Have you ever realized that when you have to choose between products you’ve never seen before and those you’ve seen before but have never tried, you’ll go for the latter? Furthermore, you’ll do so without reading reviews or getting feedback from those you trust.That’s called instinct. When we have to make decisions, we choose something familiar, no matter how vague. And many brands bank on this instinct; it’s the primary reason commercial advertisements are repeated so many times until every second and detail of the ad is ingrained in our memories. As a result, we start to have a positive preference towards the item, which we also retain through repetition.That phenomenon is known as the “Mere Exposure Effect.” You can leverage this in your marketing approach. Continue reading to find out how.Are you wondering how you can guide website visitors to the right products? The conversion specialists at Ampry can help you send first-time web visitors to your best-selling commercial products. They can also help you leverage quiz-style popups to guide the right audience to the right products.Click here to schedule a customized strategy call with one of our experienced conversion experts.
What Is the Mere Exposure Effect?
The mere exposure effect, also known as the familiarity principle, is how an individual’s preference for something, including a product, person, or song, rises because of how familiar they’re with it. That means the more you see or experience something, the more favorable your feelings will be towards the person or product. This phenomenon explains why we often prefer music or songs we’ve previously listened to and are less comfortable about listening to new music or songs. The mere exposure effect is a crucial reason why advertisements can positively affect our tendency to purchase commercial products, even if we’re not consciously paying attention. Repeated exposure to an ad means you’re likely to become more familiar with a product or brand name. So when you next come across the brand or product, it’ll be more familiar to you, and that familiarity makes you like it, and your propensity to make a purchase increases more than before you were exposed to the advert.
What Are Ways I Can Use This to Increase On-Site Conversion?
Here are six ways you can leverage this principle successfully to increase on-site conversions:
1. Display What is Already Popular/Familiar on Your Landing Page
As the familiarity principle suggests, more familiarity with a product or brand name is crucial in influencing consumer decisions. Thus, exposing your products to potential customers will increase their purchase odds. Landing pages are often the most visited pages on any ecommerce website. So, you must consider the products you display on your landing page. Often, the most effective way is to display your best-selling products. Displaying popular products on your landing pages ensures website visitors instantly see what they’re familiar with. However, avoid only displaying new products or services on your landing pages because web visitors won’t be familiar with them, which may increase your bounce rates. However, that doesn’t mean you bombard potential customers with messages or products to which you want them to be exposed to. Instead, be subtle with your content marketing strategies and limit yourself to one message at a time to avoid visual clutter, which can cause cognitive strain, undermining your entire digital marketing strategy.
2. Leverage Google Ads Display Ads
Although you can use search ads to make the most of the mere exposure effect, it’s a costly approach. However, don’t let that get in your way if you have the budget. Dominating the first page with Google Ads and the top three spots in the organic listings of popular search engines is a brilliant way to trigger the mere exposure effect.Also, you can bid on your competitors’ branded keywords to sneak your products and brand name into the mix and get the ball rolling.If these strategies are too much for your digital marketing budget, then you can leverage Display Network to target web visitors with visual ads based on the sites they visit. For instance, you can target users searching for new phones through gadget insurance ads. Or you can target freelancers looking for WordPress themes through ads for specialist hosting.
3. Make Use of Social Media and Sharing
Social media is a popular digital marketing tool for businesses looking to create brand awareness and expose their products or services to larger audiences.Most social media apps have “discover more pages” where social media users can view different accounts with the help of algorithms that cater to their preferences. As a result, brands that have a significant social media presence can drive more qualified traffic to their websites. Potential customers also become exposed to their products even without visiting their site. And eventually, prospective customers become familiar with these brands and their products, increasing their chances of making a purchase. Another way you can leverage social media to make the most of the mere exposure effect is using social media ads, which makes it possible for your brand to connect with the right audience. So even though social media users don’t click the ad, they’ll still be exposed to your products.
4. Leverage Push Notifications and Banners
Banners and push notifications are an excellent way to expose potential customers to specific products. Especially if the products are customized to suit the customer’s preferences, there’s a high chance the customer will make a purchase even if it’s not what they need. Push notifications and banners can increase customer engagement significantly. When used as part of a digital marketing strategy, such notifications are a crucial channel for alerts and information, improving conversion rates. But unfortunately, consumers find push notifications annoying and spammy. That’s because mass broadcasting a notification is often irrelevant and ineffective. To push notifications and banners effectively and get maximum benefits, focus on delivering contextually relevant and high-quality content to the right customers at the right time, without spamming your audience.
5. Make Sure Your Logo is Visible on All Steps of the Customer Journey and Focus on Consistent Branding
To reap maximum benefits from the mere exposure effect and skyrocket your conversion rates, you must display your logo on all user journeys, like your sign-up form. Consistent branding is also vital. Consistency is the number one strategy for boosting your brand awareness. Consumers often respond negatively to a change, especially if it’s aimless and frequent.Purposefully rebranding is fine, but don’t change your logo and brand image regularly. Your target customers should be able to recognize your brand in 20 or 50 years.A perfect example of consistent branding is Coca-Cola, whose brand image and logo haven’t changed significantly since its establishment. Do you know that 94% of the global population recognizes Coca-Cola’s logo?Other aspects of consistent branding besides the logo include a brand image and voice in content marketing. Of course, every platform you communicate on has its unique “zing,” but that doesn’t mean you deviate too much from the basics you set in your branding process.
6. Use Ampry to Create Easy Paths for Sales to Occur
Our proven sales process (engaging, capturing, and converting leads to buyers) has generated positive results for many brands in today’s competitive market. In addition, we focus on delivering customized website visitor experiences that are optimized to drive sales. Our conversion rate optimization journey focuses on three fundamental steps:
Engage
Our conversion specialists can help you strengthen relationships with your target customers during this process. The goal is to capture initial web visitors using digital marketing strategies more likely to yield the desired results. For example, we can increase your conversion rates by sending first-time web visitors directly to your most popular products.Also, our software can direct the attention of returning customers to new products or products they’re likely to purchase based on your customer analytics. With our conversion software, you can leverage quiz-style popups to determine what your potential customers are interested in. This enhances the customer experience and ultimately improves your conversions by guiding customers to the products or services they need.
Capture
The second phase of our conversion optimization approach focuses on building consumer trust. Through extensive experimentation and A/B testing, our conversion specialists have identified what it takes to convert a visitor on your site into a subscriber or lead. Our conversion experts can help you build long-term relationships with your potential customers using high-performing sign-up forms, pages, and popups.
Convert
The final stage of our conversion rate optimization strategy is about reaping maximum benefits from your leads. However, CRO isn’t just about reaping full benefits from your digital marketing budget by generating more one-time purchases. With our help, you can offer meaningful consumer experiences that help you build a pool of long-term loyal customers.At Ampry, we leverage strategic nudges like popups and timed discounts to convince your web visitors to make more purchases. With our conversion rate optimization strategy, you can encourage your customers to make more purchases, boosting your customer lifetime value. Schedule a personalized strategy call today to learn how our conversion specialists can help you create customized web experiences using popups, social proof notifications, banners, and on-page embeds to generate more sales.