As we move into 2021, personalization is becoming an increasingly important part of the ecommerce value proposition. It’s no longer enough to limit your connection to customers to a monetary exchange of goods and services.
According to 99 Firms, 85% of customers do research before making an online purchase, and the global cart abandonment rate for ecommerce sits at 70%. Likewise, Fortunly reported that 55% of US customers don’t trust online shops as much as before, with 67% ready to switch platforms after poor UX.
Copywriting plays a large role in whether or not your ecommerce platform will engage visitors and convert them into loyal customers. This is where psychological and emotional triggers are used in copywriting as part of a brand's communication strategy.
With that in mind, let’s take a close look at a pool of ideas backed by psychology, which can help improve your online store's conversion copywriting.
1. Personalization leads to brand loyalty
The more you can personalize your customer's experiences on your site, the better your engagement rates will become. Ecommerce personalization can take many forms. On the high-level, start by using more personal pronouns and a tone of voice suitable for your target audience.
Once a user has subscribed to your email or created an account, you should address them by their name automatically. For personalized product recommendations, integrating an ecommerce quiz into your online store can also help segment your audience and lead them to the right products—while also collecting quantitative and qualitative data about each quiz user that you can leverage in other campaigns.
Set up geo-location targeting and cookies to determine your customer’s interests and curate their store experience. Likewise, post-purchase and other customer interactions can be used to “remember” each customer’s preferences and personalize their shopping going forward.
This data can be used for email, SMS, Facebook Messenger and paid ads with personalized offers, discounts and content directed at the products each user previously showed an interest in.
Source: Bloomreach
Interested in ramping up your personalization strategies? Check out our free 400+ page personalization playbook to get started!
2. FOMO creates urgency
What makes ecommerce stores unique is their ability to incite FOMO quite easily. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a marketing technique used for limited-time opportunities, offers and discounts.
Spongelle does this well on their website when they share why customers should download their mobile app. Although the messaging is simple, Spongelle says "download for exclusive discounts and more." This is indicating that anyone on the mobile app gets a different shopping experience than those just on the website. The FOMO messaging is enough to get any dedicated customer on the app for an exclusive experience.
Source: Spongelle
Other ways you can emphasize FOMO messaging is through short calls to action, a countdown timer or even discount coupons sent via email with expiration dates. According to Business 2 Community, presence of a timer will increase conversions by 8.6%, while urgency in email subject lines can increase sales by 16%.
Source: Rafflepress
3. Sensory wording in product descriptions
Our psychological triggers extend beyond impulse purchases, and you can use sensory words and phrases to spark emotion with your customers. Sensory wording represents words capable of inciting specific feelings within us.
Starbucks is a great example of a company using sensory branding to attract customers to their retail stores. They grind coffee beans on the spot to provide customers with a sensory experience of how their coffee will taste in a few short minutes.
In ecommerce, the logic is the same, but it relies on words rather than smell, taste or sound. For example, words such as “comfortable,” “fluffy” or “soft” are good descriptors for a new pillow you have on sale. Other sensory words worth integrating into your copywriting include things like “fresh,” “durable” or “soothing.”
Your choice of sensory wording should always come down to the type of product you want to promote.
Source: Business Wire
Related read: The Top 7 Marketing Channels your Ecommerce Store should Prioritize in 2021
4. Social proof breeds trust
When shopping, we tend to trust other people for recommendations on what to purchase. According to Social Media Today, 93% of customers say online reviews affect their purchase decisions, with 68% who trust other customers’ opinions online. This makes social proof content in your copywriting a must if you want to cater to your target audience’s psychological triggers.
Reach out to satisfied customers, B2B representatives and influencers interested in promoting your ecommerce store. User generated content (UGC) collected via social media or email can also serve as social proof if you pair it with smart copywriting. Collect as much social proof as possible in order to build trust with future customers.
Source: Yotpo
5. Numeric data as a seal of quality
It’s difficult to dispute objective numeric data when it is used as part of a marketing strategy. For example, if you start your blog post or social media update with “95% of our customers are very satisfied…” who can dispute you?
Numeric data in regards to your store’s performance can greatly increase your conversion rates. You can write calls to action for your opt-ins with numeric data included in order to encourage people to check out specific products.
Alternatively, marketing channels such as email, Messenger, social media or SMS can be used to deliver copywriting messages with numeric data to your target audience to help drive the purchase.
BeautyBio's product pages are a great example of using numeric data to build trust. Not only do they have an image with three stats about one of their moisturizers, but there's also a tab called "clinical studies" that show stats from the results customers have seen using the product. This seals the deal that the moisturizing cream is a high-quality and trustworthy product.
Source: BeautyBio
6. Use KISS methodology
The so-called “Keep it simple stupid” copywriting methodology is a great strategy to keep your messaging simple enough for all visitors to easily understand. According to Hosting Tribunal, nearly 50% of buyers view 3-5 content pieces before engaging with a brand, with 43% admitting they skim through writing.
In the age of mobile devices and quick news turnaround, no one has the time or patience to read long-form content or sit through 60+ second ads. Adopt the KISS methodology in your copywriting and try to deliver informative, actionable writing without unnecessary fluff.
This will help you achieve better conversion rates, given that your writing’s focus will be on actionable data delivery, not spam or content stuffing. Likewise, the more multimedia (images and videos) you use to present your products, the better your odds at conversion will become.
Source: Net Solutions
Related read: How to Promote your Ecommerce Quiz to drive Marketing Opt-ins
7. Post-Purchase Nurturing
Post-purchase marketing is about the ways you continue conversations with customers after they’ve made a purchase.
Once you convert a user into a customer, you should aim to retain them for as long as possible through copywriting aimed at brand loyalty. This is where surveys with personalized and conversational questions come into play as they can reveal a lot about your customers.
Judging by Forbes, 86% of customers will pay more for brands with better CX, with 80% of companies were investing more in omnichannel lead nurturing throughout 2020.
There are a plethora of ways you can use copywriting to your advantage once a user has become your customer. You can send them periodical emails, exclusive discounts, ask for social proof or introduce an affiliate loyalty program.
The gist is you shouldn’t abandon customers once they make a single purchase—re-engage them constantly, and their loyalty will follow suit.
Source: Funnel Overload
Use psychological-backed copywriting tips in all your content
Given how prone we are to psychological sales triggers both offline and on, why not use that fact to your advantage? From personalization and FOMO to social proof and KISS methodology, there are a number of ways in which psychology can be used to your advantage.
These psychological copywriting tips allow you to better cater to your target audience’s needs. Learn to adapt to your audience’s psychological and emotional triggers through copywriting, and your conversion rates will reflect those efforts.
This post was written by Marques Coleman. Marques is a blog writer at Subjecto and specializes in marketing and copywriting. Moreover, he is an avid traveler and always tries to learn something new.
