People follow people they like
There are some people we tend to like more than others. These people are dedicated to the same football team as you, they are great at paying compliments to your work and they have the same political views as you do when it comes to protecting the environment by eating less meat, using net bags instead of plastics bags and using public transport instead of a car.
Liking is the 5th principle of persuasion according Dr. Robert Cialdini. But, before incorporating Liking into the marketing efforts on your shop and in your marketing in general, you should understand what causes people to like others. The 5 factors Cialdini mentions in his book are:
- Physical attractiveness — We are attracted by beautiful things and people
- Similarity — We are attracted by people who have the same interests as us
- Compliments — We are attracted by people who pay us compliments
- Contact and cooperation — We are attracted by people who have the same goals as us
- Conditioning and association — We are attracted by people and not by-products
1. | Physical attractiveness (People like things that look good)
Bolia.com has an elegant, simple and attractive looking webshop. They succeed in incorporating high-quality pictures, interactive elements such as parallax scrolling, videos, lots of white space etc. to increase their webshop’s attractiveness to customers. When you enter Bolias’ site, you see a video that shows 3 different sofas from their brand new Spring collection, see it for yourself here.
2trendy also use an interactive element on their landing page. In this case, they have a carousel featuring a variety of messages and products. However, the only way visitors can see these messages is to interact by pressing the arrows on the left or right sides of the picture.
If, like Bolia, you endeavour to make your webshop look good by having a variety of elements, your customer will like you. And, when customers are physically attracted to your site, they will be more inclined to buy.
2. | Similarity (People like brands that are friendly and helpful)
If a shop not only succeeds in showing that it is more than just an ecommerce site, but also shows that the shop is run by real people, just like its customers, they will persuade customers to buy. Customers are drawn to similarity, therefore it’s important to think about how you can make your shop more human, friendly and personal. Novicell is a digital agency that has had a great deal of success with using the liking principle by focusing on similarity, showing photographs of employees and writing about their professional and personal lives.
There are also other ways of showing that you are similar to your customers by interacting with them through social media. You can respond to their messages, ask them questions, show them that you are listening to them and acting on their wishes.
Furthermore, you can talk about your customers ailments and wishes instead of talking about the benefits of your product. Bedre Nætter communicates why customers should choose them — and, of course, they are focusing on the benefits they offer, like free delivery, a 100-day free trial, guaranteed prices and so on. But, more importantly, they are focusing on the problems faced by their customers — trouble sleeping at night, for example.
3. | Compliments (People like brands that pay them compliments)
To get customers to like you, you should start paying them compliments. Some companies on Instagram start following their customers’ Instagram profiles and liking photographs. A company like Daniel Wellington shows that it values its customers by reposting their photographs on their Official Instagram Profile. Every day, Daniel Wellington selects the best photograph from those submitted by people wearing their Daniel Wellington watch and who have added the hashtag #DanielWellington. Veraldo is a clothing webshop that does the same thing. On their webshop they tell people that if they want to be featured on Veraldo’s Instagram profile, they should upload a picture of themselves wearing clothes from Veraldo and add the hashtag #veraldo.dk.
Another way of paying customers a compliment could be through a newsletter in which you tell customers that you are grateful that they are buying from your shop. When a customer feels appreciated, they will like you more, and when they like you more, they will be persuaded to buy more from you. If you want to thank potential customers, you can thank people who have made a commitment to you by signing up to your newsletter, giving a ‘Follow’ or ‘Like’ on your Facebook page or have entered the competition you are running.
4. | Contact and cooperation (We like brands that like to help and that have a greater purpose than simply earning money)
What is the purpose of your company? In what ways does your company change the everyday life of its customers? Customers will feel a greater connection to you and your company’s purpose if you talk and write about your reasons for starting the shop. You are not only running your webshop to earn money, you are running your webshop to do something that benefits the people who use your product. Your reasons could be, for example, to increase self-esteem, improve performance, sleep better at night etc. and to feel like you’re at home no matter where in the world you are. Maybe you can guess what companies we are talking about here? They are not talking beauty products, about watches, beds or renting homes.
“We do it for farmers, animals, the environment, dentists, crane operators, ribbon dancers, magicians, cartographers and you.”
“With every burrito we roll or bowl we fill, we’re working
to cultivate a better world.”
Chipotle was not established only to make lots of money, it was established to cultivate a better world. A better world in which the priorities are raw ingredients with no added colours, flavours and preservatives other than lemon or lime juice. Also, Chipotle is anxious about the conditions in which animals live when it comes to letting them roam around in the open air instead of keeping them locked in small pig pens indoors.
Lirum Larum leg is a shop that wants to improve the lives of children and families so they can take short breaks together with more time for deeper reflection and closeness. Also, with their products, they are helping make childhood more marvellous.
5. | Conditioning and association (People like human brands because they can relate to them)
When Danish music star Christopher is promoted with the brand new Huawei P30 pro, people will tend to see more than just a phone that has functional benefits, such as an impressive camera system, beautiful design inspired by blue skies and a Super Spectrum Sensor that creates more light to catch those special moments when it’s dark. Now, people will start associating Huawei’s product with Christopher, a person and an ideal that signifies youth, ambition, popularity, quality-mindedness, intelligence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4_eeDN_4uk&feature=youtu.be
Nowadays, companies use salespeople, employees in general, influencers and celebrities to create their brand human, so customers can make an association with a brand and get the feeling that the brand has the same values as they do. Nespresso has made new commercials with Remee, and Jysk Rejsebureau has made commercials with Sofie Linde. Unlimited Copenhagen, a shop, that also has ViaBill, use Peter Falkentoft to promote their sneakers.
When people can relate to your product, they will be more inclined to like you as a brand. When people like you, they will buy from you.
You will succeed in persuading your customers to choose your products when they perform a search if you put some effort into the liking principle. To get customers to like you, you should:
- Make your webshop look good so it consists of a few colours, interaction, videos, high- quality photographs and lots of white space
- Respond to their messages, ask them questions, show them that you are listening and acting on their wishes. Talk about your customers ailments and wishes instead of talking about the benefits of your product
- Pay them compliments when they talk about you, like your SoMe page, sign up to your newsletter etc.
- Explain how your product helps so that people will understand that you have a greater purpose than simply earning money
- Make your brand human by involving celebrities, influencers, salespeople and employees in general
