Want More Clicks? 3 Brain Science Hacks That Boost Conversions

There's a lot of buzz about brain science today. As humans, we're curious about how our minds work. As marketers, we're always on the hunt for new and better ways to connect with our fellow humans — and, by extension, our customers and prospects. Brain science can make an impact at several points in the marketing funnel — but it's a huge asset when optimizing a call to action (CTA). By leveraging what we know about neuroscience, emotion and human behavior, modern marketers can make small, but strategic changes to their CTAs that drive more sales, make new connections and positively impact their company's bottom line. Sound intriguing? If so, take a closer look at these three brain-based click boosters that will take your conversion rates to the next level: 1. Use images to help point visitors in the right direction. Our brains light up in reaction to images, especially images of people and faces. We can't resist them. If you use images of people on your landing page or email campaigns, it stimulates the amygdala — our primitive "lizard brain" — and immediately grabs the viewer's attention. Take advantage of this instinct by using images that visually direct the reader to your CTA. For example, add an image of an attractive smiling face looking in the direction of your CTA button. Eye-tracking studies show people will look where the image is looking! 2. Choose a color that reinforces your message. Human beings are hardwired to be visual creatures: 90 percent of the information that comes to the brain arrives via our optic nerve, and that visual data is processed 60,000 times faster than what our brain receives in text form. Subconscious judgments are made in a split second, and up to 90 percent of those judgments are based on color. So, what color is right for your CTA button? It largely depends on what action you want visitors to take. Here's a quick breakdown of how our brains react to five major colors: Orange encourages immediate action. Consider orange if you want people to sign up, buy or join right away. It's also the color most associated with cheap or inexpensive things. Red increases energy and creates a sense of urgency. Try red if you're running a sale, limited-time offer or selling tickets to an event that's close to selling out. Yellow gets attention and creates low-level anxiety. It both promotes positive feelings and causes just enough anxiety to move people to action without stopping them in their tracks. Blue builds trust and security. It's the most popular color in the world and is the choice for brands that want their customers to feel safe and secure. (Look at your bank's logo. There's a good chance it features lots of blue.) Green promotes growth and relaxation. We all know green means go, which is pretty handy when it comes to CTAs. It's also easiest for the eyes to process, so it's often used to relax the mind. If you're not sure which button color to choose, test it! A simple A/B test will help you see which color converts better for your audience. 3. Use active language to encourage action in your visitors. This isn't the time to be vague or lazy with your CTA button copy. You want your visitors to take a specific action, right? So provide a specific CTA. A recent study found that adding just one word after the word "submit" can boost conversion rates by as much as 320 percent. However, it's still important to keep it short. The top 10 converting buttons in the report all contained two words or less. A few other brain-based button copy facts include the following: You could enjoy a 90 percent better conversion rate by using first person. For example, "Start my free trial" converts better than "Start your free trial." Active verbs motivate users to take action! Try words like "Download," "Get" or "Start." Passive words, well, they create computer couch potatoes. Choose words that create a sense of urgency. Simply adding "Now" to your button copy can boost conversions. Make it clear that your offer won't be around forever, then sit back and watch click rates soar! Go with ALL CAPS. It's more pleasing to the eye within the confines of a button because it balances letter height by eliminating ascenders and descenders from your text. These three click boosters are just the beginning. There's a whole slew of exciting ways that you can use brain science to improve your conversion rates, so test a few of these out in your next campaign. You'll learn a ton about your audience, and if you're a marketing geek like me, have a ton of fun in the process. Christopher Lester is the vice president of sales at Emma, an email marketing software provider.

General

Want More Clicks? 3 Brain Science Hacks That Boost Conversions

Christopher Lester

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Christopher Lester