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Every day, humans are expected to make choices. From choosing what to wear to choosing what to eat – we are programmed to assess our surroundings and make a rational decision based on relative factors. The brain helps us make these decisions to reach our intended goal.
For example, if you’re feeling cold, your brain might signal that you need a jacket or if you’re thirsty, you might consider drinking some water. However, the brain does not exist in isolation. Neuroscience explores how the brain functions and reasons.
While the mention of neuroscience might be making some people shrink into their chairs already, what we’re talking about here is not that complicated at all. Simply start by taking a look around you – from the TV shows you watch with blatant product placement to the pop-up ads on your laptop that seemingly take up none of your time.
We are constantly surrounded by consumerist tactics and advertising that begs you to choose a specific brand or lifestyle. This is how neuromarketing comes into play. Neuromarketing is the combination of science and marketing to better understand the way consumers think and what they look for.
Neuromarketing studies the brain to predict and potentially even manipulate consumer behavior and decision-making. Understanding these aspects helps with creative advertising, product development, pricing, and other marketing areas.
Neuroscientists use several methods to measure brain activity and heart rates to monitor the neural activity in focus groups. These gauge the interest consumers have in products or brands by using eye tracking, effective packaging, color psychology, decision fatigue, loss aversion, anchoring, and much more.
So, it’s pretty reasonable to state that a lot of our decision-making happens on a subconscious level. We are molded by our surroundings and that is what makes it easier for marketing campaigns to cater to our whims. Humans are quite simple – even at a cellular stage.
One aspect of neuromarketing that pulls a lot of weight is the reluctance of most people to try something unfamiliar. This is known scientifically as the ambiguity effect – or ambiguity aversion. The most popular example of the ambiguity effect is demonstrated in Ellsberg’s paradox.
In the experiment, there are two buckets that each have 100 balls inside that are red or black. You are told that the first bucket has 50 red balls and 50 black balls inside of it but you do not know the ratio of black to red balls in the second bucket. The experiment then asks which bucket would be chosen if a monetary bet is placed on pulling out a red ball.
The uncertainty of what’s in the second bucket makes it the least popular choice – even though the first bucket only has a 50% chance of choosing the right color. Ambiguity aversion forces us to choose the option with the lowest risk involved.
Studies have found that the ambiguity effect pushes us toward well-known brands as opposed to anything relatively less popular. Our decisions are based on what we know to be reliable, safe, and common. This effect helps with market research and elevates neuromarketing techniques.
This is also what leads to effective brand association. Once a product becomes mainstream, we automatically develop trust in that company or brand to continue providing the same level of performance – this is why Coca-Cola is refreshing, Nike is athletic, and Apple is advanced.
When it comes to neuromarketing, the goal is to fully realize the potential of the brain to be influenced. However, on an anatomical level, the human brain can only dedicate a certain number of cognitive resources to one thing at a time. The division of these resources is described as the attention ratio.
This is simply the phenomenon that people are less likely to pay attention to something if there is too much information being presented. When the brain is overstimulated with too many choices and too many visuals, it leads to indecisiveness and distraction of cognitive ability.
This concept is especially important for online marketing campaigns where websites tend to clutter pages with unnecessary information. Your website’s attention ratio should always be 1:1 – with the number of interactive links provided on a web page being directly relative to the number of goals your page wants to achieve.
In copywriting, neuromarketing will find out how content is usually consumed and how to capitalize on those trends. The major challenge of copywriting is creating engaging content that will push people to keep reading, to keep coming back, and to hopefully share what they’ve found with others. This is accomplished through neuromarketing.
When creating engaging and relevant content, you need to have a good grasp of your audience and what makes them tick. We’ve summed up a few ways you can use neuromarketing strategies to enhance and elevate your copywriting:
Humans are, in fact, basic emotional creatures at the end of the day. Our brains are wired to approach things that make us feel good or wholesome. Use this to your advantage by instilling a sense of hope and optimism into your tonal voice throughout the writing piece.
We all need a break from doom-scrolling our way through social media and depressing headlines, so make your content a breath of fresh air by approaching topics in a positive light. Use humor and creative language to keep your audience hooked with emotional responses.
Nobody is going to sit through a monotonous retelling of facts and figures to get to the point if you do not engage your audience as though they are actual people. Try to write your content in a conversational and natural voice. Keep your sentences simple and don’t overwhelm readers with jargon or complex sentences.
When you’re trying to market something in your content, do not assume that your audience is already looking for that product. This is a basic step in copywriting that still, surprisingly, gets overlooked.
Your audience is not looking to actively read a thousand-word advertisement and that’s why it’s your job to market products in a way that encourages the reader to reach that point by themselves. Reach for anecdotes, storytelling, and studies to build up the need for your product in a relatable way.
If you’re selling padlocks, start with a story about how you couldn’t find reliable security or statistics about burglaries on the rise. Allow your content to immerse the reader in thinking they need to find a solution then introduce your product at the end.
As a copywriter, it’s your single goal to appeal to specific audiences and stay updated about who that audience is. Make use of marketing platforms - like Semrush or Ranktracker – to track your SEO rankings and engagement. This will help you improve your content to engage better with your audience.
Make use of the Socratic method when crafting your content. What is the Socratic method, you ask? Well, it’s the use of questions to elicit a reaction from your audience and encourage them to find the answer. Coined by the Greek philosopher Socrates who found that students retain information better if they were asked questions and challenged to find the answers.
Naturally, as copywriters, we probably won’t be dabbling in existential issues as much but the method of posing questions will encourage your audience to keep reading to find answers.
The rule of three relies on the way humans process information better through pattern recognition. Setting up a standard structure of 3 allows your audience to easily remember and process information.
The rule can be found in the general structure of writing - the setup, the anticipation, and the climax. It can also be seen in the use of tricolons – which is the use of 3 parallel words or phrases in succession. The rule of 3 is used in stories, movies, and copywriting (see what I did there), and pushes readers to retain information in an easily patterned form.
There are still ethical debates about the morality of neuromarketing. It could be seen as essentially a manipulative and possibly invasive way of simply capitalizing on consumerism. However, as with all things, limitations are necessary to ensure that ethics are compromised in the pursuit of engagement.
It is the responsibility of copywriting teams and individuals to create content that appeals to consumer neuroscience while still being marketed ethically. Finding a group of writers that implement these ideals can be difficult at times but look no further than right here.
At TMG Global we have a dedicated, diverse, and talented team that will responsibly market and engage audiences in intelligent and advanced ways. We provide clients with high-quality, compelling copy that will enhance and elevate your company. From blog posts to email marketing, we cover all types of content.
If you’re looking for a talented team of writers to bring your long-form content to life, contact TMG Global today for a free content audit and to find out how we can help you.
