Leadership guru John Maxwell defines a leader as someone who has followers. And the way one gets followers is through influence.
The study of leadership and the science of influence are required reading for politicians and CEOs.
But what about marketers?
It trns out there’s a lot of crossover between the leadership and marketing fields. Both seek to leverage the power of presence to influence human behaviors.
In marketing, your followers are your audience, and your authority is the basis of your influence in their lives.
Today I want to look at six ways you can effectively influence your audience through your marketing in order to increase your conversion rate for getting clients. Some of these persuasion techniques are relatively simple and straightforward and you can implement them today. Others, however, will require integration into your marketing strategy, time, and grit.
If you need to, take a moment to grab some coffee so we can get right into this.
When using the science of influence, be persuasive and ethical at the same time
I believe one of the reasons people have a negative reaction when they hear the word “marketing” is because of ethical concerns. Marketing and business leverage the science of persuasion to influence others in their marketing campaigns. Whether we’re looking at large corporations or small business owners, their business and marketing goals revolve around sales. After all, that’s how they stay in business.
So, what people are concerned about is the power of sales and marketing techniques to manipulate and prey upon them. After all the psychology of influence is grounded in behavioral science that can affect us at a deep level without us even knowing about it.
Given this, is there any wonder people are concerned about “marketing”?
Is it possible to use persuasion science to manipulate people aginst their will? Yes, and some in the marketing world do that.
Here’s what I say to that: Don’t.
Always make sure your marketing efforts include effective and ethical influence as a goal. You never want to manipulate someone against their will or best interests. You should never use people to build up your bottom line.
Rather, use your marketing to connect with other people who may be the best fit for your products and services. Prove to them you have what they need. Earn their trust over time.
As you apply these principles below, remember that effective marketing strategies will influence people, and it is your responsibility to make sure the influence remains ethical.
1. Become an expert in your niche worthy of the leading position
If you want to lead, you have to be an expert at whatever it is that you’re doing, have an alternative vision of possibility, be able to communicate, and be trustworthy.
That means you need tangible skills. If you don’t have the skills to make happen what you need to make happen, you won’t be able to lead.
Of course, the skills are relative to the task at hand. At a most basic level, consider this…
When you need your car fixed, who do you go to?
When you need financial advice, who do you go to?
When you need help with your marketing, who do you go to? (Here’s the marketing agency I personally recommend.)
If you want to become the go-to person in your niche, you want to become a thought leader. To accomplish this, you need to work on multiple levels better directly related to those leadership skills.
Field Expertise
Bottom line: you need to know what you’re talking about. You have to know more than the basics. Learn more than one way to address problems because you need to demonstrate that you have a deep understanding of your field. Expect to invest a lot of time and energy into your education as you read books, watch videos, and take online courses. This takes time to build.
Vision
You have to see a unique path forward. While others in your field are all going in a certain direction because that’s what everybody else is doing, you are blazing your own trail forward. And you can do this because you see the big picture, understand emerging trends, and can leverage them to take your clients places that others cannot. This takes time and exposure to the field. And a culminates in your signature system. (If you don’t have a signature system yet, I strongly recommend you join the Automagic Business Academy.)
Communication
You need to communicate clearly and effectively your expertise and vision of possibility for potential clients. This means a strong ability to write to an audience, speak to an audience, and draw out desire from your audience. Fine-tuned communication skills are a must. This takes study and practice to develop.
Credibility
Why should people believe you have what it takes to help them? This can come through years of experience in the field, specialized credentials, or any type of proven track record that demonstrates you are reliable and trustworthy. Reputation matters. This takes time and experience with clients to build
Becoming a thought leader doesn’t happen overnight. You have to be intentional about it, and the way you go about it can speed up or slow down the process
If you are relatively new in your niche, make becoming a thought leader one of your primary goals. Don’t put it off, because the longer you do that, the longer it will take to get you there
One of your keys to success is content marketing. By generating the right kind of valuable content, you can demonstrate all of those qualities to your potential customers. And, as you build your library over time, the more you become a thought leader in your niche.
2. Use reciprocity to influence consumer behavior
Leaders are all about empowerment. When they empower their followers to excel, that triggers a certain emotional reaction within their base. And it all goes back to the saying…
“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
Since the beginning of humanity, people have gathered in groups for safety and growth. Social norms developed over time that help keep us safe and strong. One of those is a tendency toward reciprocity.
The tendency toward reciprocity is a cognitive bias that says whenever somebody does something for you that you find helpful, you naturally feel a sense of obligation to do something for them in return.
If you’ve ever heard Gary Vaynerchuk recommend that in your marketing you “give, give, give, ask,” this is the psychology of persuasion he’s asking you to tap into.
I realize that many might see giving like this in light of marketing techniques as a manipulative venture. After all, you’re ultimately trying to persuade others to do something for you, which is make a purchase.
This is not how I see it. I see it as an excellent way to earn trust. In order to earn trust, you have to give something of real value to your audience, otherwise they are not going to be interested when you finally ask them to buy something in return. So it’s really about giving in order to create genuine connection.
One way to give to your audience is to offer free products. A lead magnet is a great option. If you have a subscription product, a free trial will work. By offering your freebie, you let people experience what you have to offer (whether products or services) so that they can determine whether it’s what they’re looking for risk-free.
Alternatively, you could give your audience free insights. Regular insight bombs on social media work great for this. They keep seeing your wisdom pop up again, and again on their feeds. Free, weekly, topical newsletters work similarly. Or, maybe you can create long-form YouTube videos that go more in-depth in a topic. When you get closer to a possible sale, some form of free clarity call might be in order, so that you can actually help them so they can determine whether or not you are a good match.
Don’t forget that reciprocity is a two-way street. When people interact with you especially in public, make sure you respond. Don’t leave them hanging and feeling ignored. Consider their responses to you to be an invitation to a deeper relationship.
3. Leverage storytelling for a stronger emotional bond
Tell stories. The stories they tell are meant to draw in their followers so they can relate to and embrace the vision. In fact, stories are a primary communication tool for any great leader.
We all love stories.
In fact, in 2023, Americans spent $8,968,584,608 on movie tickets alone
Yes, almost 9 billion dollars!
Stories sell. So, learn how to tell a great tale and spin a good yarn
Think about how powerful stories are in your own life to facilitate a strong sense of connection
Imagine watching a moving where an actor is climbing along the side of a building. Looking down they get scared. As you watch, you start to share in their fear
But why? You aren’t in any danger whatsoever
There’s a scientific explanation. Our brains have “mirror neurons”. These mirror neurons allow us to imagine what’s happening with someone else as if it were happening to us. It’s foundational to empathy.
You can leverage that strong sense of personal connection through story for your brand
One way to do this is by telling your origin story. Your business probably emerged from the experience of solving a problem. Talk about how you struggled with the problem. Share your difficulties and failures through multiple attempts. Reveal how you emerged successfully and turned your solution into your system. When you put this all on display, everyone out there who has a similar problem will be able to relate to you and see how you’ve been where they are now and discovered a path forward
You can share your various stories through a variety of different media. The one that seems to be working best right now is video. It’s a great way to put a face and a voice on your business, which amplifies it’s personalization and facilitates a stronger connection with viewers.
Whenever you use social proof (such as testimonials and success stories) you leverage connection through story as their driving force. When former clients talk about their own experience with working with you and they reveal how you uniquely helped them achieve their goals, readers realize these are people who are similar to them who struggled with the same problems and were also looking for similar solutions. If you could help all those other people, why should potential clients believe you can’t help them? All forms of social proof tap into the power of story, and I recommend you implement them in your marketing solutions.
While writing your stories, remember that it’s not about self-promotion, but about human connection. Stories are about building bridges of empathy so that others can feel what it’s like to work with you.
4. Humanize through vulnerability and transparency
If you are a leader, you are recognized as the one with the vision and a path forward. But you also have to be relatable to your followers so that they understand that you really get them and have their best interests at heart. That means you have to be a human being just like them.
A major leadership lesson: You are not perfect. Don’t pretend to be.
We’ve seen the ads with images of the perfect couple, the perfect family, and the perfect life. We all understand that they are meant to inspire possibility
But, let’s face it, we’re tired of two-dimensional images of perfection. We just don’t relate to them because perfection isn’t part of what it means to be human. And, if we don’t relate to them, we aren’t going to be able to trust them.
In today’s digital world, people yearn for authentic human connection. You can’t have human connection without sharing in human struggles, flaws, and failures
Your ideal clients want to work with a human being, someone who gets what it’s like to be “normal”. The best way to share your normalness with them is by being vulnerable
Be transparent as a person and let people peek behind the curtain of who you really are
Don’t be afraid to talk about your failures. You tried this, and it didn’t work. So you adapted, and that didn’t work either. But grit kept you going, and now you have succeeded. People know that the School of Hard Knocks is one of the best ways to learn
It’s okay to talk about your flaws. If you struggle with time management, own it and share how you work around it. If you struggle with organization, own it and share how you work around it. Whatever it is that you struggle with, let your audience know that you are a real human they can relate to and share how they might also overcome their flaws
Be transparent as a business so they know whether you are a good match for them
Tell your origin story of how your business came into being
Share your values publicly so everyone knows what you stand for
Identify the causes your business supports. After all, we live in an age where people are drawn to brands that embrace social responsibility in ways they care about
Reveal how you handle customer concerns. When you get a questionable review online, write your response in a way that demonstrates your approach to readers.
Of course, there is such a thing as “oversharing”. So make sure that you stay on-brand with your vulnerability and transparency.
5. Build loyalty one connection at a time
One of the things leaders quickly discover is the value of FaceTime. When you spend time with someone, even if it’s just a short window of time, it makes that person feel valued and empowered. That relationship experience strengthens their bond with you.
That bond in marketing manifests as brand loyalty. Acquiring brand loyalty is the pinnacle of marketing achievement. Your raving fans will choose you over your competition every single time and even become evangelists for your brand.
It’s vital to realize that brand loyalty results from a sense of relationship, not assumed achievement.
Let’s be honest, there are surely others out there who could also help your ideal clients solve their problems. So, there’s no real reason for them to not keep shopping around even after they’ve worked with you.
But, if you have established a strong relationship, they are likely to ignore your competitors, even if they offer better deals. At the end of the day, thanks to the relationship you’ve built, they want to work specifically with you and only you.
Think about it this way…
Why do people join online communities? Because they have a problem to solve and they need help.
Why do they stay? Because of the relationships they have formed.
This also applies to your brand’s relationship with your audience.
Think of your audience as your community. This community can take the form of an actual online community, interactions around social media posts, or even through chat during your online public events.
Online communities aren’t one-sided broadcasts, they are conversations. They are about people sharing space and talking with one another. There’s give and take.
I’m a huge fan of email marketing. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of room for back-and-forth conversations through email blasts. When leveraging more public platforms, however, there is.
Social media and online communities are great for this. Don’t just focus your efforts on posting new material. Make sure to participate in a way that adds value to ongoing conversations outside of the channels you run.
Typically, when people see you interact with them outside of your own zone, they use what they see to evaluate whether they want to check you out. Eventually, their activity in other sectors can spill over into your own. People you’ve interacted with as individuals elsewhere start interacting with you as a business.
Start marketing with a community-oriented mindset. Rather than thinking about it as you offering something to an audience, think about what you do as a series of interactions that invite response and a two-way conversation.
6. Remain consistent as a marketer
Years ago, I remember one of my mentors saying to me, “When you get to the point where you are so sick of saying your vision that you feel like if you say it one more time you’re going to vomit, that’s when you double down on it.”
Perhaps thee hardest thing to do in marketing is is remain consistent. Yet, it’s one of the most vital activities if you want to succeed.
Remember, it takes a person an average of seven times before they are truly interested in pursuing you through your marketing
Yes, you have other things to do that are important in your business. But marketing is not one of those things you want to take off your plate in order to make room for other things.
Your marketing is what gets you clients. Your clients are what make you money. Your marketing is directly related to your bottom line and the survival of your business.
If you want to remain consistent in your marketing, something that can help is simplifying what you do.
Use a content calendar. This will allow you to plan content creation. Knowing when your content needs to go out allows you to set aside larger blocks of time so that you can create the content ahead of time and schedule it. Once you’ve scheduled it, you don’t have to worry about it. Content calendars free up your time and reduce your stress.
You can also schedule your social outreach. Remember how I mentioned you need to be engaging in conversations with others online? If you don’t block time for that, you run the danger of getting derailed constantly throughout your day. So to start time and an end time. Outside of that, don’t let social media become a distraction that prevents you from getting other work done.
If you focus on quality over quantity, you’ll find that you will spend less time generating content, which makes it easier to remain consistent. If you were topics, more focus, more power, more results.
Use data so you know what’s working and what isn’t. Data is a way that you can listen to what your audience is saying about your content. If they are not responding to a certain kind of content, you don’t have to spend time on it. Instead, spend your time and energy on what the data shows they want to hear from you.
Too often coaches, entrepreneurs, and service business owners are not consistent mainly because they are not efficient. If you are efficient and what you do, it will free up a ton of time so that you can lockdown enough time for your marketing.
Explore topics beyond your norm to leverage the principles of influence and set yourself apart from the competition
Sometimes valuable insights come from outside the circles you typically move in. While the field of leadership is not the same as the field of marketing, we can learn a lot from it when it comes to influencing your audience is behaviors in a way that strengthens your mission as an entrepreneur.
Part of the lesson here is don’t be afraid to step outside your niche to learn more. Explore topics in potentially related fields. Since understanding persuasion will help you with your marketing, consider everything that might go into it. Sales would be a great one. What about personality types and their different motivations? Educational theory might be another. There are many fields that leverage the power of persuasion. And, learning about something different gives you a different perspective into what you do (which moves you down the path of becoming an expert).
From principles of persuasion to putting it into practice
Understanding these principles and learning about how to influence your audience plays a pivotal role in growing your business. And the key word there is “pivot”.
Now you need to pivot from reading and learning to putting it all into practics and making a significant difference in how well your business performs.
If you are a coach, service business owner, or entrepreneur, who is ready for that next step, check out the Automagic Business Academy. It has everything you need (and more) to take your business to the next level.
Learn how to become a thought leader, how to leverage automation, and even how to use AI to increase your effectiveness as you create business strategies and marketing materials. And, don’t forget, you will get live access to Heather regularly so you can ask her your marketing questions and get answers.
Heather designed this amazing program by tapping into more than a decade of experience helping entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses. She can help you, just like she helped them. Believe me when I say…
This program is exactly what you need.
What Should You Read Next?
Bo is the community manager for Wise Owl Marketing. He also helps with email marketing and content creation. Outside of Wise Owl, Bo owns his own dog-training business. When it’s time to relax, he prefers to simply spend time with his two dogs, Loki and Lugh, aka the “#McBuppies.”
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