Courtesy of Tab Juice (via Brian Solis)
Thanks to a recent post by social media guru Brian Solis, I chanced upon this brilliant infographic on the psychology of social commerce.
According to the post, there are six heuristics or pillars in social commerce: social proof; authority; scarcity; like; consistency; and reciprocity.
Let me go through each of these in turn and give my layman’s take on what it means for us.
Debunking conventional wisdom that human beings are rational and logical beings, Predictably Irrational by behavioural economist Dan Ariely provides an entertaining and enlightening read in the market-tested tradition of authors like Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Freakonomics series), Malcolm Gladwell, and Ori and Ron Brafman (Sway). Using the results of empirical research conducted at MIT and other university campuses, Ariely explains why we do the things we do despite their contrary effects on our health, wealth and long-term success.
Written in a light-hearted, jargon-free prose, Predictably Irrational takes us through several themes. They include the fallacy of supply and demand (ie why pricing can be so arbitrary in certain markets), the overwhelming power of FREE, the danger of turning social norms into market norms (or why you shouldn’t pay your mother-in-law for cooking a delicious family dinner), the effects of expectations (what you visualise is what you get), and two chapters on honesty and dishonesty in humans, among others.
Wish to improve how you persuade your audiences to buy from you? Begin by diving deep into her brain.
Thanks to a podcast by Derek Halpern of Social Triggers blog, we can gain a fascinating glimpse into the world of neuroscience and its impact on marketing.
Wonder why you are perpetually tethered to your smartphone, refusing to put it down even when your kids are yelling at you?
Or started eating that tub of delicious Haagen Dazs ice cream, and couldn’t stop until it’s all gone.
Perhaps you’ve got a 10 year old boy who nagged you incessantly about getting him that latest Play Station Portable (PSP) which all his friends in school have.
Have you used metaphors for your marketing efforts? What were the outcomes of your attempts?
An integral part of your everyday life, Analogies and Metaphors are popular storytelling methods which simplify complex ideas and imbue them with meaning. They help to make your advertisements, articles, and brand stories come alive.
Can you compete with the above brands on scale, distribution and price? (image source)
In the world of consumer businesses, there are probably three main ways to differentiate yourself from the hoi polloi.
These form the basis of virtually all forms of competition in marketing.
Consider what your customers will look, smell, touch and feel – from the start to end of your experience
Let’s try this thought exercise for a few minutes.
Imagine that you’re a customer of your own company’s business. This could be anything of course, depending on what your company do. During this time, you should don the hat of your prospective customer, be he or she a swinging single, working parent, active ager, awkward teen, or urban professional.
What can you do to transform the world through the social media? Is there a step-by-step way to drive social change?
In the words of former US President Barack Obama, “Yes We Can!” The answer lies in the Dragonfly Effect.
Predators are better in the movies than on the streets (source)
There are two forms of marketing out there.
The first is what I call Predatory Marketing. Almost every company and business selling to a consumer does this to some extent.
One of the most common forms of ‘marketing’ is what I call the L.C.D.
It translates into 3 universally embraced words: