How to persuade online customers to buy your product ?

A lot of online sellers are putting enormous efforts into analyzing what their potential customers like. They are analyzing customers to propose them something that will match with their tastes. A classic example is Amazon. Amazon suggests their customers new products based on their previous orders. This is an example of taste profiling and is more useful to attract customers to the product page. However, apart from telling your online customers what they can possibly like, your e-commerce can also integrate algorithms that will help you learn how to persuade online customers to buy your product. It’s called persuasion profiling and it pushes customers to make the purchase.

What Is Persuasion Profiling?

The concept of persuasion profiling is based on the principles of persuasion. There are different ways to persuade a person. Robert Cialdini, the author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, described six ways of persuasion:

1. Social Proof

We rely on the opinions/actions of others.

For example, when shopping on Amazon as a customer, you can check the global rating of a product based on the ratings given by other customers. Consequently, a positive rating can persuade some customers to make the purchase.

2. Liking

We can be easily persuaded by people we like. Furthermore, the reason we like someone is because of shared characteristics.

For example, HEC Montreal is using photos of real students in their website so the target audience can feel a connection with the people in the pictures and therefore, like them. Consequently, some customers will be persuaded to study at HEC Montreal.

3. Authority

We tend to listen to the opinions of experts and follow their advice.

For example, Amazon will often put in the product description section positive comments of famous people. Therefore, a famous person can persuade customers to finish the purchase.

4. Reciprocity

We are feeling obliged to repay the person who did something nice to us.

For example, Amazon is giving students a discount of 50% on the prime subscription. Therefore, Amazon hopes that most students will stay loyal to Amazon after graduation and will start to pay the full price.

5. Scarcity

 We tend to value things that are limited.

For example, Vessi (shoe brand) is always adding a limited collection of sneakers with a unique color. Consequently, a limited collection can persuade customers to buy the sneakers before they are sold out.

6. Consistency/Commitment

We tend to follow to the end a commitment we made.

For example, MyFitnessPal (health mobile application) can persuade customers who have made a commitment to themselves on their body, health, and life.

How to create a Persuasion Profile?

The idea is that you need to expose each customer to different persuasion tactics to detect the one that has the better conversion rate. In the end, as an online seller, you will have the persuasion profile for all your customers. Consequently, you will be able to adapt your marketing messages to the persuasion principle that work the best with the customer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the idea behind persuasion profiling is not to manipulate customers to make them buy something they don’t like every time they are using an online site. These persuasion profiling algorithms are replacing the missing salesmen in the online shopping world.With Persuasion Profiling, the online stores have an opportunity to enrich the online shopping experience and make it more personalized and dynamic.

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