In the field of digital marketing, consumer psychology is the most essential yet overlooked area. Understanding the influence of psychological factors on customer behavior is the key to decoding the minds of your target audience.

This is true for ad platforms such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, and experience on the website as well. To effectively build a rapport, it is necessary to understand their motivation towards making buying decisions.

The audience-influence model (AIM) is one such practical model that helps you extract the important outputs that are required for behavior change in consumers, across all touchpoints in a user’s journey.

In this article, I discuss key ways to use psychology in digital marketing by employing the most important AIM tactics:

Concentrating (Aware)

The first stage is a sensory one. Herein the target audience is exposed to a message, they give attention to it, or develop a general impression about it. If you fail to engage the audience in this stage, then the chances of success will be very low.

To catch the attention of the audience, brands can make use of perception psychology. Visual presentation is one of the most effective ways to appeal to the senses of the consumers.

The content of your marketing collaterals such as Facebook and Google search and display ads, newsletters, posters, etc, should be very impactful.

Use of UI/UX elements such as the right colors, relatable images, scanning patterns, negative space, microcopies, content, and clear CTA can help in creating highly influential websites, emails, and social media assets.

Comprehending (Informed)

The goal of this stage is to help the audience know what the brand is offering. The audience becomes informed when they generate a mental model of the product. If they can’t conceptualize the idea of the product, they will have a hard time relating to your claims.

To inform the audience, you need to furnish them with relevant information and educate them.

For this, all the necessary information should follow a visual hierarchy like banners, brand details, CTA, product details, etc. Furthermore, to help consumers connect, write quality blogs on your websites or guest post on other prominent websites.

Desiring (Motivated)

In this stage, an interested person can turn into a potential customer. This happens when your audience feels motivated to fulfill their aspirations/needs. Highlight the benefits of the products, rather than solely focussing on the features. Incentives can be used to motivate them.

Also, presenting the risky side of not proceeding with the offer, activates the loss-aversion part of their brain and helps to influence the buying decision.

To motivate the consumer, you can inform them about other customers that have solved their problems by buying from you. For instance, the experience of the customers can be displayed on your website. To trigger the loss-aversion side of their brain, you can employ pressure tactics.

Using countdowns like “1-day left” or “offer valid till”, will influence them into thinking that not much time is left. This tactic can also be applied while running ads on digital platforms such as Facebook and Google.

Deciding (Intent)

Once the audience is motivated, they will naturally form an intent to act. However, if the audience encounters too many choices that meet their demand and are unable to choose, then they might never act.

To help consumers decide, you need to offer a range of advisory information. For instance, messages like “Who is this product for”, simplify the comparison process. User-generated content like styled images, experiences are more relatable and will assist in the decision-making process.

Trusting (Confident)

To move forward, the consumers must feel certain that their actions will lead to the results that motivated them originally. The audience will assess your credibility, and if they realize that you are credible, then they are more likely to trust you.

To establish trust, social proof is the most effective way to be utilized across all channels. You can include testimonials, ratings, and reviews of your past customers in your ads and web pages to assure the audience.

Furthermore, you can use messages like “100% satisfaction guaranteed” and you can also enlist your best-known customers on your website.

Acting (Short-term behavior)

The audience usually takes short-term action once they feel motivated. Your main goal should be to motivate people to perform long-term and repeated behavior.

In order to convert their short-term action into long-term behavior, you need to trigger their emotions during the purchasing process.

For instance, after a customer has completed a purchase, you can show them a message that says “Thank you for your purchase, we are delighted to see how you like the products.” or “Your order has been placed. Do check back soon for the latest offers on your favorite products.”

Furthermore, to strengthen your order confirmation communication, send them Email/SMS to inform them about the future updates. The acknowledgment message can also be displayed via Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads along with other recommendations, to make them feel special outside your website eco-system.

Maintaining (Long-term behavior)

Consumers realize the importance of the product in their life and it becomes a habit for them. In this stage, much of the investment and efforts required in the earlier stages aren’t particularly needed, as the audience in this stage is turned into loyal customers.

To maintain the consumer’s loyalty, the brand must provide quality products. You should maintain their relationship with their past customers through various follow-up activities. For instance, you can regularly conduct surveys and ask buyers for feedback.

Tapping them through ads and newsletters about the latest collection launches or offers can help improve brand recall.

Abandoning (No behavior)

Throughout the AIM process, audiences will drop out at various stages. Abandoning can happen due to a variety of reasons, such as the audience no longer needs the product or drops-out of frustration. Brands can bring these users back on track by addressing these issues.

To address the abandoners, try to remarket them through personalized content across various mediums such as Facebook and Google ads, SMS, and emails. If a consumer is leaving your website, you can show them a pop-up that says “Sign up to get notified”, or “Check-out other offers”, depending upon their position in the funnel.

All in all, a brand’s success significantly depends on the usage of psychology effectively. By employing the above-mentioned strategies you can decode the minds of the consumers and build an effective brand as well as marketing strategy. This will help in nurturing long-term relationships for better customer retention and satisfaction.