19 psychology principles you can use for your advertising strategy

Hopefully this guide gives you some advertising ideas, but try to remember to attach strategy and context to these insights, otherwise you'll end up with "no-shit" approaches like increasing sales and growing market presence.

For example:

• Goal: Get to Philadelphia
• Context: Don’t have much money to spend. Can arrive any time within the next 12 months. Travel time must be short to avoid being away from work too long.
• Strategy: Leverage flight rewards programs and flexible schedules to overcome your budget limitations by covering flight ticket costs and adapting your travel to low fare dates.
• Tactics: Apply for credit cards that offer travel rewards. Convert reoccurring expenses to these cards. Set up price tracking for flights to PHILA starting today until end of year. Etc.

Now then, here are the strategies. I'll make them as simple as possible:

1. Amplification Hypothesis

Expressing absolute confidence or absolute skepticism. The amplification hypothesis states that people are more likely to believe something if it is stated with certainty.

For example, when a customer has already made a purchase decision and calls the company, the amplification hypothesis can be used to convince the customer to not back down.

2. Limited Edition

This creates a feeling of rarity and scarcity. A limited edition marketing strategy carries a sense of immediacy and exclusivity as the products would only be available for a short time and/or in limited numbers.

3. Decoy Effect

Giving three options for them, but making the last one superior to others.

In marketing, the decoy effect (or attraction effect or asymmetric dominance effect) is the phenomenon whereby consumers will tend to have a specific change in preference between two options when also presented with a third option that is asymmetrically dominated.

4. Information Manipulation Theory

Skewing information to meet your goal. This is a theory about how people deceive others by manipulating information.

It was developed by Steven McCornack, a scholar of interpersonal communication.

5. Priming

Drawing attention to certain words, phrases, or sentences. Priming theory is a media effects theory that states that media messages can influence the decision-making of the audience. It is based on the idea that media depictions can stimulate related thoughts in the minds of audience members.

For example, talking about "climate change" with a person might activate their thinking about "extreme weather".

6. Reciprocity Norm

Implying that a favor is owed. It can be understood as the expectation that people will respond to each other by returning benefits for benefits, and with either indifference or hostility to harm.

7. Scarcity Principle

Implying that supplies are limited. This is one of the ideas I have used in selling my products, and it's worked well every damn time.

The scarcity principle of persuasion, coined by Dr. Robert Cialdini, means the rarer or more difficult it is to obtain a product, offer, or piece of content, the more valuable it becomes. Because we think the product will soon be unavailable to us, we're more likely to buy it than if there were no impression of scarcity.

8. Sleeper Effect

A message ignored at first becomes more powerful over time. This is a phenomenon in persuasion where the impact of a message increases over time. It occurs when a person initially disregards a message, but over time, they remember the content and forget the source.

9. Social Proof

This is a marketing strategy that allows consumers to influence each other during the purchasing process. It's based on a psychological and social phenomenon where people basically copy the actions of others in choosing how to behave in a given situation.

10. Yale attitude Change approach

Using an attractive speaker who speaks first or last.

11. Avante Garde

Implying that your product is the latest and greatest.

You can also imply that your product breaks with tradition and is innovative and boundary-pushing.

12. Weasel Word

Weaseling around your original intention. Weasel words are vague, ambiguous, or misleading claims that are presented as definitive statements.

They can be used in marketing and advertising to avoid making a direct statement or promise.

13. Magic Ingredients

A persuasive advertising technique that suggests a product has an intangible element that makes it unique from competitors.

An example is OpenAI's Q*, the secretive new kind of agent that generated weeks of buzz for OpenAI in late 2023.

This element may be a seemingly miraculous discovery that results in an exceptionally effective product.

14. Patriotism

Showing love for country. A marketing strategy that uses images, slogans, and taglines to appeal to a broad consumer base by appealing to their sense of patriotism. It can also convey a sense of national pride and emphasize the use of domestic materials in the manufacturing process.

A twist on patriotism is to appeal to tribal rivalries of "the kinds of people" who would use your product versus competitors in your niche. Think iOS versus Android or Apple versus Microsoft.

15. Plain Folks

"Average people need this." A propaganda technique that uses regular people to make a product or idea seem more relatable and trustworthy.

The goal is to show that a product or service is appealing and valuable to everyone.

16. Snob Appeal

Implying exclusivity or elite status.

This is a strategy that convinces consumers that purchasing a product or service will elevate their status. It appeals to people's desires to be part of an elite group and to have a glamorous or luxurious lifestyle.

17. Bribery

Offering something extra if people buy the main course. A common marketing technique is to use "bribes" to get people to buy something.

For example, a "buy one get one" offer.

18. Bandwagon

The bandwagon effect is when people are influenced to do something because others are doing it.

Bandwagon advertising often uses a sense of urgency or FOMO: a fear of missing out on an opportunity.

19. Rhetorical Questions

Asking people to ask questions of themselves. Questions that don't require an answer.

This can be used to make a point or create a dramatic effect. The purpose of a rhetorical question is to create an effect.

For example: "Are you out of your mind?"

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Note: These advertising strategies are well-known worldwide. The purpose of writing them here is to inspire you to combine, brainstorm, and come up with your own ideas by using one or more of the strategies mentioned above.

You can either find what works best for you or you can copy one of the strategies that I used to get my first 10 customers.

Hope it was helpful :)

Let me know if you have any other ideas you have seen working or created by yourself.