for. Having said all this, if you have a drop shipping business already or are about to start one and wondering how to generate sales.

 

Let us guide you through 10 killer tactics for better sales conversion.

  • The use of percentage or numbers

A great selling tactic is to play with dollar figures and percentages, For products under $100 using percentage instead of numbers is always a better tactic, for example if the cost is $50 and you’re giving a 10% discount which means you’re giving $5 off. The 10% discount will entice the customer more simply because 10 is higher than 5.

For products above $100 the rule changes and it’s better to use numbers, because if you give a discount of 20% on a $200 product it converts to $40, in which case obviously 40 is greater than 20.

You’re offering the same discount but playing with the consumers mind making him think he’s getting a better deal!

However, if you are using a number which is greater than double digit it is a good strategy to compare it with other competitor products that are more expensive. As you can see the shirt and masterbuilt smoker are below $100 items therefore the discount mentioned is in percentage.

Now if you notice, all the cellphones above would definitely cost more than a hundred dollars therefore, the discount offered is in dollar form and not percentage.

Simply offering a sale is not enough, to take your customers into confidence you must also state a reason why the sale is being offered. These reasons could be a clearance sale, a festive sale or any other reason that does not give the impression that the product is on sale because it’s not good enough.

 

  • Limited time offers

limited time offers are one of the greatest techniques in sales. I remember buying a blender simply because it was 50% on the black friday deal. it’s been two years and till this date i haven’t even opened its box. This was me buying impulsively! It creates a sense of losing something valuable if action is not taken in time.

The commodity theory has been used by advertisers since 1952. It suggests Scarcity increases the demand of a product and makes it more desirable among people.

In true sense a person might not even need a particular product but the fact that it’s scarce propels the desirability of the product.

Give a look at the image below.

  1.       Scarce items feel Exclusive– giving the buyer a feeling of getting a good deal.
  2.       Scarce items appear to be more Valuable– they make the buyer feel an increase in social status.
  3.       Scarce items increase Social status– it is not every day that you see a Ferrari roaming around, but when you do it catches your attention.

For example eBay indulges in last minute price bid wars, this ignites the engagement of the buyers and boosts sales.

  • Use high quality images

If i asked you which of the above image is more appealing, without a doubt you’d say the one on the top, but why? Simply because what looks better catches the eye, in fact not only that it builds credibility too, as it is a reflection of your business.

As per my own personal experience, photographs play a massive role in the sales of a product, if the photo and its quality are high there is a great chance that the product will be sold.

If you can, provide a 360 degree view of the product, this will let the customer have a greater confidence before buying additionally adding dimensions of the product will help as well.

  • Play with words

Words can directly affect the response on your products, use power words that evoke emotions, tell the customer what benefit will be derived and keep it short and simple.

Words such as “Amazing” can be replaced with ‘Bad Ass’ or Epic’. These words create a greater relation with the reader and help in creating credibility. Once credibility is built you can even sell air in an empty jar!

  1. Achieve
  2. Alleviate
  3. Auction
  4. Avoid
  5. Bargain
  6. Deal with
  7. Deals
  8. Dependable
  9. Direct
  10. Directions
  11. Cash back for [product name]
  12. Cheap
  13. Cheap [product name] (online)
  14. Cheapest
  15. Cheapest [product name] (online)
  16. Cheapest price for [product name]
  17. Clearance
  18. Cash back for [product name]
  19. Cheap
  20. Cheap [product name] (online)

  • Associate with those who already have a credibility

You will definitely be using a shipping company and a method of payment, these companies have existed for a long time and customers trust them such as PayPal and FedEx.

Using their goodwill will benefit your product and credibility a thousand times. For example the use of PayPal will give the buyer the relaxation that his money won’t be lost in case the site is simply a scam, furthermore using FedEx will ensure to the buyer that their product will actually reach them and in one piece.

  • Create curiosity

Curiosity killed the cat but it sure did die an adventurous death! Include elements that trigger curiosity about your product.The longer the stay time the better ranking you will receive.

Create curiosity in the reader’s mind about your product or what is special about it, constantly try to keep the reader engaged.

For example youre halfway through the article, at this point the reader might be losing interest so use phrases like, ‘here’s the best part, the lady got the dress but’ , ‘that’s not all, the doctors also said that , ‘keeping reading to find out what the judge had to say’ and so on.

Phrases like these stop the reader from going back and stopping to see what the article has to offer.

  • Pricing strategy

Double digit numbers create an impression of the product being expensive, while simply dropping one cent down can attract customers instantly.

Where $10 looks like a huge cost (obviously depending on what the product is) dropping a cent and charging $9.99 would catch the customer’s eye and result in better sales conversion!

The rule of 9 automatically makes the buyer think that he’s getting a great bargain. For example $29 sounds like a great bargain instead of $30, even $29.99 would have a great effect.

The practice of using 9 in the end of the price is called ‘charm pricing’, despite saving only a cent the customer thinks he’s saving  as the dollar digit on the left will seem lower by comparison.

 

You can clearly see how the website has used dollar amounts instead of percentage of discount, simply because these dollar numbers are higher than the percentage numbers.

 

  • Giveaways and Free shipping only

Free shipping only works wonders if the price of the product is low, the buyer is enticed that he’s saving on paying for the shipment only and  if you put free shipping deals on expensive products, no one is stupid enough to realize what’s happening. This again can and will damage your credibility.

On the other hand if the product is expensive, a free give away will entice the buyer more, it is better if you offer a complimentary product for example look at the image below. Furthermore, it will make you appear as a friendly and customer caring brand.

 

  • Tell how the product will increase their social status

As quoted by Dave Ramsey “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” the point that we as buyers are irrational, and it is not a difficult task to convince an irrational person.

Tell people how your product will benefit them, where they will stand socially after buying the latest iPhone or an exotic car.

  • Fulfill psychological needs

According to Self-determination theory, human beings have three basic psychological needs: a need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Everybody inside their head wants to be like someone, or has a strong liking for something that he wants to be defined by, for example if someone is inspired by awe inspired by sports cars, then create an environment of the whole racing scenario and make him feel like Michael Schumacher.

Concluding

I hope you have gained in depth sight about the increasing your sales tricks and hacks that you can use to increase your online sales be it, instagram, facebook or aliexpress or whatever!

  1. By the end of this article you should be able to imply the 10 psychological tricks to gain better sales and conversion rates
  2. A better understanding of the consumer behavior
  3. what are the key elements for running an online business

For any further details feel free to comment in the section below!

Adil Malick

Adil is an inbound marketing veteran with 7 years of experience in the industry. He’s the mastermind of all things related to inbound-strategy at WithinTheFlow. He’s also spending time helping out our community with their SEO problems in our official group.

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