Online Marketing and Cyberpsychology

In order to be successful in marketing today, there is so much more than just a catchy headline and persuading copy. The days of a ‘one size fits all’ mass marketing approach is over. The reality is that technology has changed the way we all think, how we gather information, and a whole new set of decision-making processes. When marketing online there are so many factors at play; including cyberpsychology. Cyberpsychology is the study of the interaction between humans and computer technology and how it affects us for better or for worse. In other words, it is the study of how we interact with each other in a virtual environment.

The cyberworld is growing faster than ever before and we have now got to take into account the psychology behind each individual digital touch that we make with the humans we communicate with.

In order for us to continue to be successful online marketers, we have got to pick up clues about what makes our audience tick and tailor our marketing approaches based on cyberpsychology.

How cyberpsychology helps marketing:

Some cyberpsychological factors to consider when online marketing: When designing a website, the colors and fonts used can play an important role in the way that site is perceived. Studies have shown how certain color combinations can influence a customer’s opinion of a product or service. For example, red is a color of excitement, which might make the reader more likely to take action. Likewise, other colors provide different connotations to their desired audience. For a company looking for consumers with a conservative nature, black is an ideal choice of color because it looks serious and professional while also being trendy and stylish.

Fonts can have even more psychological implications than simply being the way we display text. There are certain fonts that make you perceive the sender as more trustworthy, successful, attractive, or intelligent. Research shows that italics and script fonts tend to give off this impression because they are less controlled than regular font styles (regular and block letters). For example, italicized words can make a company appear more artistic or innovative whereas script makes them look warmhearted and friendly.

The way something is worded also plays an important role in the psychology of marketing. Certain words create a particular image or impression of the business behind it. For example, “we promise” creates a sense of trust between a customer and the business whereas “coupons” bring up negative connotations like bargain-hunting and penny-pinching.

The position of call to action buttons is also very important. It is no surprise that the most popular position (physically) for the call to action buttons is at the bottom, right corner, just above the fold. That spot has been proven to be the best place for them in many successful marketing campaigns.

The checkout experience is also a place where cyberpsychology pays off. The checkout process can be split into three stages:

1) Shipping information (which is the most painful part of buying online)

2) Billing information

3) E-commerce security questions and final order confirmation.

How easy, intuitive, and trustworthy the person feels about the process of providing those three sets of information influences cart abandonment.

The cyberpsychology behind the most popular checkout process is that it follows the natural flow of human cognitive steps for filling in the blanks on forms (as shown to us by Fitts Law ). This reduces cognitive load and makes people feel good about their experience.

The final confirmation page offers a nice, subtle cyberpsychological hack — the ‘continue’ button. The word continue is another cyberpsychologist element — we are hardwired to ignore information with two or more words in bold, but absolutely love single-word buttons. As you are building your website wireframe, keep this fact in mind.

One last example of cyberpsychology and its effect on marketing is how companies can choose to use more humane technologies for good. There is little argument about how the internet can become addicting to many people and be the source of mental distraction, anxiety, and stress. By realizing this, and by creating algorithms using Ai and big data, marketers can work together to create an better cyber environment by, for example, limiting cyber distraction.

A feature that does this is called the “Do Not Disturb” or DND mode on Apple’s iOS devices. It allows you to set a time limit on when messages are allowed and notifications from apps won’t appear until after that amount of time has passed. This feature can be especially useful if you know you want to focus on an activity like work or studying without any cyber distraction.

In summary, it is a rapidly changing world, and cyberpsychology is becoming more important to marketing than ever. It can assist marketers in creating more focused and successful marketing, but also more humane marketing. And we can all use more of that!