Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…and yes! We are back! Whew, y’all, these past few weeks have been intense. If you’re a regular listener who’s listening in real time, you may have been wondering what’s up with the podcast! It’s been like two weeks or so since I’ve released a new episode! Trust me, I’m cringing about that,and will fill you in, but I’m happy to say we’re back and next week should be back to our regular schedule as we finish up Season 1. This episode will be a little longer than normal so I can catch you up on what I’ve been up to!
These last few weeks have been crazy busy because I’ve been finishing up my new course, Brain Cell University! Ya’ll, it is finally ready and it’s been a lot of work. I am a one-woman show over here and it takes a lot of work to do all the things! And yes, I’m going to tell you about it because I want you to check it out and I’d love to have you join!
But, as I was building it out and creating the sales page for it, I also knew I had to record this episode on manipulative sales pages and how they intentionally use human psychology to sell to you from a web page! I’m going to break it down for you here in this episode so you can recognize it whenever you see it again!
But first, let me tell you about Brain Cell University. Brain Cell University is a 10-week digital course that I’ve created to go into my Crazy Thinkers membership. And I’ll just start off by telling you what’s different in Brain Cell U than most other Informal Logic & critical thinking courses: Most critical thinking courses spend a good amount of the time on teaching you the logical fallacies. And for good reason - they’re really important and they’re key to being able to think well. However, I’ve already given you the logical fallacies in this podcast! So I didn’t want to take time to teach them to you again. So what IS in Brain Cell U? Over the course of 10 weeks, I teach you the SKILLS of good thinking. And yes, it goes beyond just the logical fallacies…There are a series of 10 lessons and each week I teach you another skill, another piece of the puzzle of knowing HOW TO THINK for yourself about anything. And if I could sum it up for you in one word, it would be “Questions”. I teach you the art and the skill of asking the RIGHT questions so that you can think clearly and well about anything you’re presented with and come to good, logical thoughts and conclusions. This skill will help you in school, in life, in conversations, when scrolling social media, when reading news articles…and when you learn them and practice them like I help you do in the membership, they become second nature. So if I were to sum up Brain Cell University, it would be this: I teach you a system of good questions that will help you think well, develop discernment, and have productive, meaningful conversations. With anyone, about anything. Plus, there’s fun badges you can collect as you go through the lessons and a cool Truth Project at the end that you can complete.
Now, like I said, the Logical Fallacies are important and I give you tools in Brain Cell U to help you really Master the Top 30 Fallacies. Cause here’s the deal…I know that you’re learning a lot just by listening to this podcast, but just hearing about a fallacy once for 7 minutes here on the podcast doesn’t mean you’ve really got it. A little more intentional study is needed to really learn it and be able to use it. So, I’ve created a simple system of review that goes along with each week in the course to help you walk away having mastered 30 fallacies.
And lastly, your subscription includes my monthly Brain Gym pdf where I give you real-life content that you can practice the thinking skills you’ve learned! Anyways, doors are open now, so go check it out at filteritthroughabraincell.com/crazy
Ok, now, let me give you the low-down on what could be considered manipulative sales pages. And I’ll be honest, as someone who is selling a product online, my Crazy Thinkers membership, this would probably be looked at as a really terrible idea to teach you this! A business coach would say that I’m committing sales suicide because when people realize what the strategy is behind sales pages, they may not want to buy anymore! And that’s true! But, my whole goal in creating this podcast and my membership is to teach you to recognize this kind of stuff, so I have to tell you. I want you to be able to see these tactics for what they are! And hopefully, you’ll still want to join the membership so you can learn even more skills like what I’m teaching you here in this episode.
Ok, on to sneaky sales pages. Did you know that sales is actually psychology? Marketing is psychology? And the people who are best at sales are good because they’re good at understanding and manipulating human psychology? It’s true. In fact, I just recently saw an ad for a company promising to teach people how to write better sales pages using psychology. I’m going to teach you some of these tactics here in this episode. Now, I will say this: Is everyone who’s selling something trying to trick you using psychology? No. Not at all. We don’t need to be suspicious of everyone who has something for sale. But, I will tell you this: There are people selling mediocre products who are raking in the dough because they’re really good at marketing. And there are people selling straight up trash who are raking it in because they’re really good at marketing. And recognizing some of these tactics will help you sift through what is real about the product and what’s just fancy marketing tactics.
All marketing comes down to copywriting. Copywriting is the words used to sell something. And I’ve heard it described this way: Conversion is about copywriting, Copywriting is about influence, influence is about word choice, and word choice is about psychology. What that’s saying is that you have to choose your words very carefully to get people to take specific actions based on what you want them to do. Hmmm…does that sound familiar at all to you?
Ok, I’m going to give you 5 areas where sales pages use specific copywriting to try to influence you to buy whatever they’re selling:
1. Create Contrast. Marketers are taught to create contrast between where people are at now and where they would like to be or the outcome they would like to have. If you’ve seen weight loss commercials, they always show a before & after. The before shows an overweight person who’s kind of sad & miserable looking, not able to really enjoy their life. While the after shows the slimmer person who is happy & smiling, running on a beach of something, but they’re loving their life. That’s creating contrast through a visual or a picture. Contrast can also be created through words, describing where someone is currently and then contrasting that with what their life will be like after they buy whatever is being sold. And to really drive this contrast home, they’ll often use emotional words to really get you to feel how terrible it must be without their product and how much more wonderful it will be after you buy their product. And I’m being serious about this! Pay attention the next time to see a sales pitch and see if you can pick up on the ways they’re creating contrast.
Ok, the second tactic is called Exclusivity. And I actually did a whole episode on Exclusivity back in episode 51 if you want to go review that. But basically, exclusivity is making it seem like whatever they have to sell is special or exclusive, like they’re the only ones who have this secret or have it figured out, or like they’re the only place you can get this exclusive information from. They’ll use words like “Class full” “Exclusive” “Become an insider” “Login required” “Get it before anyone else” “Selective” “VIP” or “Request an invitation” to try to convey that it’s an exclusive group. Or they’ll use words like “little known secret” or “insider secrets” to convey exclusivity of knowledge.
Tactic #3 is where they help Lower the Risk of purchasing or joining whatever they’re selling. It’s meant to make you feel better and less anxious about spending your money. They’ll use words like “Certified” “Cancel anytime” “Best-selling” “Happiness guarantee” “Results” “Secure” “Endorsed” “Professional” “Popular” “expert”, etc to make you feel more confident about spending your money on what they’re selling. Now, I know, it seems like these are good things for ensuring a good product, and you’d be right, but marketers are taught to emphasize these words to help lower your inhibitions about buying their product. See how it’s all psychology?
Ok, tactic #4 is called Scarcity or implied Scarcity. Scarcity is when they make it seem like there are only a few left or a limited time or limited access. It’s designed to give you some FOMO: fear of missing out so you take action! To create scarcity, they’ll use words like: “limited time offer” “only 10 available” “spots are running out” “Get it while it lasts” “This month only” “Only available here” and “Last chance”
And finally, tactic #5 is called Power Words. Power Words are strong words that are used to help create confidence in the mind of the buyer and to position the product as being really good or the best. You’ll hear things like “Premier” “Complete” “Signature” “Plus” “Bonus” “Learn” “Powerful” “Instantly” “Unlock” “Ultimate” and “Sure-fire”.
Y’all, can you see how all of these sales tactics are specifically designed to work with human psychology and lower your inhibitions to buying something? Now, does that mean that everyone who uses these things is a slimy salesperson who’s trying to rip you off? No, not at all! Sure, there are some…but There are also plenty of people who are selling really great products & services and just because you see some of this on their sales page doesn’t mean they’re trying to rip you off. I just like teaching you this stuff so you can recognize it when you see it.
And the question I want you to ask yourself when you do see it is this: “What is the real value of this product or service to me?” *repeat* And, if you want to learn how to think about more stuff like this, check out my Exclusive, Limited Time Only, Powerful, Guaranteed Membership, Crazy thinkers! Ha! See what I did there?! That part was a joke, but really, I’d love to have you check it out at filteritthroughabraincell.com/crazy.
Alright, y’all, that’s it for today! Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
