Improve Your Website Design And Conversions With Neuromarketing Principles
Neuromarketing Helps Us Understand Emotional Responses Of Website Users
Neuromarketing is an emerging science which has been gaining momentum in recent years as technology has advanced.
Neuromarketing is the study of marketing, advertising and branding from a neuroscience perspective. The goal of neuromarketing is to design products that appeal to the emotional part of our brain by triggering certain chemicals such as dopamine and oxytocin.
The main aim of neuromarketing is to understand how the human mind responds to different stimuli and what motivates people to make particular decisions. By using fMRI scans and electroencephalography (EEG) we can better understand how consumers think and feel, so that we can harness this information in order to create marketing strategies which encourage certain behaviours and traits in consumers.
As neuromarketers, we explore and identify some of the key design elements that help you develop a more persuasive website that is memorable and encourages visitors to act.
Here we explore 4 core principals taught to us by neuromarketing that will improve your website performance.
- Striking imagery improves performance
- Applying social proof boosts conversions
- Apply “witnessing” to be more persuasive
- Focus on simplicity to drive action
Striking Imagery Seduces Our Reptile Brain
The reptilian brain system is constantly on the lookout for novelty or surprise!
As marketers we want to appeal to this part of our prospects’ brains because they will pay attention only if they’re surprised or interested.
A recent study indicated that the average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds today. This means that if your website doesn’t capture attention within eight seconds, an average of 70% of people will simply click away from it.
The reason for this is simple: people are constantly bombarded with stimuli, whether we’re sitting at our desks at work or relaxing at home in front of the television. To survive, our brain has evolved to take in only what we perceive as being necessary for our survival. As a result, most people won’t bother spending time looking at websites unless they can quickly identify what the site is about — who you are and what you offer — and how they can benefit from doing business with you.
This is where striking imagery comes into play.
If you want to capture attention, use images that are striking and different. Neuroscientists have found that the brain’s attentional systems respond preferentially to novelty or surprise. This response evolved so we could detect new things that might be threats or opportunities, like a predator in the bushes or a fruit tree in season.
The way this works is that when something novel appears, the focus shifts toward this new stimulus and we stop paying attention to other things. By making your website stand out with images that are unpredictable or surprising, you can gain the attention of your visitors and allow them to focus on what they came to see.
Here are three ways you can use neuromarketing understanding of imagery to make your website more effective:
1. Use images that evoke emotion
2. Use images that evoke action
3. Use images of people instead of objects
Social Proof Always Improves Conversions
Social proof is the psychological phenomenon that occurs whenever we are unsure of what to do, and we look to others for cues.
Tests have shown that when we believe others are doing a certain action, we are more likely to follow suit.
A great way to utilize this concept is to apply it to your website.
A simple way to achieve this is by adding a comments section at the bottom of each blog post or product page. This will allow potential customers to see what other people think about your company and products.
You can also add reviews on testimonial pages. These pages should describe how satisfied past customers were with their purchases and why they would recommend you to their friends and family.
You should add social media buttons which link to your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This will show visitors that other people like your products and services, something which could increase your conversion rate significantly.
Other ways of using social proof on your website include displaying other logos or mentioning whether or not you’ve been featured in magazines or blogs in order to increase credibility. You can also mention any awards you might have won as they will make your website look more credible as well.
Witnessing Is The Most Effective Social Proof
There are many ways to get social proof on your website. Some people go with testimonials and reviews, while others create a page that shows off the press they’ve received.
Thing is, none of these are as effective as what’s called “witnessing.” Witnessing is when you have pictures of people using your product or service in their day-to-day life.
Why is this so effective? It’s because seeing other people like us doing something is much more compelling than reading about it from others. This is why Facebook and Twitter are so popular, and why Instagram has grown more quickly than other social networks. By sharing photos of ourselves, we’re showing others what we’re doing and giving them an inside peek into our lives.
This same principle applies to your website. When you show people using your product or service in real life, it builds trust and gives visitors a personal connection with your brand. In fact, one study found that websites with images of happy customers increase conversion rates by 86%! That huge boost in conversions is why many companies are now using witnessing to improve their sales funnel.
Simplicity Creates Memorability
The brain only focuses on the most important aspects of a website and ignores the rest, so it’s best to ensure that the most important elements are clear and on point.
Using simplicity as your guiding principle also allows you to follow design conventions, which will make your website familiar to your visitors. Familiarity builds trust, and increased trust leads to increased conversion rates.
The most important aspects of a site’s design are the things that users don’t notice – the parts that are so intuitive, so familiar, and so well-designed that they seem invisible. That’s where good design is important – it should be invisible, part of the background of your life.
Steve Krug in “Don’t’ make me think” suggests three vital rules for web design:
1. It must be clear
2. It must be simple
3. It must be consistent
Design conventions are a shortcut to familiarity. Your site will look familiar to your visitor and therefore more trustworthy.
The design conventions that most web designers follow are a result of user testing and years of experience. A standardized placement of the navigation bar across all sites makes it easier for users to find what they’re looking for. Images that automatically resize for different screen resolutions make sure images look good on mobile devices.
In Summary
Neuromarketing studies show us that striking imagery, social proof, witnessing and simplicity are key elements to creating an effective website to drive more traffic and increase sales for your online business. Reach out to Eloquent if you’d like to explore creating a new high performance website, or would like to identify improvements in your current website.