Neuromarketing 101: Ways In Which Brands Can Tap Into The Science Of Selling
Understanding consumer decisions is the ultimate superpower every marketer dreams of possessing! After all, imagine if you could understand why customers buy what they buy, what motivates them to choose one brand over another. Wouldn’t that transform your marketing approach? This quest to decode customer purchase decisions has created the mind-blowing concept called neuromarketing.
By taking a deep dive into neuroscience, marketers around the world can access the very core of consumer decision-making. It can help them understand what makes a customer tick. It can help them understand what nuances shape customer choices. In short, neuromarketing is a powerful tool that helps promote products and brands by tapping into consumers’ subconscious desires.
Curious to find out more about neuromarketing and how to unlock its benefits for your brand? Let’s go.
What is neuromarketing?
Neuromarketing is that magic that happens when you leverage neuroscience in marketing. In other words, it is a strategy that provides brands with unparalleled insights into consumer behavior.
But how does this work? At its core, neuromarketing tries to figure out how consumers’ brains respond to various marketing stimuli, allowing businesses to optimize their strategies for maximum impact.
Is that even possible? Well, to answer this question, we’ll ask you something. When was the last time you bought something you didn’t necessarily need? Chances are, it was influenced by subtle cues, emotions, or associations that you might not have consciously recognized. That’s neuromarketing for you!
When you ask customers for feedback on processes or products and optimize your strategies based on their inputs, that’s traditional marketing. But when you observe the nearly invisible factors influencing purchase decisions and customers’ perceptions of a brand, that’s neuromarketing. To sum up, with neuromarketing, you dig deeper rather than scratching the surface.
Sounds hard to believe? We’ll give you a quick fact. A study conducted by the University of Bath’s School of Management found that from Monday to Thursday, shoppers spend 10% more due to in-store music.
So yes, neuromarketing is very real and very beneficial. Let’s quickly look at some of the advantages of leveraging this concept in your marketing approach and then move on to talk about some ways to start using neuromarketing.
Unlocking the power of neuromarketing- benefits at a glance
- Data shows that about 95% of purchasing decisions are made subconsciously. And neuromarketing helps tap into the subconscious decisions of customers.
- The global neuromarketing market was valued at $2,493 million in 2021. This signifies its growing importance in the business world.
- Study shows that engaging all five senses in-store can boost the likelihood of purchase by a remarkable 10%. Neuromarketing helps deliver such sensory experiences to customers.
- Ads evoking strong emotional responses can drive an impressive 23% increase in sales volume, as revealed by Nielsen. How do you know what emotions work for your brand? Neuromarketing of course!
- Neuromarketing strategies are projected to reduce product and campaign testing times by 40-60%, expediting speed to market and ensuring a competitive edge.
As you can see, investing in neuromarketing can be the best decision for your business. Now, how do you put this strategy to use in your marketing? Let’s find out.
Leveraging the science of neuromarketing for business benefits
From measuring electrical brain activity with Electroencephalograms (EEGs) to mapping brain responses through Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), and even capturing facial expressions using Facial Coding, brands around the world adopt numerous ways to unravel the intricacies of consumer behavior. With this in mind, in this section, we’ll talk about the ways in which you can use the insights gained through these neuromarketing efforts.
Crafting and retaining your brand identity
Building a strong and enduring brand identity is a cornerstone of successful marketing. Accordingly, neuromarketing plays a pivotal role in crafting and preserving this identity by unraveling the subtle elements that resonate with consumers on a subconscious level.
Customers form deep, often subconscious connections with simple brand identity elements such as logos, colors, and fonts. One striking example of this phenomenon was the Gap rebranding failure.
When the company changed its iconic blue square logo in 2010, it faced severe backlash. Customers had developed strong attachments to the original logo, and the sudden change disrupted their emotional connection with the brand. In conclusion, it showcased how neuromarketing insights could have been instrumental in preventing this disconnect.
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Create ads that resonate with your audience
Every marketer wants to master the art of creating ads that resonate with their audience. They need ads that do not feel intrusive but rather make customers fall in love with the brand. This is one area where neuromarketing can help.
Neuromarketing dives into the subconscious triggers that leave a lasting impression on consumers. It reveals that our brains respond to visuals, emotions, and storytelling, and understanding this can revolutionize your advertising strategy.
Take, for instance, the award-winning Cadbury Gorilla ad. This iconic commercial is a prime example of neuromarketing at its finest.
The Cadbury gorilla advert does not overtly promote the product, but instead focuses on what Cadbury represents: happiness. The joy building up to the moment you take the first bite out of your Cadbury chocolate is represented in the ad by the gorilla waiting for the climactic drum riff of Phil Collins’s “In the Air Tonight.”
This ad triggered a strong emotional response and went viral, demonstrating how neuromarketing principles can create ads that resonate deeply with audiences. As you can see from this example, neuromarketing helps identify the perfect ad concepts as well as the optimal placement of visuals in your static ads.
Design better packaging
Packaging design is a crucial aspect of marketing, and neuromarketing helps make it better. From the strategic placement of different design elements on the packaging to the choice of packaging materials, every little decision can be customer-centric when you understand the neuroscience behind customer interactions with the packaging.
To reiterate this, we’ll take a look at an experiment by Philips. By utilizing brain imaging techniques like fMRI, researchers compared two packaging versions—one featuring a left-handed iron and the other with a right-handed iron grip.
The study revealed that the packaging with the right-handed iron evoked more positive emotions. This showcases how neuromarketing can help craft packaging that resonates with consumers on a subconscious level, ultimately driving sales.
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User-centric website optimization
Neuromarketing offers invaluable insights into how the human brain responds to web design elements, content placement, and user experience, all of which play a pivotal role in the success of your online platform.
For example, consider the concept of visual hierarchy in web design. Neuromarketing research has revealed that our eyes naturally follow specific patterns when scanning a webpage. By strategically placing important content and calls to action where users are most likely to look, you can guide their attention and lead them to desired actions, such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form.
One notable example of neuromarketing in website optimization is Amazon’s product recommendation system. By analyzing user behavior and preferences, Amazon employs algorithms that suggest products tailored to each individual’s interests. This personalized approach not only enhances user experience but also drives higher sales.
You see the product rating next to the search results and then you see the labels like “bestseller”. Immediately, you are drawn to exploring the product. That’s the invisible power of social influence put to good use in website optimization.
Similarly, brands use heatmaps and AI-based heatmap generation tools to understand how customers interact with their websites. This helps them optimize the layout as well as the overall design for better conversions.
For example, the ClickMechanic website used Hotjar heatmaps to identify user behavior on their landing page. This helped them identify that the above-fold area was where most interaction happened. Optimizing this section helped them increase their conversions by 15%. This is neuromarketing put to good use in website optimization.
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Optimizing in-store layouts
Neuromarketing can be a game-changer when it comes to optimizing in-store layouts. It helps improve the shopping experience for customers and therefore brings a boost to sales as well.
In-store optimization through neuromarketing involves understanding how factors such as product placement, signage, lighting, and even the store’s overall ambiance can impact customers’ perceptions and shopping behaviors.
For example, strategically positioning high-margin items at eye level or creating well-lit, inviting spaces for new launches can encourage shoppers to explore more and make additional purchases.
One of the most iconic examples of in-store optimization based on neuromarketing is Apple’s store layout. First, there are the minimalist airy spaces that help maintain the focus on the products and avoid all other distractions.
Second, the positioning of the products encourages customers to touch, pick up, and explore the products. his tactile experience engages the senses and creates an emotional connection between the shopper and the product—a classic neuromarketing strategy to deepen brand loyalty and increase purchase intent.
Apple sets a good example of how you can deploy neuromarketing to improve retail experiences.
In addition to store layouts, brands can apply neuromarketing insights to enhance various in-store elements such as signage, banners, and advertisements. By doing so, they can align these visual aspects with consumer psychology and preferences. This alignment not only captures attention but also fosters a more immersive and engaging shopping experience.
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Enhance your social media strategy
Struggling to identify the right type of content and post formats for your social media pages? Neuromarketing can bring all the answers you are looking for. In brief, neuromarketing helps you understand the way your customers react to different posts. Furthermore, with this information crafting strong online experiences through your social media pages becomes easier.
One good example of deploying neuromarketing in social media strategy is Airbnb. Airbnb employs emotionally resonant content that taps into universal feelings of wanderlust, adventure, and human connection. As can be seen, the brand relies on authentic storytelling.
Additionally, they use immersive visuals that transport users to unique destinations. Such posts that help users visualize their next trip help motivate them to take action.
Send more personalized emails to your customers
Email marketing has turned out to be a timeless ingredient in marketing. But the shift is now toward personalization. Neuromarketing can help you create personalized emails for your campaigns.
For example, it helps craft subject lines that grab attention. The human brain quickly scans through crowded inboxes, so subject lines that trigger curiosity, urgency, or emotional resonance can significantly boost open rates. Neuromarketing guides marketers in selecting words and phrases that resonate with recipients on a subconscious level, enticing them to click and explore the email’s contents.
Secondly, neuromarketing principles help refine the language, content and offers within these emails. With this brands can ensure that these emails resonate deeply with customers and increase the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
The marketing emails from Booking.com are classic examples of this strategy. As can be seen from the below example, the brand uses persuasive language and scarcity tactics, tapping into the brain’s inherent fear of missing out (FOMO).
Their emails often include phrases like “Last chance!” or “Limited availability!” to create a sense of urgency, triggering the brain’s response mechanisms and compelling recipients to take action.
Harness the power of neuromarketing – create stunning visuals with KIMP
From crafting compelling brand identities to designing ads that stir emotions and optimizing website layouts for a seamless user experience, neuromarketing offers a multifaceted approach to success. It allows brands to understand their audience better and therefore make informed marketing decisions.
As can be seen from all the examples we covered, you need strong visuals in the form of static images and videos to bring your neuromarketing-inspired ideas to life. This is where a KIMP subscription makes a world of difference. In brief, one flat monthly fee covers unlimited designs month after month. So, you have enough bandwidth to explore and experiment with endless ideas to unlock the power of neuromarketing.
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