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Have you ever wished you could see into the minds of your customers to find out their motivations, preferences and decisions? The good news is: you can, and with neuromarketing.
We can measure brain signals to determine customer behaviour, their preferences and why they keep reaching for their favourite products. Furthermore, we can use this principle to predict buying behaviour in 2021.
What is neuromarketing actually?
Neuromarketing, in its broadest sense, is the analysis of behaviour and neural impulses in order to fathom customers' buying behaviour. Neuromarketing gives us insights into consumers' desires, expectations and actions, which in turn helps us to influence innovative advertising strategies, product and pricing design and other marketing areas.
This includes brain tests that track brain function and physiological monitoring that monitors pupil alignment and other proxies. Although neuromarketing technology is extremely advanced, the concept is simple: customers can lie, but numbers cannot. And even if customers aren't dishonest, they can't always accurately express what they mean. This is because 95% of all thoughts take place in our subconscious.
The priming process forms the basis for neuromarketing
Neuromarketing is based on a mechanism known as priming - an electrochemical reaction that is triggered whenever a topic is implemented for the first time. Even before the conscious mind perceives a sensation, the subconscious has already begun to analyse it and react - all within a single second!
Once a customer's brain is primed, new knowledge and stimuli are added, enabling the brain to equate this new information with what it already knows, to form and articulate informed views. This information is linked to the details already gathered in the priming point.
Neuromarketing is a versatile tool for assessing consumer desires and brand loyalty. Regardless of the form of advertising, the key is to create meaningful and memorable effects in the minds of consumers.
Let's look at how a neuromarketing campaign is developed in 2021
While traditional marketing reaches a broad cross-section of consumers through different approaches such as
- Focus groups
- Surveys
- Consumer reports
etc., neuromarketing focuses on specific marketing test subjects - usually no more than a few hundred, often over a long period of time.
For this purpose, MRI and EEG devices are used before, during and after the application of neuromarketing strategies to track participants' brain function. In addition, other measuring devices may also be used to assess heart rhythm, respiration and skin response.
Although it has a strong impact on the marketing landscape, many people do not know exactly what neuromarketing is or how it can be used effectively. Here we present 5 interesting areas of functional neuromarketing.
1. The importance of the eye gaze
It has long been known that advertisements containing real people are many times more successful than advertisements without real people. With the help of eye-tracking technology, it has been found that such photo and video ads hold the interest of potential customers for longer and in a more concentrated way.
2. Avoid decision paralysis
An analysis to research consumer behaviour found that too many options can put off potential customers, as this leads to so-called decision paralysis. It is better to limit oneself to a few variants to avoid customer confusion.
3. Colour is important
Remember that you can influence how your customers feel with your colour choices. Colours can evoke a variety of emotions, with research consistently finding a correlation between certain colours and certain feelings. One of the most famous examples is Coca Cola's ubiquitous use of the colour red.
4. Fear of loss
One observation that neuromarketing makes use of is that people are reluctant to miss out on something. The fear of missing out is just as dominant in consumer behaviour as the anticipation of a possible win.
This is why "while stocks last" strategies are very effective. If customers are aware of the risk of missing out on a sale or a product, they are much more willing to make a spontaneous purchase. This is why "framing" is of great importance in neuromarketing: with this tactic, marketers get closer to customers until they are ready to spend their money.
5. Make sure you make unforgettable headlines
Headlines are one of the first elements of an advertisement that the audience comes into contact with. So it is obvious that their ad title must stand out. As a result, a modern neuromarketing approach has even been invented called "hippocampal headlines".
CONCLUSION: With neuromarketing you can position your online shop in the best possible way and place advertising that works!
An important field of neuromarketing research is the activation of the senses and the innate, firmly anchored instinctual reactions in the human central nervous system as well as brain functions.
Understanding effective colours or fonts improves the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and thus piques the interest of your potential customers. Knowing what your consumers want and need can give you a big competitive advantage over the competition.
E-commerce companies have a wide range of options open to them with this clear knowledge of their customers and the potential of technologies such as AI, machine learning and the Internet of Things.
Download our free PDF and get even more useful information for your individual neuromarketing strategy!
