5 persuasive copywriting techniques borrowed from psychology

Psychology also helps to understand better our psyche concerning the performance of a specific action! This is essential in the world of persuasive copywriting. Discover with us the 5 copy techniques borrowed from psychological theories!

To optimize the conversion rate and improve the results achieved with your texts, it is necessary to make the most of persuasive copywriting techniques.

Indeed, persuasion and the resulting conversion go hand in hand.

Convincing visitors who come to your site to sign up for the newsletter, share a post, and make a purchase is necessary to get results with your online business.

Surely you have heard several times about persuasive copywriting and how it can be exploited to be able to engage readers and users who browse your website or e-commerce more easily.

In this guide, however, we want to refer specifically to 5 useful tricks borrowed from psychology that can amplify the persuasive power of your copy without it becoming “deceptive” and with the right amount of user involvement capacity.

The rhyme effect for short persuasive copy

When making a short persuasive copy, like a slogan or ad, you need to consider using rhyme.

In fact, when two words or phrases rhyme, people have a better chance of believing in the message.

The rhyme effect is related to the heuristic of fluidity; in a nutshell, we are much more influenced by the easy-to-understand and palatable messages we encounter when we read short and effective slogans or copy.

According to a study conducted by Matthew McGlone described in Psychology Today, some students reading a list of phrases, some rhyming and some instead without any assonance between them, believed the phrases that rhymed to be more truthful than those that did not match each other.

Therefore, persuasive copy that rhymes are considered more truthful and remembered more easily.

Let’s take some examples of brands that have used this technique in their slogans, creating effective phrases that everyone remembers:

“The highest, the purest, very smooth”

“Beltè. There really isn’t any tastier.”

“Five minutes, only five you will see: you will fall in love with Palatine!”

“Raw or cooked? Granbiscotto”

“Burns, for those who are not satisfied with NPI.”

All these slogans, which have been very successful, have been created with rhyming. The message is simple but persuasive, immediate, and can be remembered without problems.

Even on the web, this rule applies! Whether it’s for the copy of a video advertising slogan for social media, for the title or closing of a newsletter, or for the copy for your website, don’t underestimate the use of rhymes!

The Bizarre Effect in Persuasive Copywriting

Another effect to consider when choosing to create persuasive copywriting text is the so-called “Bizarre Effect. ” 

The bizarre effect defines how: unusual and unfamiliar copy mixed with common words is easier to remember.

A 1995 psychological study found that people were better able to remember messages received when bizarre names or situations were used with common words within a standard sentence.

Basically, to get the bizarre effect, you have to build a short sentence with common words, which, however, stand out through the insertion of unusual words.

Like the distinction effects in general, the bizarre effect derives from processes that operate in the moment of memory retrieval.

In short, a copy that uses this technique offers a much simpler message to recall when needed.

This effect is caused by the tendency and human interest in new information, for the stranger and more unusual information better than trivial information.

For example, it is difficult to remember boring academic information, while it is easier to remember stories with imaginative and unusual elements.

So, you can take advantage of unusual elements within your copy while remembering to mix them best in a structure with a simple periphrasis.

Cognitive Fluidity

If you are going to write a longer copywriting text, you have to rely on cognitive fluency.

According to Princeton University psychologist Oppenheimer: Dysfluence works as a cognitive alarm. It triggers a sense of worry and risk.

On the contrary, correct cognitive fluidity allows you to create a simpler and more immediate connection with the reader, even when trying to explain complex elements.

How does this translate into the world of web copywriting?

Simple: You have to resist the urge to write slang sentences that lead to an influence and proceed to create instead of simple but credible and effective sentences.

If it is simple to understand, it is credible; the user will take the desired action if it is credible.

When optimizing the text of a copy or a website, you have to use the 5-second rule.

If the user takes more than five seconds to process what you are saying, they will not continue reading, or in any case, they will not be able to take the desired action.

On the other hand, if the text is immediately understandable, he is naturally invited to go on reading. Clarity wins persuasion.

The illusion of the truth effect

The bias that activates and improves the CRO of your copy, known as the “Effect of the Illusion of Truth,” defines how the degree of familiarity of information increases when it is repeated over time, regardless of the truth or not represented by it.

The effect was defined by an experiment conducted by Goldstein, Hasher, and Toppino in 1977.

The subjects involved received 60 claims that might have seemed plausible but were not true in the study.

People had to rate the various statements by defining whether or not they were true on a scale of one to seven.

The experiment was repeated three times, two weeks apart. A third of the statements were always the same, while the others changed.

The researchers found that repeated exposure to the statements raised the level of credibility.

Subjects rated the repeated statements with a higher truth score than the others.

The illusion of the true effect is actually very simple to understand as a concept: the more you hear a message, the more likely the user is to believe that this is true.

To create a message that repeats itself over time, you can take advantage of the various available web marketing tools such as sending e-mails and your newsletter, retargeting, and social media.

The message must be familiar and conveyed through various media and channels your potential customers use.

The illusion of the truth effect does not mean that you have to copy and paste a certain message across all your channels.

But more than anything else, you always have to say the same concept, but with different words and sequential messages on the various channels.

Effect of serial position

Finally, the last effect that can be exploited to improve one’s persuasive copywriting is the effect of the serial position.

This effect defines how some elements are remembered better than others, depending on where they are placed.

People generally remember what they saw first or last, while they can hardly remember what they saw in between.

The studies on the effect of the serial position have been very many. Generally, this has a relevant value in the decision-making process.

But how can you make the most of this effect for your copy? Simple, you have to think about what information you want to remain most impressed in the minds of users.

That information should make up the top and bottom of the copy.

In the central part, on the other hand, you can take advantage of the space to deepen the topic, to provide them with more information without forgetting to always give greater prominence to the initial part of the copy and to the final one to involve them and lead them to carry out an action.

Conclusion

Psychology offers countless ideas to be able to improve the action and persuasion of your copy. This is because the psyche itself is interested in the decision-making process.

They know how a person decides whether or not to take any action is, therefore, essential to add better results in terms of conversions and sales.