The Six Principles of Persuasion Sidebar: Dr. Robert Cialdini is a leader in the field of influence and persuasion, and is the most cited social psychologist in the world today. He’s a Regents’ Professor of Psychology, a W.P. Carey Distinguished Professor of Marketing, and a Distinguished Graduate Research Professor at Arizona State University. He’s also the bestselling author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, and his most recent work, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive, co-authored with Dr. Noah Goldstein and Steve J. Martin.

People have been using salescopy to sell for well over 100 years. More than a century of trial-anderror testing has given us a reliable formula that works — but why does it work? Dr. Robert Cialdini knows. He’s spent his career studying how we are influenced, and has uncovered the science behind the “art of persuasion.” Over 30 years of research, experimentation, and observation led him to six powerful key principles of influence. Salescopy uses them all, and that’s the reason it compels people to buy.

1. Liking People say “yes” to people they like. The two best ways to get people to like you are to show them how you are similar, and to show them that you like them. The first step in writing salescopy is describing the problem your readers have. Right away, you have a chance to demonstrate that you are like them: You understand their problems and know how they feel because you’ve been there. Your life is similar to theirs. Similarities can be found almost anywhere, as in this experiment: In 2005, Dr. Randy Garner mailed out surveys to strangers requesting that they answer and mail the package back. Half of the requests were signed with names similar to the recipients’ (Mr. James received a survey from Mr. Ames, for example), and the other half had dissimilar names. 56% of the similarly-named people filled out and returned the survey, as compared to 30% of dissimilarly-named people. When you write your salescopy, show your readers that not only are you similar to them, you also like them. You feel their frustrations, and you genuinely want to help. Not many people can resist being liked!

2. Authority There’s no way to have a deep knowledge and understanding of everything we do every day — there just isn’t the time. Instead, we follow the lead of experts, even if they ask us to do something we ordinarily wouldn’t. Establishing yourself as an authority is an important step when writing your salescopy. Don’t be shy, brag! Provide your credentials, describe your experience, and offer up testimonials that demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about. In 1974, Dr. Stanley Milgram performed an infamous experiment to show “The Perils of Obedience”: The “authority” figure, dressed in a gray technician’s coat, instructed the “teacher” to question the “learner.” Each time the learner gave an incorrect response, the teacher had to administer an electric shock. With each wrong answer, the intensity of the electric shock grew, up to a deadly 450 volts. Teachers couldn’t see learners, but they could hear learners’ reactions, which escalated to screams, pleading… and eventually ominous silence. (Don’t worry, there was no real shock — both the learner and authority were actors.) Teachers who balked at applying more intensity were verbally prodded by the authority to continue. The final result? 65% of the experiment’s participants administered the final, fatal, 450-volt shock.

Clearly, people who are perceived as authorities have a lot of power and influence. Of course, your expertise has to be related to your product or service. A PhD in biochemistry won’t help you if you sell car sound systems. If you can’t bring your own expertise to the table, bring someone else’s! Quote studies and experts (the way Dr. Cialdini does) and show how their findings contributed to your own.

3. Social Proof People rely on others for cues on how to think and act. When faced with a decision, we look to social evidence of the best course of action. According to Dr. Cialdini, “One of the fundamental lessons of human psychology is that people follow the crowd.” Seems obvious enough; here’s some proof: Dr. Cialdini performed an experiment with the collaboration of the management of an upscale Phoenix, Arizona hotel. In it, hotel guests were offered four different rationales for reusing their towels: 1. “Help save the environment” 2. “Help save resources for future generations” 3. “Partner with us to help save the environment” 4. “Join your fellow citizens in helping to save the environment” Compared to the first three messages, the final “Social Proof” message increased towel reuse by an average of 34%. The simplest way to use the social proof principle in your marketing is to include testimonials, and the more the better! Show your customers how lots of other people — people just like themselves — have benefited from your product, service, or expertise. For maximum effect, make sure your testimonials are descriptive; provide a full name, business name, and URL or physical location; and be sure to ask permission before using customer comments.

4. Consistency and Commitment People want to back up their thoughts, values, and beliefs with actions that demonstrate their commitment to those ideas. They want to appear consistent in their thoughts and actions. In salescopy, you can take advantage of this desire for consistency when you transfer ownership. For example, instead of writing: “These bath oils have a delicate scent and are packed with moisturizers.”

Make it personal with: “These bath oils will wrap you in delicate scent and leave your skin as soft and smooth as a baby’s.” Transferring ownership makes your reader think of your product or service as their own. This personal experience makes them more receptive because they have already begun to think of themselves as a customer, which means they are more likely to behave like one! In 1987, social psychologist Anthony Greenwald selected a sample of unregistered voters. These potential voters were contacted by phone and offered information on how to register to vote. Half of them were then asked if they planned to vote, and the other half were not. 100% of those asked said that they would vote. On election day, 87.5% of the voters who were asked for a commitment to vote showed up, compared to only 64.3% of the voters who were not asked. One more thing: Studies show that the older we get, the more we value consistency. If your target market is made up of older people, stress the consistent values connecting earlier actions and purchases with the actions or purchases you want them to make now.

5. Reciprocity If you do something for me, I feel obligated to do something for you — even if I didn’t ask you for a favor in the first place. Treating people the way that we are treated is a universal human tendency. “The implication is that you have to go first,” says Dr. Cialdini, “Give something: Give information, give free samples, give a positive experience to people and they will want to give you something in return.” It’s not just for goods and services; you can change behavior this way, too. To illustrate just how effective this is: In 2005, Dr. Randy Garner published four studies that tested whether people are more likely to fill out and return a survey if the survey was accompanied by a sticky note asking them to do it. Garner tested all the variations, but what it boils down to is that 76% of those who got a sticky note request filled in and returned the survey as compared to a measly 36% of those who didn’t. The sticky note was seen as a personal request, which prompted a reciprocal response: “If someone has taken the effort to write that note, the least I can do is comply.” When you’re writing salescopy, keep this important lesson in mind, and offer benefits, pile on the bonuses, and finally, ask for the order.

6. Scarcity We want what the other guy has, and we want it RIGHT NOW, especially if he’s got the only one. The harder it is to attain something, and the more competition there is for it, the more attractive we find it, and the more urgently we want it! Here’s the scarcity principle in action: In 1985, the Coca-Cola company switched from their old recipe to “the new taste of Coca-Cola. “It seemed like a good idea at the time: In blind taste tests New Coke invariably outperformed the original recipe, and when taste testers knew which sample was a new potential recipe, they liked it even better!” Well, it turned out to be “the marketing fiasco of the century.” New Coke lasted only 77 days. The public demanded a return to the original recipe. So what happened? One problem was that Coke executives had overlooked the scarcity principle. “When people know what it is they can’t have, their desire for it will shoot up,” Dr. Cialdini explains, “Later, when the company replaced the traditional recipe with the new one, it was the old Coke that people couldn’t have, so it became the favorite.” As you get to the end of your salescopy, you want to build urgency by stressing scarcity. For example, “Only 127 124 left!” or, “I won’t be able to offer this great price after December 3rd!” Of course, this only works if you actually do take the offer down when you say you will.

The six principles of influence work best when you combine them, so when you’re putting your salescopy together it’s worth checking to make sure you have all six bases covered. In the long salesletter formula, they’re put together this way: 1. Establish the problem and identify with the reader (Liking) 2. Establish your credibility as an expert (Authority) 3. Include testimonials (Social Proof) 4. Transfer ownership to the reader (Consistency) 5. Pile on the bonuses (Reciprocity) 6. Establish urgency (Scarcity) These principles are so effective that Dr. Cialdini always takes the time to note that the rules of ethics apply to the science of social influence, just as they do to any technology. “Legitimate expertise, genuine obligations, authentic similarities, real social proof, exclusive news, and freely made commitments produce choices that are likely to benefit both parties,” he says, “and any approach that works to everyone’s mutual benefit is good business.” We’ve known that salescopy is good business for over a century — now we know why.