Psych London 2014

THINGS 
WE TOOK 
FROM PSYCH
LONDON 2014
Applying psychological thinking to real world marketing
37

consideredcontent.com
2014.CHINWAGPSYCH.COM »

1 consideredcontent.com
TO MAKE YOUR
CONTENT REALLY
PERSUASIVE, YOU  
NEED TO UNDERSTAND
YOUR AUDIENCE’S
EMOTIONAL CONTEXT

PEOPLE DON’T BUY  
FOR FUNCTIONAL
REASONS ANY MORE  
– THERE’S SIMPLY TOO
MUCH CHOICE

THE FIRST BANNER  
AD GOT OVER 70%
CLICKTHROUGH

PEOPLE OFTEN  
JUST DON’T KNOW  
WHAT THEY WANT

TODAY’S BRANDS  
ARE UP AGAINST SOME
INSANELY CONNECTED
INDIVIDUALS IN THE  
WAR FOR CUSTOMERS’
ATTENTION ONLINE

WE ARE WIRED TO  
RID OURSELVES OF
MARKETING POLLUTION.
!
CONTENT MUST BE
NOURISHING, NOT
POLLUTING.

TOO MANY BRANDS
ARE PAYING MONEY
TO MAKE PEOPLE
HATE THEM

START WITH CONTENT,
NOT PLATFORMS

THE DEFAULT POSITION
OF MANY BRAND
STORIES IS:
 
“Let’s talk about me.”
!
THIS IS THE OPPOSITE
OF WHAT WORKS.

10consideredcontent.com
DONE WELL, STORIES
CREATE EMOTIONAL
JOURNEYS. THEY BUILD
BRAND CUES AND
ASSOCIATIONS AND
MAKE INFORMATION
MORE COMPELLING.

EMOTION IS KEY  
TO EFFECTIVE
STORYTELLING, IT RUBS
OFF ON THE BRAND

THE EASIER IT IS TO
THINK OF SOMETHING,
THE MORE IMPORTANT
YOU’LL THINK IT IS  
(THIS IS THE AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC)

THE EASIER SOMETHING
IS TO UNDERSTAND,  
THE MORE CREDIBLE
YOU’LL THINK IT IS
(THIS IS THE FLUENCY HEURISTIC)

IF YOU CAN ASSOCIATE
YOUR BRAND WITH A
CONTEXT, IT WILL BE
MORE COMPELLING
(THIS IS THE SIMILARITY HEURISTIC)

YOUR BRAND MUST  
HAVE A NATURAL ROLE
IN THE STORY, IT CAN’T
BE SIMPLY TAGGED  
ON THE END

THE STORY IS OFTEN
MORE IMPORTANT THAN
THE TRUTH – IF IT’S
MORE INTERESTING
(THIS IS TRUTHINESS)

TRIGGERS TO CREATING
PERSUASIVE STORIES –
THEY CAN BE:
funny, sexy, cruel,
spectacular, shocking,
illuminating, topical  
OR controversial

TO GET PAST THE
‘BOUNCERS IN THE
BRAIN’ YOU NEED TO BE
SURPRISING, RELEVANT
AND EMOTION-DRIVEN

TOO MANY MARKETERS
ARE ‘PLAYING AIR
GUITAR’ WITH IDEAS

60% TO 70% OF LIFTS  
IN SPLIT TEST RESULTS
COME FROM COPY,  
NOT DESIGN

MAKE TESTING EASY TO
DO AND DO IT OFTEN

THE BRAIN NEEDS  
A PATTERN TO MAKE
SENSE OF INFORMATION
(BUT ONCE IT RECOGNISES A PATTERN, IT
FINDS IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE)

PEOPLE DON’T KNOW
WHAT THEY DON’T KNOW

PEOPLE ARE MORE
HIGHLY VALUED IF THEY
HAVE SYMBOLS
ATTACHED TO THEM  
(EG THE PERSON WHO WROTE THE  
BOOK ON… )

WE PLAY GAMES WITH
OURSELVES TO CREATE
INTANGIBLE MEANING
THAT CONNECTS US  
TO OTHERS

CREATING CONTAGIOUS
CONTENT IS ABOUT
USING THE POWER OF
PERSUASION (NOT
COERCION OR REASON)

WE ARE ALL BASICALLY
SUGGESTABLE
CREATURES LOOKING
FOR ANSWERS

USE ‘CUE WORDS’  
TO PRIME PEOPLE  
WITH POSITIVE
EMOTIONAL TERMS  
AND ASSOCIATIONS

PERSONAS ARE  
SIMPLY FRAMEWORKS
FOR UNDERSTANDING
BEHAVIOUR AND
FINDING COMMON
ELEMENTS/THEMES
ACROSS DIFFERENT
CUSTOMER GROUPS

TRADITIONAL  
PERSONAS ARE NOT
VERY ACTIONABLE –
THEY DON’T TELL YOU
HOW TO INCREASE
CONVERSIONS

TOO OFTEN, MARKETERS
SET PERSONAS IN
STONE AND FAIL TO
UPDATE THEM BASED  
ON REAL-WORLD
INFORMATION

LOOK TO UNDERSTAND
YOUR CUSTOMER’S
EMOTIONAL STATE AND
WRITE TO THAT

BE SPECIFIC ABOUT
THE EMOTION YOU
WANT TO ELICIT

MOTIVATION IS THE
UNCONSCIOUS PLAYED
OUT ON THE WORLD OF
THE CONSCIOUS

WE PERSUADE
OURSELVES OF THINGS
THAT SUPPORT OUR
EGO, IDENTIFYING WITH
STORIES OF HOW WE
SEE OURSELVES (OR
WOULD LIKE TO)

WITH ‘SLOW’ THINKING
SYSTEMS, YOU NEED
TO WAKE THEM UP
WITH A JOLT

WITH ‘FAST’ THINKING
SYSTEMS, YOU NEED
TO OFFER OPTIONS
AND CONTROL

RIDDING THE WORLD OF CRAPPY  
B2B CONTENT (ONE BRAND AT A TIME)
Considered Content is an outbound content marketing agency focused
on B2B and technology companies. We do three things really well:

Whether you need to drive leads or accelerate sales, we can help.
Check out consideredcontent.com to learn more or contact us at
hello@consideredcontent.com.

Psych London 2014

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