Short presentation I delivered to Logan Tod as part of a staff lunch exchange.

1. Logan Tod
Wednesday 2 April 2008
Persuasion
Stone Roses, child nursery,
The Economist & bread makers,
Richard Sedley, cScape Customer Engagement Director
Key words:
marketing, persuasion, motivation, conversion
customer engagement, credibility, logan tod, cscape

3. A few things learnt…
• Credibility
• Influence
• Timing

4. A few things bouncing…
• The power of storytelling
• Semantic vs. episodic memory
• The role of relativity

6. The conversion triangle
Utility
Usability Persuasion

7. What is persuasion?
The goal of persuasion
is to change someone’s
attitudes or behaviour.
Make them comply with a request
using an understanding of human psychology.

9. How we make our decisions
Elaboration Likelihood Model
• High elaboration (central route)
Requires great deal of thought to make a
decision
• Low elaboration (peripheral route)
Requires little thought, reliant on decisional
heuristics
Petty & Cacioppo, 1981

10. The need for
decisional heuristics
500 milliseconds to 4 seconds to
determine credibility determine usefulness

11. • Credibility
• Motivation
• Timing

12. Four types of credibility
• Presumed = General assumptions in the
mind of the perceiver
• Surface = Simple inspection or initial first
hand experience
• Reputed = Third party endorsements,
reports or referrals
• Earned = First hand experience that
extends over time
Stanford University, Persuasive Technology Lab, 2003

13. The power of credibility
A B
Marketing Experiments Journal, Feb 2007
Conversion rate = 2.69% Conversion rate = 3.03%
% change = 12.64%
Projected monthly gain = $30,582.30

14. • Credibility
• Influence
• Timing

15. Principles of influence
• Reciprocity
• Commitment and consistency
• Social proof
• Affinity (Liking)
• Authority
• Scarcity
Robert Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, 1984

16. Incentives and reciprocity
A B
Sign-up Report
Report Sign-up
Conversion rate = 84% Conversion rate = 72%
44% 91%
completion accuracy completion accuracy
Embedded Persuasive Strategies to Obtain Visitors’ Data. Gamberini, Petrucci, Spoto, Spagnolli

17. Social proof (consensus)
Experiment: Milgrim, Bikman and Birkowitz

20. Good testimonials...
• are focused – talk about specific benefits or
personal situations
• overcome objections – target conversion
barriers
• are contextual – position where customer might
ask questions and need reassurance
• are plentiful – build a wall of testimonials
• are credible – lead with skeptics and problems
Why testimonials do (and don’t) work: Holly Buchanan, Future Now
Sean DeSouza: Pyschotactics
Marketing Experiments: Optimizing site design

22. • Credibility
• Motivation
• Timing

26. Persuasion windows
• When you are in a good mood
• When your world view no longer makes sense
• When you can take action immediately
• When you feel indebted because of a favour
• Immediately after you have made a mistake
• Immediately after you have denied a request
Stanford University, Persuasive Technology Lab, 2003

27. • The power of storytelling
• Semantic vs. episodic memory
• The role of relativity

28. Copyright: Steve Double - www.double-whammy.com

29. Make them feel proud?
The first,
the last,
the best
and the rarest?

30. Elements of a good story
• PASSION to make your customers care
• a HERO to drive the action
• an ANTAGONIST to challenge the hero
• a moment of AWARENESS where the hero
realises how to overcome his or her obstacles
• TRANSFORMATION wherein the hero
accomplishes his or her desired goals
The Elements of Persuasion: Use Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sell Faster
& Win More Business by Maxwell and Dickman

31. • The power of storytelling
• Semantic vs. episodic memory
• The role of relativity

32. The role of memory
in the customer odyssey
individua The mem
l features ory of ep
or the un hemeral
ique part details,
iculars of
an exper
ience.
The me
m
gist, the ory of meani
genera ng. Me
l signifi m
cance o ory that prese
f remem rv
bered e es only the
xperien
ces.

33. • The power of storytelling
• Semantic vs. episodic memory
• The role of relativity

34. 68%
32%

35. 16%
0%
84%

41. Thanks for listening
• Richard Sedley: r.sedley@cscape.com
• cScape newsletter: www.cscape.com
• Blog: loopstatic.com
• Ideas: richard-sedley.tumblr.com
• Snips: sedley.tumblr.com
• Twitter: twitter.com/richardsedley
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/richardsedley
• Facebook: profile.to/richard