Be Careful When Using the Power of Subconscious Marketing on Clients

If you have been thinking about using subconscious marketing but don’t know where to begin, we are here to help.

The best way for you to do this is by harnessing the power of subconscious minds, and learning to effectively market to them, to drive sales and raise the number of customers for your business.

To see what the subconscious mind is and how to properly market to it, check out this handy guide.

What is the Subconscious Mind?

To help you visualize what the subconscious actually is, you can think of an iceberg. The top of the iceberg you can see is the conscious, it is at the forefront and something we encounter every day.

Decisions made by the conscious mind will lead to willpower and logic. An example is solving a math problem or trying to figure out what you want for dinner.

Right below the surface of the conscious, you’ll find the preconscious. This part of the mind consists of information that you know and can easily access. This can be things such as the birthday of a friend, or something that you’re not actively considering at the moment.

Right below the preconscious mind is the most substantial part of the mind itself, the subconscious. This part of the mind lies deeps in the depths, and isn’t seen or noticed by most, kind of like the bottom of an iceberg.

The subconscious mind holds information such as your instinct to survive and emotions. It will then cause the behavior of the conscious mind.

How Does the Subconscious Mind Link to Decisions?

There has been research done of the subconscious mind that states that decisions are made in the subconscious mind long before they travel to the conscious mind where you’re aware of it. This is the explanation as to why people will state one thing and then do something different than what they stated. When this happens, it’s known as having a conscious thought and behaving subconsciously.

The example we are going to be using today is the topic of diets. If you’ve sworn off junk food but are standing in line at the grocery store with a bag of chips, the contradictory behavior of the subconscious mind has been triggered. 

You may have had it in your subconscious mind that you were going to buy your favorite bag of chips no matter what, or your mind may have been exposed to the marketing aspects of the chip’s brand. If your mind is exposed to marketing throughout the store, or any other way before or during shopping, then your subconscious mind will pick up on it and prompt the behavior of buying the chips without even knowing what’s happening.

These decisions can be known as automatic responses and they help us in stressful or troubling times. It helps us to make a decision when greeted with too many choices and ultimately makes the process easier.

How to Trigger the Hidden Mind Through Emotions

When marketing to the subconscious mind, you will need to adjust your marketing efforts. Your marketing should inflict emotions to make it more compelling and to really speak to the subconscious.

Research shows your subconscious mind will identify ways to achieve or figure out a goal. The mind will produce a positive emotion in this process and then lay out the groundwork on how to achieve that emotion. 

This is even true when the mind identifies something that will cause a negative emotion. In turn, the mind will then figure out ways it can avoid this emotion.

Overall, what you should be taking away from this is that emotions drive behavior. This is even true when it comes to marketing, because emotions can drive behavior in those who see your advertisements.

If your message appeals to the masses, and to their subconscious emotions, then their behavior will be pushed toward the direction of your product or service because the customer will believe that it’s the right way to achieve positive emotions.

When marketing to the subconscious, you should keep in mind that there isn’t a one size fits all when it comes to a marketing tactic. Everyone is different, and they have different psychological principles and attractions.

To find the best approach for your clients is to do some in-depth research into your target audience. You can even experiment with different approaches to see which ones work the best when it comes to subconscious marketing.

How Does Marketing Leverage the Subconscious?

When it comes to marketing to the subconscious, there are a number of ways marketers do it. Marketers will use certain colors in their ads to provoke emotions to encourage the behavior. Below you will find a few marketing schemes that will talk to your customer’s subconscious mind. 

Persuasive Pricing

When a customer is exposed to a price, the gears in their heads begin turning. When a customer sees a price point, they are already thinking about the quality of the product. They are looking to see if it’s a good deal and making comparisons in their mind to see if it’s a good deal.

A great example of this is looking at any travel booking website on the internet. As the page loads to show the customer their search results, it’s also showing them prices. These prices will begin high and decrease as the results load.

This approach is known as anchoring, because customers will be exposed and anchored to the first, highest price they saw. By the time they get to the last price tag that’s cheaper, they will see a deal and hop onto buying the deal.

When you start with prices that are unrealistic and inflated, you are priming your target audience to be more satisfied with a lower deal which they will think is the best deal.

Color Psychology

When looking at any company branding or icon you will notice a color scheme. A perfect example of this is how almost all social media platforms use the color blue in their logo. Blue is known to symbolize trust, comfort, and communication.

Of course, there were other reasons as to why blue was selected for certain platforms, but overall, the color was selected to appeal to users. Using blue in their social media logos speak to the subconscious mind by telling it that the platforms are safe and can be trusted.

Another reason blue is a great choice is because it stands out, and it won’t be falling into the background anytime soon. This means that the logo always stands out and will be burned into the memory of the user’s mind.

Any color in the rainbow can invoke a certain emotion when seen. When it comes to finding the right color for your logo or marketing campaign, you first need to ask yourself what you want to achieve.

From here you can begin researching colors, or a pallet of colors, to use. After finding the perfect one that symbolizes your goal, it’s time to get it out in front of the masses to see if it actually works.  

Marketing Triggers

If you’re looking to use a recent approach to subconscious marketing, then you should consider using marketing triggers. This is a marketing tactic that appeals to the customer’s subconscious mind by using persuasive marketing triggers on the website and even web shops.

These micro-copies are inspired by behavioral psychology persuasion principles that are found to increase the likelihood of marketer-inspired behavior. This marketing style will lessen the psychological strain on your customers when they visit your site.

You can use things such as banners that state a sale is for a limited time only or even have a pop-up that declares shipping is free. By using one of these you will be taking advantage of the scarcity principle. This means that when a shopper feels as if they will miss out on a deal (hence their option to reach fulfillment is limited) they will be more likely to make a purchase.

Another marketing trigger that can be used is the favorite gear. This is when people look at the behavior of others to make their decision and to determine their own behavior. This works well if you drive people to believe that others love this product (through reviews and social media posts) because then they will also love it too.

You can even consider using the innovative tech tactic. This will drive the customer’s behavior through the belief that the product you’re marketing is new and cutting-edge. People are programmed to seek innovation and to have the newest item on the market, so this could prove useful if your marketing tech items. 

Symbols of Trust

Symbols can be very effective when it comes to marketing to the subconscious mind, especially if these symbols stand for something such as trust. Shoppers that are cruising your site for the first time want to make sure that your site is secure and reliable.

To do so, customers will most likely look for the universal symbol of a checkmark within a shield that states the site is secure. Some customers will be actively searching for these symbols, but others will be subconsciously reassured by looking at the logo for a second or two, or even skimming over it. 

Send Your Marketing Campaign Home by Paying Attention to the Eight Motivations

Any marketing campaign that appeals to the subconscious mind will fail if the eight motivations aren’t fulfilled. These motivations are the things that motivate people on their subconscious levels, and is known as beyond reason when it comes to the marketing world. 

1. Certainty – People want to see that your brand is safe, reliable, and stable. No one likes uncertainty, so make sure you emphasize that your business is certain to help the customer achieve their fulfillment goal.

2. Belonging – People want to belong to a group or community, so you should be able to bring people together.

3. Recognition – People like to be valuable, and they want to be appreciated by their peers. You should encourage customers to use your product and emphasize how important they are.

4. Individuality – Everyone loves customization, and we like to believe we are giving the option of free will. Offer a few variations of a product or even customization options.

5. Power – People want to feel as if they are mastering or achieving something. You should be telling customers what they will be overcoming when using your product.

6. Self-Development – People what to expand their knowledge and improve upon it. Your product should tell people how they will learn and improve when using it.

7. Sex – Everyone has a raw, human desire for intimacy. Intimacy can be between two lovers, the relationship between two friends, or even the connection between family.

8. Physiology – We have the natural instinct to avoid danger and injury. This can relate to products that help our health or help to improve the environments we live in.

Now You Know the Power of Subconscious and How to Market to it

We have given you a crash course in the power of subconscious minds and how you can market specifically to this part of the brain.

From using marketing tactics as showing the best deals to making customers believe they will miss out on a deal if they don’t act right now, you’ll be able to use the best subconscious marketing scheme for your business to drive sales.

For more technical information and tips be sure to check out the rest of our blog.