Sarah: Hey, guys.
It's me, Sarah, the video editor here at Wholesale
Ted, and in today's video, I'm going to be
giving you a secret weapon.
I'm going to be teaching you about sales psychology.
Yes, as I said in a recent video, if you learn
sales psychology, i.e., why people buy products
and why people click on ads, then you can
have a secret weapon over your competitors.
With the right hacks, you can take a product
that previously would have lost you money
and turn it into a product that can make you
money.
On that video, I had several people asking
me to make a video about it so that they too
could increase their sales and conversions.
Of course, I decided to go ahead and make
one, so let's just jump straight into it.
Hack one, use percentage discounts over number
discounts.
As I've said before multiple times on this
channel, one of the key ways that you can
stop a customer from price-checking your product
is to place it on sale for a limited amount
of time.
By doing this, when prospective customers
come across your ad for this mug, they'll
think, "Wow, it must be a great price already,
because it's 50% off," and because this offer
is going to expire tomorrow, it means that
they only have a limited amount of time to
get it at this discounted price, and they
need to act now.
This stops them from price-checking and gets
them to act right now before the offer disappears.
Something that is important to note, though,
is that when you offer a product on sale,
you're going to have far higher conversions
if you offer it as a percentage discount rather
than as a number discount.
Let's say that you're selling this mug here,
a staple example AliExpress product here at
Wholesale Ted, and let's say you're selling
it for $15, discounted from 30.
Now, you've got two options.
You could either advertise it as being $15
off, or advertise it as being 15% off.
Well, out of these two options, the best one
to pick to maximize conversions is to say
that it is 50% off, and the reason is simple.
It's because the number 50 is bigger than
the number 15.
Yes, they are mathematically the same discount,
but one looks a lot bigger than the other.
This sales psychology hack is the rule of
100.
It states that as long as the discount is
under $100, you should advertise it as a percentage
discount.
Hack two, add a reason for the discount.
It's a really good idea, for sales psychology
reasons, to add a tagline in your product
description explaining why this product is
on sale.
For example, you could say that you're getting
new items in stock and you need to clear out
last season's products, or it could be celebrating
something that only comes along once a year,
like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or your
store's birthday, even.
Why does this increase conversions?
Well, it's because it reinforces scarcity.
It reinforces the fact that this is a temporary
price.
When the reason for the discount ends, like,
say, Easter passes, then this discount is
going to end.
This creates a further sense of urgency in
the customer and makes them feel like they
need to act now so that they don't miss out.
Highlight benefits, not features.
Let's go back and take that good old staple
AliExpress product on Wholesale Ted, the guitar
mug.
When most people sell this mug, they try and
think of all the features that would make
someone want to buy it.
"Oh, look, it's got a guitar for the handle,
and it's even got musical notes on it.
You should buy this mug," but that would be
a huge mistake, because the reality is, is
that people don't actually buy products for
the features.
They buy it for the benefits.
Back to this mug.
There are three reasons why people purchase
it.
Firstly, it's because it levels up their coffee
drinking experience.
When they were previously drinking coffee
out of their boring, everyday mugs, then they
were not using that time as an expression
of their personality, but now, by drinking
out of this mug, they can turn their coffee
drinking experience into an expression of
who they are.
Secondly, this mug gets an amazing reaction
out of people.
Everyone thinks it's super cool and are very
impressed by it.
Thirdly, this is a super popular gift.
You see, people are buying this mug all the
time not for themselves, but for their friends
and family that play guitar, and yes, all
of these benefits come from the unique features
of the mug, that being the cool handle design
and the musical notes.
But by doing the work for the customer, by
explaining to them how this mug is going to
impact and benefit their lives rather than
make them figure it out by looking at the
features, you are going to have much higher
conversions.
Plus, by painting a picture of how this mug
is going to impact their lives, you're going
to create strong emotions in the prospective
customer as they imagine themselves benefiting
from it.
Of course, emotions are key to selling, especially
when you are trying to impulsively get people
to buy now.
If you can't think of what the benefits of
a product might be, it's a good idea to see
if the product is selling on Amazon.
If it is, read the reviews and see why people
that left a positive review liked it.
As you can see, a lot of people who left a
positive review had a great experience buying
it if they bought it as a gift for their family
and friends, and of course, you can go through
AliExpress product reviews and see who the
happy buyers are and why they purchased it.
Hack four, use jargon and slang.
One of the more challenging aspects of AliExpress
dropshipping is that you're trying to get
a customer to purchase an item from you despite
not really knowing that much about you, and
that is why it is crucial to take every single
opportunity that you can to build trust between
you and your prospective customer.
That's why, in my video, 10 Things to Do Before
Dropshipping, I say that it's a really good
idea to run a Facebook Like campaign to your
store's fan page before you've run product
ads.
Why?
Well, it's because those likes on your store's
fan page makes it look more legitimate and
trustworthy to potential buyers.
But there are other ways to make customers
feel like they can trust you, and one of those
ways is through using niche-specific jargon
and slang.
Niche-specific jargon and slang is kind of
like having a secret language, and if someone
else also understands that secret language,
it creates a bond between you and them.
I remember when we were kids that my sister
and I used to speak in a secret language that
only we understood.
[inaudible 00:06:10] and when we met other
kids that knew it, it created a bond between
us and them, but it doesn't just create a
bond between you and the prospective customer.
It also signals to them that you are an expert
in the niche, and it means that they're going
to trust the products that you are selling
more.
For example, if I was trying to sell coffee
accessories, it would be a good idea to try
to work in the names of different types of
espresso drinks, like latte, mocha, macchiato,
Americano, things like that.
Fun fact, my favorite coffee is a long black.
That is a New Zealand and Australia-specific
type of espresso.
It is made by pouring a double shot of espresso
over a small amount of hot water, usually
80 mills.
Every time I come back to New Zealand from
a long trip away, drinking a long black's
pretty much the first thing that I do.
Hack five, paint pictures and overcome obstacles
with pictures.
Pictures can be far more powerful than simply
just showing the prospective customer the
item on sale.
If you use them right, you can do the following
two things.
One, to overcome customer objections.
For those of you that don't know, objections
are when there is something stopping the prospective
customer from buying an item from you.
Let's go again and take this mug.
They like this mug, but they're not sure if
it's going to hold enough coffee for them,
so what you can do is include an image that
shows the image sizing on it.
Two, use pictures to paint a picture to help
the customer visualize.
Another psychological hack to remember is
that if a customer can picture and see themselves
using an item, they are far more likely to
buy it, so don't just include photos in your
image gallery that showcase the product, like
the standard product on a white background
shot, but show the product in a real-life
environment context as well.
It will help the customer visualize themselves
using it in their day-to-day life.
Of course, the reality is, is not all the
products you're going to find on AliExpress
are going to have images like this, and that
is okay.
You don't need these to make sales, but they
do help increase conversions, so if you do
find yourself having success with a product
that has limited stock images available, be
sure to purchase it and to take your own additional
photos.
Hack six, use HD photos so that customers
can zoom in on them.
Amazon have proven that having photos large
enough that a customer can zoom in on them
greatly increases conversions, and it actually
makes sense why it would.
If you've got HD photos of your product on
your site, then it really makes it look like
that you're selling the product and that you
really truly care about it.
After all, if you took the photos yourself,
then surely you would have HD copies of the
photo.
If you've just got standard definition photos
that customers can't zoom in on, then it really
makes it look like that you've just copied
them.
In addition, customers like to see the finer
details of an item before they buy it.
It helps them feel more secure in their purchase,
so don't go to the effort of trying to find
HD versions of stock images that AliExpress
suppliers have created.
Again, this isn't a deal-breaker for a product.
It's just a nice bonus to help you increase
your conversions.
Hack seven, use short product descriptions.
When writing descriptions for products that
you're promoting with Facebook ads or Instagram
ads, it's been shown that usually short product
descriptions convert best.
When a customer is looking at an ad and they
click on it to potentially buy the item, they
are in an impulsive state.
You don't want to distract them with a long
product description, and this is why I usually
recommend that you focus on either paid ads
or free SEO traffic, and you don't try to
do both at the same time.
That's because to perform well in the Google
search engine, you're probably going to have
to be using product descriptions that are
long, at least 400 words, which can distract
the buyers.
Hack eight, use trust words and emblems.
Now, we've already established that jargon
and slang can psychologically trigger feelings
of trust, but there are other ways that you
can do this too.
Some of these you've probably already thought
of and are using.
Some of them, though, may surprise you.
One, credit card companies.
The phrase "Secure checkout with MasterCard
and Visa" is a fantastic example.
Prospective customers recognize these companies
and payment options as ones that they trust,
and by featuring them on your product page,
a bit of their trust rubs off onto you as
well.
That is why when you use Shopify Payments,
they automatically add the credit card emblems
and logo to the photo of your store.
It's because it makes it look trustworthy
and secure.
Two, shipping companies.
Remember, ePacket is a U.S. and China shipping
agreement.
It is USPS that controls ePacket delivery,
so you can use their logo and say that it
is delivered by them.
Three, SSL certificates.
The simple way to describe SSL certificates
is that when installed on a site, they create
a secure connection between the website and
the user's browser.
Basically, it is used to protect users when
they are entering personal private data, especially
credit card information.
For example, you can see that on our sales
page for our step-by-step premium video training
course, The Dropship Club, we have installed
the SSL certificate.
You can tell that because the web address
is https instead of just http.
All Shopify stores include the SSL certificate
by default, which is a really nice bonus.
If you are using one, and if you are accepting
payments on your website with Stripe, you
need to, then you can always use the SSL certificate
emblem on your site.
Four, certification certificates.
If you are ever selling an item that is related
to health or food production, then it is a
very good idea to see if the item is FDA-certified,
and almost always you will find that it will
be.
FDA is the food drug commission in the United
States, and when they certify a product, it
means that they are saying that it is safe
to use and buy.
For example, take this unicorn birthday cake
kit on AliExpress.
Yep, it is amazing what you will find on AliExpress.
Well, a quick check reveals that, yes, surprise,
surprise, this item is certified by the FDA.
It's also certified by other countries and
regions like the European Food Law Commission
and the General Society of Surveillance.
While the General Society of Surveillance
may sound like a spy agency, it's unfortunately
a lot less exciting.
It is a French company that provides inspection,
certification, and testing, but while it may
be less exciting, it's helpful for you, because
now you get to use them in your product listing.
Hack nine, use emotive words.
In both your product ad and your product description,
you should be using emotive words even if
it feels silly to do so.
What is an emotive word?
Well, it's a word that makes you feel something,
and there are three main types of emotions
that I recommend focusing on when writing
your product ad and description.
Emotion one, the feeling of getting a great
deal.
This is the most powerful emotion to evoke
in someone when you're trying to convince
him to purchase something, and as we've already
discussed, this is a key emotion to trigger
when you're trying to get someone to impulse
buy.
Some words that can evoke this feeling are
"limited," "massive," "reduced," "slashed,"
"last chance," and "bonus."
Emotion two, the feeling of curiosity.
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it's
also sold a lot of cat mugs.
When something piques your curiosity, it makes
you want to click on it and find out more.
A related emotion to this is the feeling that
something is unique.
If you don't think that you can get it anywhere
else, you want to check it out.
Some words that can evoke this feeling are
"surprise," "little-known," "bizarre," "odd,"
and "trick."
Emotion three, the feeling of looking good.
Now, remember this mug here.
There were three reasons why people usually
purchased it, and one of them was a personal
reason.
It was because of the fact that drinking out
of it made coffee more fun, but there were
two other reasons, and both of them related
to other people.
Some people go ahead and purchase this mug
because of the fact that other people are
going to think it's cool and they're going
to get a great reaction, whereas others buy
the mug because they think it's going to be
a great gift for their friends or their family.
It's been shown time and time again that one
of the main reasons why people purchase products
is because of social reasons.
We buy things to make us look good.
Why do you think that so many people like
to show off their exotic cars in their videos?
It's because it makes them look good.
Remember, when you're trying to sell products
to someone, think about how you can show them
how it will impact their social status.
Here are some words that can evoke this feeling.
"Epic," "gorgeous," "stunning," "elegant,"
and perhaps the most powerful word of all,
"you."
Yes, "you."
After all, people like to know how this product
is going to make them look good.
Hack 10, "free" is the most powerful word
of all.
Now, you can't always use this word, but if
you get a chance to, it will have a very good
impact on your conversions.
Of course, the best way to utilize it is to
sell products for free, just pay shipping.
Anyone that says this method is dead doesn't
know what they're talking about.
The "free, just pay shipping" model has been
used for years well before dropshippers picked
it up.
The very first time I saw it used was for
survivalist product companies that sell a
mixture of both physical and digital products.
They've been giving away these credit card
survival knives for years, but of course,
the shipping isn't included, but remember,
don't charge more than $9.99 for your shipping,
because once you move from single-digit pricing
to double-digit pricing for shipping, people
tend to figure out what you're doing.
Go ahead and implement these 10 psychological
sales hacks in your store, and see the difference
in conversions.
If you love this video, then we know that
you will love our other dropshipping videos,
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Before you run away, I've got one final hack
for you.
Here at Wholesale Ted, we have a free eBook,
How to Make $10,000 a Month Online with Dropshipping.
You'll find a link on how to download this
free eBook in the video description below.
