Tag Archive for: psychology in blog marketing

At Say it For You, we’re keenly aware that positioning a client in the market is all about using words and images to carve out a spot for them, over time, in the competitive landscape.  Does continually providing fresh, new content in a company’s or a practice’s marketing blog accomplish differentiation in the mind of readers?  You bet. Blog content is ideal for further explanation, more details, updates, stories, and sharing owners’ core beliefs.

“One of the most important things marketers must do today is to move away from USP – unique selling propositions – to ESPs – emotional selling propositions,” Jeanette McMurtry cautions in Marketing for Dummies. Four emotions that drive the choice to buy your product or service include:

1. feelings of glamour or beauty
2. feelings of confidence and personal respect
3. feelings of superiority to others
4. anticipation of the ability to survive over others (this feeling is subconscious)

Marketing lessons from Freud:
Freud’s personality theory suggests that people each have three “voices” in their heads that compete with each other when making decisions:

• the id: has to have what it wants when it wants it
• the ego wants to have a plan to get what it wants in an appropriate manner
• the superego or voice of reason decides appropriate actions to take based on social
  norms and past life experiences

“Think about which personality is most involved in make the decision to purchase your category,” advises McMurtry.

Marketing lessons from Jung:
People cycle through 4 archetypes, Jung suggested:

• the shelf: the unbridled, carnal self
• the self: the conscious and unconscious minds connect here
• the animus: the true values a person has
• the persona: the person people project to others

In blog content writing, ask yourself: Which psychological fulfillment does your brand support most?

Social Influencers
People we consider to be authorities powerfully influence our choices, McMurtry learned from Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram. In terms of marketing, determine which authorities have the most influence in your product category and how you can align with them. McMurtry advises.

When it comes to content, unlike video games or movies, a business blog should not be rated “E”, intended for everyone. While there is a growing demand for high authority, high quality content, the most important criterion is the need to know your customers, focusing on creating experiences that align with their values.