Call it neuromarketing. Call it behavioral economics. Call it Jedi mind tricks. Whatever you call it: brain science and marketing go together. And anyone can learn how to do it. In this presentation, we’ll review the research, case studies and web marketing tactics that work with natural, human behavioral tendencies. Herds, halos and the science of social proof Context, contrast and color Fear, loss and scarcity Eye tracking, color and visual prominence Writing copy for busy minds We'll reveal secrets of the brain, behavior and marketing on the web. If there are humans in your target audience, this presentation is for you.

1. Brain Science &
Web Marketing

2. Brain Science &
Web Marketing

3. Brain Science &
Web Marketing

4. Brain Science &
Web Marketing
Andy Crestodina
Strategic Director |
@crestodina

5. Persuasion Research… Social Influence
Research… Cognitive Bias Research…
Social Psychology… Brain Scan Studies…
MRI Research… Non-Rational,
Unconscious Decision Making…
Sociology… Eye-Tracking Studies…
Behavioral Economics… Behavioral
Science… Brain Science… Social
Neuroscience… Neuromarketing!

6. Which sign will keep
him on the path?

7. "The vast majority of past visitors have stayed on the
established paths and trails, helping to preserve the
natural state of the Sequoias and vegetation in this park."
"Many past visitors have gone off the established paths
and trails, changing the natural state of the Sequoias and
vegetation in this park."
"Please stay on the established paths and trails, in order to
protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in this park.”
"Please don't go off the established paths and trails, in
order to protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in
this park.”

8. "The vast majority of past visitors have stayed on the
established paths and trails, helping to preserve the
natural state of the Sequoias and vegetation in this park."
"Many past visitors have gone off the established paths
and trails, changing the natural state of the Sequoias and
vegetation in this park."
"Please stay on the established paths and trails, in order to
protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in this park.”
"Please don't go off the established paths and trails, in
order to protect the Sequoias and natural vegetation in
this park.”
Others’ behavior, Positive
Others’ behavior, Negative
Desired behavior, Positive
Desired behavior, Negative

9. Source: Pat Winter, PhD,
Which sign worked?

10. Social Proof

13. When people are free to do as they
please, the usually imitate each other.
Eric Hoffer
Social Philosopher

15. Trust from Awards and Memberships

16. Testimonials = Supportive Evidence

17. Never make a testimonials page

18. Call to Action Conform

19. 1.Prominence
2.Promise
3.Proof!
Best Practices for Signup Form

20. Before...
After...

21. 1900% Increase ...not bad!

22. Everybody’s Doing It

23. As seen in...

24. As seen in...

25. Awards

26. Social Media Widgets

27. Social proof can
backfire

28. 1. Testimonials
2. Endorsements
3. Social Media Shares
4. Social Media Widgets
5. Certifications, Awards
6. Number of Happy Customers
7. “Our Most Popular” Best-seller
8. Studies and Statistics
9. Press Mentions
10. Reviews
10 Ways to Offer Social Proof

29. When you say it, it’s marketing.
When they say it, it’s social proof.

30. Priming

31. Cows drinking water

32. How to double sales…

33. source: Get closer to your customers by understanding how they make their choices

34. Priming & Anchoring

35. Priming & Anchoring

36. Before

37. • Four options
• “∞ emails”
• CTA: “Sign Up”
Before

38. After

39. • Three options
• “Unlimited emails”
• CTA: “Get Started Now”
After

40. +500% Increase in conversions
source: Copy Hackers

41. + 233% Conversion Rate
+ 40% Average Order Value
+ 366% Average Revenue / Click
All varieties…
Top seller only…
source: Adlucent
When too many options is a bad thing

42. source: 5 Easy Tips to Improve Every Blog Design
Too many options...

43. @crestodina
source: Oli Gardner

44. @crestodina
source: Oli Gardner
82:1

45. Attention Ratio
The ratio of the number of things you can do on a
page to the number of things you should be doing.

46. Loss Aversion & Scarcity

50. Pain of loss > Pleasure of Gain

53. Guess which day was the early bird deadline?

55. Movement > Images > Text

57. We want what what we can’t have

58. Ad Customizers Create Urgency

59. Operators are standing by.
Please call now.
Save your data.
Tickets available now.
If operators are busy,
please call again.
Don’t Lose your data.
It sold out last time.
Language of Scarcity and Loss

60. 1. Rebates
2. Trial Periods
3. Free Samples
4. Early Bird Registration
5. Countdown Clocks
6. Limited Supply
Remind readers what they’ll
miss, risk or lose by not choosing you.
6 Ways to Leverage Loss / Safety

61. #FOMO

63. Not sure if you really want a dog?
No problem! Just take it home for a few
days....
If it doesn’t work out?
Just bring it back. No questions asked...
The ‘Puppy-Dog Close’

65. Contrast
source: Ted.com “Nancy Duarte: The secret structure of great talks”

66. Reciprocity

67. Give them what they want first...
Then they might give you what you
want.

69. Source: Groove HQ

70.  Subscribed to blog by feed / email
 Put them into Talkwalker and Newsle
 Google+: Add to circle
 Twitter: Follow
 Twitter: Add to a “radar” list
Part One: LISTEN
source: Online Networking Guide, Orbit Media

71.  Favorite their tweets
 +1 their posts
 Comment on their blog
 Like comments on other blogs
Part Two: ENGAGE
source: Online Networking Guide, Orbit Media

72.  Connect on LinkedIn
 Like LinkedIn posts, mention them
 Endorse on LinkedIn
 Write a recommendation on LinkedIn
 Send friend request on Facebook
 Like Facebook posts, mention them
Part Three: CONNECT
source: Online Networking Guide, Orbit Media

73.  Follow on Medium, Quora,
Instagram, Yelp, MeetUp, Storify,
Listly, Blab, etc.
 Follow on apps like Spotify,
Runkeeper, FitBit etc.
 *REVIEW PODCAST on iTunes
 *REVIEW BOOK on Amazon
Part Four: EXTRA MILE
source: Online Networking Guide, Orbit Media

74.  Mention them in your content
 Get a contributor quote
 Include them in an expert roundup
 Deep dive interview
Part Five: COLLABORATE
source: Online Networking Guide, Orbit Media

76. Content optimized for search includes keywords.
Content optimized for social includes people.

77.  Phone call, Skype or Google+
Hangout
 Face-to-face meeting
 Hand-written thank you note
Part Six: FRIENDSHIP!
source: Online Networking Guide, Orbit Media

78. Source: Groove HQ

79. 1. Free Download or “Value Add”
2. Holiday and Birthday Gifts
3. Influencer Marketing
4. Useful Content!
You must first give something of value
in order to receive something in return
4 Ways to Leverage Reciprocity

80. Writing Tips

81. source: Conductor: 5 Data Insights Into the Headlines Readers Click
Use Numbers

82. Headline Preferences by Gender

83. Source: Native Advertising Leaderboard

84. Source: the Guardian, Native Advertising Leaderboard
• 15 Things We Did At School That Future Students Will Never
Understand
• 13 Reasons Cats Hate Christmas
• 13 Things You Didn’t Know You Needed for Game Day
• 9 Quirky Gifts for Gadget Lovers
• 13 Reasons Gamer Dads are the Best Dads
Odd Numbers = 20% More Clicks

85. Readers have higher attention and retention
for items at the beginning and end of lists
List Order: Serial Position Effect

86. • More formal
• Longer (polysyllabic)
• Fancy, proper
Examples
acquire, transmit,
construct, resist,
deposit, imitate,
determined
Latinate Words

87. • Less formal
• Short (often
monosyllabic)
• Forceful, direct
Examples
get, send, build, stop,
put, mock, set
Anglo-Saxon Words

90. Success rates after rewriting a health care site
for an 8th grade level readability…
source: NN Group, Lower-Literacy Users: Writing for a Broad Consumer Audience
Word Choice: Short, Simple.

92. source: LA Times
1 in 10 Americans Think HTML is an STD

93. Content that evokes specific emotions
is more likely to be shared…
source
Headlines: Emotions Get Shared

94. source: Advanced Marketing Institute Headline Analyzer

95. source: OK Dork / Co-Schedule
Average EMV Score and Shares

96. source: 5 Easy Tips to Improve Every Blog Design
Format for Readers Scanners

98. source: How Little to Users Read? NN Group
Users have time to read at most 28%
of the words during an average visit;
20% is more likely.
Types of Formatting

99. • Header and Subheadings
• Bullet Lists and Numbered Lists
• Bolding and Italics
• Internal Links
• Multiple Images
Types of Formatting

100. Short paragraphs get read.
Long paragraphs get skimmed.
Very long paragraphs get skipped.
Jason Fried
Basecamp

101. Visual Tips

105. If you can’t write a caption for it,
it’s a stock photo.

106. source: ”Pictorial Superiority Effect” Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina
Pictures Improve Learning

107. Are articles by
neuroscientists
more credible
when they include
images of fMRI
brain scans?
What if the image
is irrelevant?
Use of Images

108. Source: Neuromarketing, Brain Image Bias
Pictures = Persuasion

109. source: Twitter Media Blog, March 2014

110. source: Social Bakers, March 2014

111. source: 2015 Blogger Survey
What Media are Bloggers Adding?

113. In a desert of text, images are water.
Give your readers a sip!

114. Source: Techwys, Heatmaps for Improved Landing Page Conversion
Colors, Trucks and Hedwig von Restorff

115. Source: Techwys, Heatmaps for Improved Landing Page Conversion
Colors, Trucks and Hedwig von Restorff

122. Action Colors and Conversions

130. We’re hardwired to look at faces
source: Batki et al, 2000

134. Eye Tracking Studies Show...

135. ...you look where they look!

141. pessimist?

142. “If a one kilometer asteroid had approached the
Earth on a collision course at any time in human
history before the early twenty-first century, it would
have killed at least a substantial proportion of all
humans.”
“If a one kilometer asteroid had approached the
Earth on a collision course at any time in human
history before the early twenty-first century, it
would have killed at least a substantial
proportion of all humans.”
Version one...
Version two...

143. Source: New York Times, Hear, All Ye People; Hearken, O Earth.
Baskerville, the most credible font...

144. Results May Vary

145. source: Michael Aagaard

146. source: Michael Aagaard

147. source: Michael Aagaard

148. • List of Cognitive Biases (Wikipedia)
• Web Design Tips Based on Brain Science
• 15 behavioral marketing posts you shouldn’t miss
• Stanford Web Credibility Lab
• List of 81 Neuromarketing Books
Anything by…
• Robert Cialdini
• Gregory Ciotti
• Roger Dooley
• @HiddenBrain
More brains...

150. Thank you!
Andy Crestodina
Strategic Director |
@crestodina
bitly.com/contentchem

151. Thank you!
Andy Crestodina
Strategic Director |
@crestodina
bitly.com/contentchem