This isn’t exactly manipulation, but it is taking a principle that is fairly consistent among consumers and using it to your advantage. There are 3 common ways people process information given to them. This is known as the Trifect Neuro-Affective Principle, and it’s a fancy way to say that people often make judgments based on an emotion. As a copywriter or marketer, it is your job to understand this principle and use one or all three to reach your target audience and make a sale.
Resonance How does a consumer relate to you and your products? Resonance, in marketing, means to relate to consumers and their needs or situations. When you find a way to connect on a personal level with people, they are able to find similarities between themselves and you, the seller of a product or service. If you are selling, say, a coffee maker, create an image of a simple, perfect morning, pouring coffee while reading a book next to a fresh vase of flowers- you get the idea. Once they begin to view you as more than an intangible vapor in the Internet World, they can identify themselves with you. This is where you begin to explore the extent to which you can understand and create a solution for their problems, pains or needs. The more engaging your copy is, the easier it will be to install a belief for a need for your company.
Redefinition How strongly is a consumer committed to their beliefs? Consumers are often committed to their existing beliefs. If they think a product will not work or a problem is unable to be solved, they may just learn to live with it. They may believe there is nothing wrong with their coffee maker’s a dirty filter that has to be changed every day. You have to show them that a coffee maker can be designed without the need of a filter, and not only that, they need to have one! This is part of your job as a marketer- to be a game changer. Redefine what your consumers have already defined. Show them there is something better and why they must have the product you sell. Make your business significant.
Resistance How unwilling is a consumer to listen to you? You can explain through page after page of provable quantifiable evidence that your product is the best of the best. Going back to our coffee filter example, you could give your consumer all the reasons you feel your machine could improve his morning routine, his clean up time or his quality of life! Ok maybe that is a stretch, but some people meet all change with resistance. Your consumer may be unwilling to change his opinion about his coffee filters that he has used for 20 years. He may be comfortable with his routine and see no need to give up a habit or a product that he has had for so long. It is and always will be your job to change his mind if you want the sale. However, this consumer may need to sit on this new overwhelmingly amazing product of yours and think about it for awhile. But if you presented your facts and your products well, he will be back.
