Author Archives: David Polykoff

About David Polykoff

A Junior at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, David is studying Marketing and Advertising. He is the incoming president of the American Advertising Federation and a VP of Fundraising for the American Marketing Association. His passion for marketing is fueled from his ingenuity and his success is driven from his audaciousness. Though young in the corporate world, David's desire for new experiences and enthusiasm is viewed as a unique asset, and has given him an edge.

3 Psychological Tips to Boost Your Business Web Site (Part 3 of 3)

The Psychology of Graphics

In the previous two articles, we discussed both The Psychology of Color and The Psychology of Copy. In this third and final article in this three part series, I will be discussing one of possibly the most influential psychological aspects to a web site. That if done effectively, will create an outstanding increase in your web site conversion rate.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

The Psychology of Graphics

“Ads with 10 or more visuals are 55 percent more likely to be noted than ads with few or no visuals.” – Drew Whitman. Graphics draw in the viewer. They engage, draw emotion, and educate them. Without graphics, your site is like reading a nutrition label. It’s informative, but doesn’t hold my attention.

But what are the best types of graphics to use on your site? Do some graphics work just as well as others?

In my experience, there are a few categories of photos that when used, draw a huge response.

Women
Food
Celebrities
Groups of adults

The reasoning behind this can be connected to the psychology of the human mind. Women are seen as more trustworthy, kind, and visually appealing than men are. Food is a factor in human survival. People love to admire the lives they aspire to be in. And everybody has the desire to be accepted within a group or organization.

Here are a few other psychological graphic tips.

Having a person in a white doctor’s coat draws immediate credibility. Whether the person is an actual doctor or not.
A women facing directly at you smiling is the most trustworthy image to have on your site.
Placing a photo of your product on the main screen increases conversion by 13%.

There are a million different tricks to boosting your business web site. These are just a few examples. Most will come with trial and error. These, on the other hand, have been proven time and time again and can be implemented today!

3 Psychological Tips to Boost Your Business Web Site (Part 2 of 3)

The Psychology of Copy

Welcome to part two of this three part series on the three most commonly unknown psychological tricks to increasing your conversion and interaction rates on your business web site.

In my last post, we discussed the Psychology of Color. Where you were taught what colors were effective and what ages these people prefer them. If you haven’t read it, check it out!

This next psychological trick to boosting your business web site is one that can greatly make or break a site. Industries have evolved around this concept. People spend years trying to master it. Only few can truly say they have succeeded.

I am talking about copy. The voice of your web site. The idea that explains who you are, and what you can do for your customer.

Let’s explain.

The Psychology of Copy

Most people think that in order to gain a readers respect and trust and eventually make a sale, they need to write in a formal manner. They make sure to correct all their contractions, changing words with better thesaurus replacements, and use deep and lengthy sentences. A piece of copy that a college professor would be proud of.

The truth is the average American education level is 5^th grade. So unless you’re selling to a sophisticated target market, most of your web site users are not looking to read sophisticated wording. They want to be told the benefits and where to buy. Trying to be too fancy with your wording won’t impress your reader, it will confuse them.

Dr. Rudolph Flesch talks about this point further in his book, The Art of Plain Talk. Here he creates his Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) which, based on a 1 to 100 scale, rates the reading easiness of your copy. The higher your score, the easier your copy is to read.

The Flesch Reading Ease Score is calculated in a 5 step process as follows:

1) Count every word, number, and symbol in your copy.

2) Count all the syllables in the words, numbers, and symbols as you would pronounce them.

3) Count every sentence that is separated by a period, question mark, semicolon, colon, exclamation point, or dash.

4) Divide the total number of syllables by the total number of words.

5) Divide the number of words by the number of sentences.

The result of your answer is your readability score. If your score is 70 or above, your copy is in a good readability range. In order to be truly effective as well, you should keep your sentences at around 11 words.

So when looking at your site, are you selling your product, or just telling about your product?

3 Psychological Tips to Boost Your Business Web Site (Part 1 of 3)

The Psychology of Color

In this three part series, you will be taught the three most commonly unknown psychological tricks to increasing your conversion and interaction rates on your business web site.

Web developers have found over the years that designing a website has become more of a science than anything else. Using key features that are guaranteed to create higher user interaction. And eventually, a sale.

We are exposed to dozens of websites a day. But why is it that some resonate deeper with us while others fall by the waste side?

Answer: Psychology.

There are proven features that build user engagement. Features that help convert prospects into sales that go unnoticed to the untrained eye.

Let’s discover the first.

The Psychology of Color

Choosing your color scheme for your site is a longer process than throwing a dart at a color wheel. There should be thought applied to every element of your page.

According to Drew Whitman’s bestselling book “Cashvertising,” the following colors are psychologically preferred for both men and women.

1) Blue

2) Red

3) Green

4) Violet

5) Orange

6) Yellow

Did you know that a person’s age affects color preference as well?

The preference for the color blue grows, as the person’s age grows as well. Why is this? While you are young, your eyes are young and clear. Allowing only roughly 15% of blue light to enter. While on the other hand, the older you become the more your eyes begin to haze and protect itself from strong, bright colors. Causing closer to 75-80% of blue light to be absorbed.

Use color when trying to highlight important features to your site. For example: The checkout button, call to action arrows, “learn more” links, etc. By using certain colors, the user’s eyes are actually driven to these key features automatically. Without them having to search the page for it.

What are some effective ways you have used color on your sites or ads? Leave your comments below.

How Your Business Should Be Preparing for Google+

What does Google+ mean for your business?

Google+ has been gaining steam in the social media world since the beginning of its test prelaunch in early July. Gaining upwards of 1.7 Million Google+ accounts in its first week, and rising to an estimated 4.5 Million accounts the following week. All before the social media site has even officially gone public! Holding accounts for some well known names such as Seth Goden, Myspace’s Tom Anderson, and even the social media bad boy himself, Mark Zuckerberg.

Google+ is currently only offering accounts for people. Business profile pages are still in the works. But while the numbers continue to rise, and people start to “check out this new Google social site everybody is trying to be invited to,” businesses should be busy licking their lips at the SEO possibilities.

Here are a few reasons why your business should be preparing for Google+ business pages.

Combining Google+ Pages and Search Engine Rankings

It is quite possible Google will integrate the amount of feedback a +1 button on Google+ posts receives into their search rankings algorithm. Helping Google sort out the relevant and quality content from the irrelevant.

What does this mean for your business?

This means there will no longer be a separation between a business’s social media presence and its search engine rankings. The two will then be one in the same. Providing quality and engaging content will, in real time, affect a company’s search engine presence. Helping give hope for smaller businesses everywhere!

Keeping Your Customers Organized

Google+ offers a more aesthetically appealing way to keep your friends organized with “Circles.” Easily allowing people to click and drag their friends into different categories such as: Closest Friends, Family, Work Buddies, etc. Allowing certain posts to be only seen by circles predetermined by the user.

Google+ business pages can categorize their fans into the different stages of the customer cycle. For example: Top Customers, Need More Information, Recently Purchased, etc. The ability to categorize your fans and then post content to that specific circle will be a huge advantage.

Google Offers and Maps

With Google’s answer to the growing success of Groupon, Google Offers would be a realistic integration into the Google+ business page. Supplying a very user friendly daily deals service. To compliment this feature would most likely be the feature of Google Maps. Displaying directions to your business, or the closest business franchise locations.

What does this mean for your company?

It would be wise to incorporate a Google+ promotion that leads to a Google Offer for your business. Allowing you to again keep what would normally be separate entities, one and the same. Also, Google Offers would then be linked to a convenient Google Map of all the closest business locations where the offer can be redeemed. Take all extra steps out of the equation.

These are my thoughts into the wonderful minds of Google and their future development of Google+. If you have any thoughts on your own of how you see Google+ growing, please leave them in the comment sections below!

But wait! There’s more!

But wait! There's more!

As a business, the obvious overall goal is to make a sale. We provide mouth watering deals and free services to draw our customers into our business. We spend countless hours and money on developing an ecommerce website that makes purchasing an item as easy as 1-2-3.

Most companies (on and offline), after the effort to entice a sale, conclude with a “thank you” and escort them out of the store or website sometimes never to make a sale again. Giving ourselves a pat on the back and a job well done head nod to our co-workers.

The reality is this is the perfect time to ask for follow up sale. Your customer is where you want them and in the “buying mode.” Your customer is satisfied enough with your product selection to make a purchase. They are accepting your business as worthy enough for their attention. Once that customer walks out the door, they are now subject to be victim to other advertisements or enticing deals.

The job is not done at the conclusion of a sale, rather just beginning. When a customer makes a purchase, they are saying to the business “your products or services are worthy of my time and money.” This should be seen as more of an agreed upon business contract.

Let’s take a look at some enticing ideas to draw further sales from your present transaction.

Limited time coupon: Instead of a coupon being valid for a month, make the time period much shorter. Creating a limited time offer only a couple days will give the customer a large sense of urgency. The customer begins to realize that in order to use this coupon, it would make most sense to use it immediately.

A list of related or complimentary items: Obviously this customer is in the mood to purchase certain items, so why not showcase more items just like it? Or, give them items that can be accessorized along with their purchase that most customers enjoy purchasing together.

Surprise bonus: Daniel Pink states in his book “Drive” that people obtain more pleasure when they receive an unexpected reward rather than an expected one. When you reward your customer for making a purchase with small but generous surprise gesture after the sale, you create motivation for that customer to make immediate repeat purchases.

Of course, what strategy you choose will depend on the type of business you’re in. But there is always a chance to create an up sell.