What is Neuromarketing: A Beginner’s Guide 2022

6 Neuromarketing Techniques that will shape the Future of Digital Marketing Industry

Understand what Neuromarketing is, how it works and explore the list of the Best Neuromarketing Techniques for Digital Marketers of the future.

Neuromarketing Technique — Braindancing featured in the action role-playing video game Cyberpunk 2077

While many brands initially struggle to understand their audiences, successful advertising and marketing campaigns bridge the gap between the two. Over the years, new technology continues to disrupt various techniques for the brands to reach their customer base. And as brands grow, digital marketers gain more interest in knowing all about their audiences — how they react, how they make purchasing decisions or consume the best out of the service they use. Since then, the workings of the human psyche have always been in question.

Hence, combining the field of neuroscience along with such digital marketing practices to generate the necessary results in sales along with the principles of psychology is known as Neuromarketing.

In this article, we will learn in detail about what Neuromarketing is, how it works, and explore some of the best Neuromarketing techniques for digital marketing professionals.

What is Neuromarketing?

When marketers collect insights into their customers’ choices, decisions, and impulses in order to better place their brand in the marketplace using neuroscientific technology is called Neuromarketing.

Patrick Renvoise, Co-founder of the Neuromarketing company called Salesbrain claims that “Neuromarketing is all about finding the buy button that is inside the brain of your audience.”

Patrick Renvoise on Neuromarketing at TEDxBend

Eventually, this technology can be used extensively to redesign the brand’s packaging and presentation thus, influencing purchasing decisions made by the consumer.

How Does Neuromarketing Work?

Digital Marketers are always curious about measuring performance metrics of the campaigns. This technology uses neurometrics, biometrics, and psychometric techniques to generate that data and understand the consumer’s behaviour.

Source: Block Diagram — How Neuromarketing Works by Nick Lee

Recommended Read =>> Neuromarketing Books for Digital Marketers

Here is a list of the popular Neuromarketing techniques:

1. Eye tracking
2. Facial Coding
3. fMRI
4. EEG
5. Galvanic Skin Response & Biometrics
6. Psychological Techniques

Let us review the above-listed techniques below.

#1) Eye Tracking

Best for improving website user experience, graphic design, ads and brand packaging. Data generated through eye tracking can help the brand to enhance their design practices for better engagement of their audience.

Source: UBC News

Operating Principle: Detects exactly where the subject gazes at while measuring whether or not their pupils are dilated

Outcome:

· We can record what grabs their attention and what confuses them

· Speed of recognition

· Level of engagement

Features:

· Relatively inexpensive and easy to administer

· Best used in conjunction with biometrics

· Does not measure emotions

#2) Facial Coding

Best for improving visual content in the Ad and website user experience.

Source: Smartmicros

Operating Principle: Identifies facial expressions and records how they react when they look at a specific product

Outcome:

· General Emotional Response: Happiness, surprise, fear, etc.

Features:

· Relatively inexpensive than other Neuromarketing techniques

#3) fMRI

Best for setting up the price and improving brand strategy. The detailed brain scan along with various assessments given to the audience during fMRI can help the brand in generating data necessary to restructure their campaign or strategy.

Source: Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences

Operating Principle: Detects blood flow in the brain associated with increased neural activity

Outcome:

· Detailed emotional responses

· Level of engagement

· Retargeting and restructuring the brand

Features:

· Most expensive and invasive method

· Mostly used for measuring specific emotions

· Must be performed in a lab

#4) EEG

Best for improving Ads and planning detailed Brand strategy.

Source: Bitbrain

Operating Principle: Records electrical signals on the scalp from neurons inside the brain

Outcome:

· Level of engagement

· Retargeting

Features:

· Highly Expensive process

· Can measure changes in lesser increments of time

#5) Galvanic Skin Response & Biometrics

Best for improving Ad content.

Source: Future Proof Insights

Operating Principle: Measures skin conductance, heart rate, sweat caused by emotion and respiration

Outcome:

· Level of engagement

· Notes whether their response is positive or negative

Features:

· Best used in conjunction with various other techniques

#6) Psychological Techniques

Best for understanding the consumer psychology to better target the ad content.

Source: Future Proof Insights

Operating Principle: Using small, simple methods to communicate to the subconscious, in order to encourage a customer to make a purchase.

Outcome:

· Level of engagement

· Cognitive response

Features:

· Most inexpensive

· Must rely on cognitive research and heavy data

Influence on the market and overall pessimism

Along with neuroscience researchers, digital marketers are having a closer look at the brain as it can be used to influence purchases and it all sounds so exciting for them. Although, on the other hand, it raises a few ethical concerns.

As dystopian as it may sound, neural manipulation can bring leads by better segmentation, sleep nudging, hormone manipulation, or temporary neural inhibition. So it has become a necessity for our consumers to be aware of such factors.

Elon Musk has started a company called Neuralink — A neurotechnology company founded for developing implantable brain–machine interfaces.

Source: Analytics Insight

As many tech giants are exploring this technology, one needs to create transparency on what goes on inside these labs and what they are essentially working on.

Suggested Read =>> AI-driven Digital Marketing

Conclusion

Why is it that Neuromarketing technology can become more controversial and even a threat to a traditional market? Well, the answer relies on its misconception, that it could read customers’ minds and can certainly affect and control them to eventually influence a purchase.

While the technology used in this field is advanced, the tools cannot ‘read minds,’ and our brains do not have a simple ‘buy button.’ With billions of interconnected neurons, the brain is the most complicated organ in the human body, and we’re only scratching the surface of how it all works.

Hence, this technology helps us discover human emotions and their decision-making process. Such insights could be further used by organisations to simply improve their product experiences, services, and marketing operations to better satisfy the requirements, wants, and aspirations of their target audiences. However, one must be aware of its technical transparency and terms before opting on to such services.