6 B2B psychology tactics to get instant leads

Using psychology tricks as a B2B marketing tactic is a sneaky way to get instant leads and get your brand noticed. Here's how you do it.

One of the most important parts of being a B2B marketer is being able to predict how your customers will respond to certain content. What will catch their gaze and what will make them buy. Unfortunately, human behavior isn’t always as rational as we would like. People can be weird. And human quirks make it difficult to understand how to influence your customer and create content that’s right for them. Luckily, psychology is here to help. Allow us to show you. 
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1. Reciprocity Effect

Have you ever felt (keyword: felt) like you were indebted to do something for a person who first did something for you? That’s the reciprocity effect. It’s that simple.

The reciprocity norm operates on a very simple principle: People tend to feel compelled to return favors after people do favors for them. For instance, when your new neighbors bring over cake to welcome you to the neighborhood, you might feel more inclined to return the favor when they ask you to take care of their cat while they’re on vacation. Your prospect’s brain happens to work the same way.  

This is why it’s so important to make sure your marketing content brings real value to the reader, whether that is valuable insight, free ebooks, or trials. If your clients love your content, they’ll be much more likely to do something for your brand in return, which could range from buying to writing a positive testimonial to becoming your loyal customers. 

A little bonus: If you can make your special offer into a surprise, your customers will love and appreciate it even more. The gift does not have to be big or expensive. It’s the thought that counts.

2: The Decoy Effect

When you order a cup of coffee, you may have noticed that of the three size options – small, medium, and large – the medium-sized serving costs almost as much as the large. Given this obvious bargain, you probably got the biggest and most expensive option - because it felt like a good deal. 

Well, this isn’t just you - we’ve all fallen into the trap of the decoy effect. The “decoy effect” is a deliberate offer of an additional, slightly less attractive option (the relatively pricey medium-sized coffee) that pushes you to pay more money than you would’ve rationally chosen. This trick throws in an extra option that’s designed to make the most expensive choice look like a deal in comparison. When it’s really not.

That goes to show just how powerful perspective can be and how easy it is to trick our brains.

3. The Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Here’s the foot-in-the-door (FITD) technique in a nutshell: ask for something small. Then ask for something big. Get a small yes, then get a big yes. 

The FITD technique works due to the human’s tendency to feel indebted to say yes to a large request, after agreeing to take up a previous, smaller, more modest offer.  

Here’s how you can use FITD:

Determine an appropriate “small” request. This request should be something that a large percentage of your visitors would be willing to do. For example, people are accustomed to submitting their email address, clicking a link, downloading a product, completing a survey, or joining a trial membership.

Create a way to offer your second large request. If you have their email address or contact information, this shouldn’t be hard. Keep in mind that you can make your second request immediately after the first request. 

Make your “big” request. Usually, your big request is more conversion-focused. You can ask for the sale, for the software download, or the credit card information.

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A Fun Bonus: The foot-in-the-door technique can become even more effective by also using the pique technique. Simply put, by piquing someone’s interest you compel them to take up your request. “Would you donate?” is something you might hear quite often. “Would you donate 17 cents?” is very specific and would catch your attention. 

4. Fitts's Law

Fitts's Law is a model describing the human movement in an online, virtual space.  In other words, UX and mouse navigation.

Fitts's law claims that the amount of time required for a person to move a mouse cursor to their target area is the distance to that target divided by its size. So the longer the distance and the smaller the target’s size, the longer it takes to get to it.

Simply put, if you want to increase your conversions make sure to design your call-to-action buttons larger in size (smaller buttons are more difficult and time-consuming to click) or decrease the distance between the elements on your webpage. 

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5. Reduce Options

Have you ever been to a restaurant with such a huge menu, that you suddenly became indecisive? Perhaps you’ve been shopping online and overwhelmed with thousands of different products, that you’ve just given up without making a purchase. It’s probably because you had too many options.

In a study about choice, a group of people were offered free samples of jam. One day there were 24 flavors to choose from and 6 on the next day. With more flavors, 20% more people stopped to take a sample. However, only 3% of them actually made a purchase. When only 6 different jams were on offer, a whopping 30% of people purchased after trying a sample. That’s a huge difference in conversion and clear proof that fewer options increase conversions, by making it easier for prospects to make a decision.

If you’re unsure how many options to give a customer, start with the minimum amount that you need to complete a sale. You can add more options later, based on how your customers’ response. 

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6. The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

Ever heard about a product and then start seeing it everywhere around you? That’s exactly what the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon is. It starts happening after you encounter something for the first time, and start noticing it creep into your everyday life. Suddenly you see ads for the product all over social media and hear everyone talking about it. 

It's the same reason people think Siri and Alexa are listening to their conversations. They're not actually listening to everything you say (hopefully), but it’s our brain responding to something we become aware of.

It's weird, right? But there’s an explanation for it: 

1. Your selective attention kicks in when you’re struck by a new word, object, or idea. After that, you unconsciously keep an eye out for it, and as a result, find it surprisingly often. 
2. The confirmation bias that lives in our brain, reassures us that each sighting of this object is purely coincidental and spontaneous.  

For B2B marketers, this phenomenon is exactly why lead nurturing is important. Once someone starts noticing your brand, you'll need to help them start seeing you "everywhere." Send them targeted emails and ads based on their behavior, and you could increase the possibility of them converting.

Besides, when someone visits your site and becomes aware of your brand, they start seeing your ads around the web. This creates an illusion that you're a larger brand (larger brands are also associated with trust and reliability) and that your influence reaches further than it actually may.

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Conclusion:

Every great marketing strategy stands on a foundation of basic knowledge of human behavior. Most humans think the same way and that gives you a big advantage in your marketing. Most of us aren’t mind controllers or clairvoyants. However, there are plenty of psychology tactics that help us, B2B marketers, skillfully lead prospects to conversion and hopefully, purchase. 

Don’t forget: Smart and honest marketers and copywriters use psychology legally, ethically, and respectfully to attract and engage their customers.