…instead of someone else’s?
Life’s never straightforward. You’ve filled your website with well written, entertaining, inspiring, key word rich copy. It is easy to navigate and the content is laid out perfectly for scan-reading. You’ve built links ’til you’re blue in the face. You’ve dragged your business painstakingly on to page one of Google with natural SEO. And your products are unbeatable. But you can’t account for people’s quirks. Here are three recent examples of completely irrational buying decisions:
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I won a new customer recently because she liked the fact that we share the same surname
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A client of mine won his latest project because his business has the same name as his new customer’s house
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Today I chose an online organic gardening shop because I loved the colours they used on-
It’s personal
All three circumstances had something fundamental in common. Each resonated on a deeply personal level, striking an unexpected chord of familiarity in the prospective buyer.
When there are loads of similar options to choose from many people, whether they realise it or not, will hang their buying decision on an emotional response. At best this is flimsy reasoning but the pull of gut-level familiarity – that shock of recognition – is incredibly potent.
Brand builders all over the planet would kill for a way to tap into people’s quirks. As would freelance copywriters like me. In the absence of mind reading skills, we plod along the best we can.