Reciprocity: people generally feel indebted to those who do something for them without asking for anything in return.
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 10:39 am
Meal box companies like Blue Apron, do this by offering free meals to new customers. This tactic is appealing to everyone, but especially those who are reluctant to try a new dinner routine.
Simply put, the more you give to your customers, the more they’ll be willing to give back to you.
Whether it’s bestowing customers with an unexpected discount or free gift, the idea is to go above and beyond without requesting anything in return.
Some B2B software companies do this by automatically extending free trials or giving customers exclusive access to new product features.
For example, Freshbooks has been known to send automated free trial canada cell phone number list extension emails to users who haven’t purchased after initial trials. This is also the concept behind the big rock content marketing model.
Social Proof and Acceptance: we generally value opinions and ideas from people like us, and we feel greater compulsion to act when we see others like us taking action.
Social proof comes in a lot of forms: customer case studies, testimonials, reviews, and social engagement, to name a few.
For example, MarketingProfs applies this principle on its new membership page by pointing out that more than 600,000 marketers have signed up, motivating the reader to become part of that group, as well.
Scarcity and Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO): when we fear that something is scarce, we feel compelled to act — buying, stockpiling, or experiencing that thing before it’s gone.
This is an incredibly powerful psychological principle that marketers have used for years to drive action.
By using limited-time offers or showing consumers what their friends are purchasing, you can create a sense of urgency to buy.
Amazon’s Deal of the Day is a perfect example. It hits on both scarcity (only so many deals are available) and FOMO (you only have so much time). Same with airline companies that show how many seats are left at specific price points.
Authority: influencer marketing’s principles are based on the authority shortcut — people will consume your content (and will buy your services/products) because you have some degree of knowledge and authority, enough credibility for people to want to read what you have to say.
It works well in B2B and B2C, even if the kind of authority can be of very different nature.
Kaya Skin Clinic, a beauty clinic that focuses on improving the looks of a person by delivering services that enhance beauty and skin, found that including the word “expert” in the opt-in form as a call to action was a powerful application of the law of authority.
In fact, lead generation increased 137%, and as a consequence revenue increased 22% when Kaya’s agency decided to change CTA, including now the expert term.
A new CTA, taking advantage of the authority principle
Liking: finally, liking (or likeness), based on the straightforward principle that we are easily persuaded by people who are like us or people we like.
Similarity boosts liking. If we are members of the same group or have commonalities, it’s even easier to like you.
Cialdini suggests using the “About Us” page to become more likable, by including individual information and personal interests. PetsRelocation.com represents a good example of well designed About Page and a good application of Cialdini’s liking principle.
Simply put, the more you give to your customers, the more they’ll be willing to give back to you.
Whether it’s bestowing customers with an unexpected discount or free gift, the idea is to go above and beyond without requesting anything in return.
Some B2B software companies do this by automatically extending free trials or giving customers exclusive access to new product features.
For example, Freshbooks has been known to send automated free trial canada cell phone number list extension emails to users who haven’t purchased after initial trials. This is also the concept behind the big rock content marketing model.
Social Proof and Acceptance: we generally value opinions and ideas from people like us, and we feel greater compulsion to act when we see others like us taking action.
Social proof comes in a lot of forms: customer case studies, testimonials, reviews, and social engagement, to name a few.
For example, MarketingProfs applies this principle on its new membership page by pointing out that more than 600,000 marketers have signed up, motivating the reader to become part of that group, as well.
Scarcity and Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO): when we fear that something is scarce, we feel compelled to act — buying, stockpiling, or experiencing that thing before it’s gone.
This is an incredibly powerful psychological principle that marketers have used for years to drive action.
By using limited-time offers or showing consumers what their friends are purchasing, you can create a sense of urgency to buy.
Amazon’s Deal of the Day is a perfect example. It hits on both scarcity (only so many deals are available) and FOMO (you only have so much time). Same with airline companies that show how many seats are left at specific price points.
Authority: influencer marketing’s principles are based on the authority shortcut — people will consume your content (and will buy your services/products) because you have some degree of knowledge and authority, enough credibility for people to want to read what you have to say.
It works well in B2B and B2C, even if the kind of authority can be of very different nature.
Kaya Skin Clinic, a beauty clinic that focuses on improving the looks of a person by delivering services that enhance beauty and skin, found that including the word “expert” in the opt-in form as a call to action was a powerful application of the law of authority.
In fact, lead generation increased 137%, and as a consequence revenue increased 22% when Kaya’s agency decided to change CTA, including now the expert term.
A new CTA, taking advantage of the authority principle
Liking: finally, liking (or likeness), based on the straightforward principle that we are easily persuaded by people who are like us or people we like.
Similarity boosts liking. If we are members of the same group or have commonalities, it’s even easier to like you.
Cialdini suggests using the “About Us” page to become more likable, by including individual information and personal interests. PetsRelocation.com represents a good example of well designed About Page and a good application of Cialdini’s liking principle.