Strategy.
Barnum (Fowler) Effect
In 1948, psychologist Bertram Foret conducted an experiment. He gave the students a personality test and told them that they would get a unique character description report. After the students got the test report, Foret asked them to evaluate the accuracy of their character description.
All the students said that the test report gave a good description of their personality. However, the students got the exact same report.
Foret repeated this experiment many times and always got similar results.
This kind of psychological phenomenon in which individuals give high-accuracy evaluations of general personality descriptions is called the Barnum effect. And it is also one of the main reasons why people can make money through astrology and fortune-telling.
It works because humans care about things related to themselves. So, when you give someone a vague message and say that the message is unique to them, they will believe it. This is exactly why personalization is so effective in marketing.
Think carefully. Have you ever read an email that you don’t usually open, just because your name is mentioned in the subject of the email? Well, you are not alone (many people do).
Epsilon conducted a survey among 1,000 18-64 year-old consumers, 80% of whom said that if a company’s products provide a personalized experience, they would be more willing to do business with that company. % Claimed that they find personalization attractive.
Another simple and effective example is Coca-Cola’s “Share Coke” campaign, which is actually a very simple idea. Find the most popular names in a country and mark them on the Coke bottle. Lucie Austin, marketing director of The Coca-Cola Company, said that when she saw her name on the Coke bottle, she knew it was done.
“My reaction was naive,” she said. “I know many other people will have the same reaction.”
She was right. Through such a simple technique, in the summer of 2011 alone, Coca-Cola successfully sold more than 250 million bottles of named bottled and canned cola in Australia, a country with a population of less than 23 million.
When we think that certain things are related to ourselves, we will pay more attention to these things. This rule is so simple but so effective. So you need to take a moment to understand who your customers are, and then use the data you have to design a personalized marketing strategy. Through some simple adjustments, obvious results can be achieved.
Brand promotion can also use this method to achieve great success. We only need to deeply understand the reasons behind people’s behavior and implement this understanding into your marketing strategy. Translator: Zhang Momo