Conversion Copywriting: 8 Psychological Triggers That Increase Your Website’s Conversions

by John McIntyre

This is a free conversion copywriting guide. Discover 8 strange psychological “hot buttons” that increase website conversions even if you suck at copywriting.

Knowing what motivates visitors to take action on your website is a skill that not many people have. Whether that action is sharing blog posts or subscribing to a newsletter, it’s difficult to know what makes your visitors want to convert. 

That’s why learning about the psychological triggers that can increase your website’s conversions is so useful. By knowing these triggers, you can apply them to your site and motivate visitors to take action through conversion rate optimization.

In this article, we’ll show you the most important triggers that are essential when optimizing websites.

1) Novelty Sells

Exposure to new things increases the release of dopamine in the brain. The potential for pleasure motivates humans to seek out novelty. 

Apple demonstrates this principle when it releases a new product every few months. The differences between models may be almost invisible, but thousands of people flock to pick up the newest product every time.

If you want to motivate your visitors to take action on your website, offer new products. If you can’t create a new product, revamp or rebrand the old ones. Use conversion copywriting to convince the visitor that these items are scarce and only released every few months.

2) Tell a Story With Conversion Copywriting

Humans love stories because they trigger emotions and stimulate the imagination. Stories transport us into another world and activate the emotional parts of the brain, which is how we make our decisions to buy products.

Brand your product or service to tell a story. This way, people will be engaged in the story and have more incentive to buy, subscribe, or whatever action you want them to take. 

Stories have power; use that power to convert your site visitors.

3) Use Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is when a famous social media “influencer” endorses a brand or product to their followers. These influencers have a large following, so the chance of someone visiting your site from their recommendation is high.

Mass advertising pales in comparison to influencer marketing. Utilizing influencer marketing ensures that more people see your product, which increases your CRO. Conversion copywriting works!

4) Upsell Products Before Checkout

If selling a product, it pays to upset higher-quality products before the customer checks out and pays. If you utilize online retailers such as Amazon or Shopify, you’ll notice that the website recommends similar products of higher quality before you check out.

For example, recommending a 64GB memory card reader when a customer is purchasing a 16GB memory card makes the customer think about if it’s worth it to pay a little more for four times the storage. If they’re considering purchasing multiple products, they’ll likely purchase the more expensive bundle over the less expensive, singular product.

5) Cross-Sell Products Before Checkout

Cross-selling products go hand-in-hand with upselling. Cross-selling products is when you recommend complementary products before the customer checks out. Doing this increases the likelihood that the customer will purchase more products than they intended to.

Recommending a memory card reader along with the memory card is an excellent example of cross-selling. This recommendation reminds the customer that they may need something to accompany the memory card and help them use it. This makes them want to purchase both.

6) Make Use of the Word “Free”

People love free products, even if the free product is something they don’t really need. Giving out free goods is a valuable technique to gain customer loyalty. Motivating customers to come back more often to purchase products is as easy as offering free gifts.

Offering free products wrapped in conversion copywriting introduces your product or service to new audiences and foster relationships with existing customers. It also encourages customers to come back for more and makes them curious about your other products and services. 

By offering free products and services, you can encourage people to test out your business before making a financial commitment.

7) The Scarcity Effect

For some reason, if a product is running out (or going to run out), potential buyers tend to purchase it almost immediately. Fear drives scarcity; humans are far more motivated by the fear of losing something than they are by the desire to gain that same thing. 

Simply put: humans want what they don’t have, and will buy faster if they think they could potentially lose that item.

Producing a limited line of products or services drives sales, especially for expensive products. Amazon takes advantage of the scarcity effect by offering one-day shipping within a particular time frame.

One of the most powerful forms of scarcity online is the “painful button,” which is offered when a potential customer wants to close a prompted window. Most “No” buttons are passive, but painful buttons say something like, “No, I don’t want to get free products and offers from xxx company.” This convinces the customer that they’re missing out on a great deal or offer.

You could also advertise a limited quantity of tickets or items for the product, so customers are encouraged to buy before your offering sells out.

8) Authority Links and Logos

People trust authority sources, which are much more reliable than social proof. Just because peers enjoy a product doesn’t mean that it’s reliable or trustworthy. 

Further, using authority sources in a review or article about your product shows that it’s trustworthy.

Using the logos of authority sources and companies that have reviewed or used your product or services drives people to trust your business more. If you’re fortunate enough to get celebrity endorsements, traffic and sales will increase. 

As a whole, try to get endorsements and reviews on popular review websites so you can use that as ammunition when visitors come to your site and assess your product or service.

Conversion Copywriting Conclusion

Quality of product, although very important, isn’t everything when it comes to online sales. This is why using conversion copywriting will have a great effect on your conversion rate. 

Use these eight tips, and we can guarantee more people will visit your site; you’ll be getting more conversions before you know it.

Leave a Comment