What Is Neuromarketing? And Why You Should Care

I’m sure you’ve heard about neuromarketing, but what is it exactly? And why should you care? Well, if you’re a marketer or designer of any kind, you need to know about this new branch of science.

In fact, I would argue that anyone who wants to sell anything needs to understand how the brain works in order to better target their audience. But don’t worry I’m going to keep this simple!

You make decisions freely? Neuromarketing says think again

Takeaways
– Neuromarketing involves understanding consumer behavior through neuroscience insights.
– It helps create more effective marketing strategies by tapping into subconscious responses.
– Neuromarketing emphasizes the importance of the overall consumer experience.
– Insights from brain science can lead to improved understanding of consumer decision-making.
– Incorporating neuromarketing principles can result in more successful marketing campaigns.
– Ethical considerations are important when applying neuromarketing techniques.

Table of Contents

The Hidden Path To Success

The first step in using the brain’s default state to your advantage is to understand what it means. The brain’s default state also called the “default mode network” or DMN is a set of neural networks in our brains that are active when we aren’t focused on any specific task.

They help us process information and make sense of our world by creating mental models based on past experiences.

The second step is knowing how to use this information to connect with your audience and influence them at several levels: cognitively (what they think), emotionally (how they feel), and behaviorally (what they do).

Building effective marketing strategies requires a deep understanding of consumer behavior. Discover how neuromarketing is changing the way we buy and how insights from brain science can reshape marketing tactics.

The Brain’s Default State Is To Seek Novelty

The brain likes to seek out novelty. It’s a natural desire for our brains to be curious about new things, and we instinctively want to learn and explore our environment. We like trying new things, doing new things, and experiencing new things.

Even though there are many different types of content on the internet including blogs, articles, and videos—the majority of it is still text-based in some way or another.

This means that you have an opportunity as a marketer: you can make your brand stand out by using visual elements in your marketing strategy that capture people’s attention right away (even before they read what you have written).

The Brain Needs To Make Sense

Your brain needs to make sense of the world. This is called pattern recognition. It’s how we learn, it’s how we communicate with each other, and it’s how we interpret our surroundings.

We’re constantly looking for patterns in everything from product packaging to human behavior (or lack thereof). The brain doesn’t know what’s good or bad for us; it just knows that there must be an answer if you can figure out what the pattern is.

The more interesting the search through your memory banks turns out to be in other words, the more meaningfully connected things seem the greater your likelihood of paying attention and getting hooked on whatever content or experiences are being offered up by marketers or brands today (and tomorrow).

When it comes to marketing, the focus should extend beyond products alone. Learn why neuromarketing is about the experience, not just the product, and how creating engaging experiences can drive consumer engagement.

The Frontal Cortex Is Self-Aware

Now that you know what the prefrontal cortex does, it’s time to focus on its role in self-awareness. The prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain that’s responsible for making decisions, so it’s no surprise that this area also plays an integral role in self-awareness.

The default state of the human brain is to seek novelty.

It likes new experiences and doesn’t like repetitive tasks, which isn’t all bad we wouldn’t have survived as a species if we were perfectly content with eating one food item every day!

However, when it comes down to making decisions about our life choices (like buying something), research has shown that we often value new things over old ones even though they might not be better than what we already have.

The frontal cortex helps us evaluate things objectively by weighing their pros and cons against each other before taking action; but if there are too many options available at once (or if those options are too similar).

Then this process becomes difficult because our decision-making power becomes diluted among them all instead of being focused on just one or two possibilities at a time.

And as such, less intelligent decisions tend to result from too much choice so long as there are no clear winners among them yet chosen easily by someone else before us.”

The Brain Is In A Constant State Of Evaluation

The brain is always evaluating, comparing, looking for patterns and similarities, and looking for cause and effect. It’s constantly trying to understand what’s missing.

It’s a survival mechanism the brain is constantly on the lookout for threats or opportunities that might help you survive as long as possible in a potentially hostile environment like Earth.

For this evaluation process to be efficient though, it must be able to recognize when something is different than what it expects or predicts will happen next.

And so we see that while our brains are getting bombarded with stimuli from all around us all day every day (both consciously and unconsciously), they’re not taking everything in at once.

Instead, they’re making snap judgments based on experience as well as whatever else they can quickly assess based on what they already know about their environment: who’s talking right now? Where am I located? What time of day is this happening?

You Can’t Control Your Unconscious, But You Can Influence It

It’s true: you can’t control your unconscious, but you can influence it. And that’s what neuromarketing is all about using scientific methods to make better marketing decisions.

By understanding how the brain works, companies can design more effective advertising campaigns and products, tell more engaging stories, and even sell more stuff. To use an example from his book The Storyteller’s Secret:

How Stories Make Us Human (co-authored by Joe Pulizzi), neurologist David Eagleman explains that “the conscious mind is like a rider on top of an elephant…

If it gets thrown off the elephant or attacked by lions or tigers or dragons or snakes…you lose control of your body.

The unconscious mind is responsible for most of our actions; it controls many things we might not think about consciously like driving a car while talking on the phone or chewing gum while walking down the street and it helps us respond quickly in emergencies like when someone falls in front of us at work!

So if we want to influence someone else’s behavior (e.g., getting them to buy something), then we have two options: either take direct control over their actions (which isn’t possible since they aren’t aware of how they’re making decisions).

OR influence their unconscious decision-making process so that those choices align with what we want them doing anyway (which is exactly what neuromarketing does).

Enhancing sales involves delving into the human brain. Explore the ways understanding the human brain can increase sales by leveraging insights from neuroscience to create compelling marketing campaigns.

When The Brain Goes Dormant, You Snooze (Or Lose)

The human brain is on high alert, constantly evaluating its surroundings. We’re always looking for something new, seeking a reward, or avoiding pain. When you see a familiar face or hear a familiar voice, your brain clicks into autopilot: “Oh! That’s my friend! Let’s chat!”

But when something doesn’t make sense when it doesn’t fit with what we already know it throws us off. Your brain gets confused and needs to find out why it feels so unsure.

This is called the “default mode network” (DMN), which helps us make sense of our world by connecting memories and emotions with ideas and experiences that are similar but have varying outcomes (e.g., getting hurt versus feeling good).

As we get older or become more experienced at something new, our DMN becomes less active because we have fewer unknowns the process of making sense has become automatic over time

Say No To Novelty And Yes To Simplicity (But Not Too Much)

A brain is a pattern-recognition machine. It finds patterns everywhere, often where there are none.

This is true for the physical world and it’s also true for the digital world we live in today: your brain sees faces in clouds and shapes on Mars, but also a website’s design or an app’s user interface (UI).

So what do you need to know as a marketer? First off, don’t try too hard to be unique or surprising it’s generally easier to find something that people already like rather than coming up with something new from scratch.

But you should also avoid the opposite extreme of being too familiar the human brain does not like boring things or things that are just “okay.” Instead, try for “just right” by paying attention to how your customers react to changes when they happen;

If they don’t react strongly enough one way or another (either positively or negatively), then stay put until you can identify what makes them feel that way before making any adjustments again.

Our Brains Have Long-Term Memory & Short-Term Memory

Our brains have two types of memories.

Short-term memory is the memory of things that we are currently thinking about or experiencing. It can only hold up to 30 to 60 seconds worth of information at a time, like a phone number you just heard or the name of someone you just met.

This type of memory is very fragile and easily lost if it’s not used soon enough.

Long-term memory is the long-lasting storage area for facts, events, and experiences that occur over a long period (months/years). Our ability to access this type of information gives us the ability to make decisions based on past experiences

Overcoming buyer’s remorse is essential in modern business. Discover how neuromarketing in business can turn buyer’s remorse into a positive outcome and why a neuroscientific approach can lead to more satisfied customers.

We Don’t Process Words & Images In The Same Way (Sparklines Work!)

If you’re a writer, you may have noticed that images are more memorable than words. That’s because we process images faster than words.

Psychologists have found that we process images 60,000 times faster than text – and that means if your goal is to engage the reader, it pays to use visuals in your neuromarketing copywriting techniques.

Images are also more persuasive than words – they can make an emotional connection with readers by appealing directly to their feelings, which is how our brains operate most effectively.

And when it comes to marketing on social media or any other platform where space is limited (like mobile sites), using captivating visuals will help get your message across quickly and effectively without needing as much space for text descriptions.

We Ignore Ugly Things But Remember Beautiful Things (Not Pretty Enough?)

In the world of neuromarketing, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it’s also a lot more complicated than that. Beauty is subjective, but it’s also universal. It has to do with what we take away from an experience that makes us feel something.

Consider this: In one study, participants were shown images of celebrities’ faces and asked to rate their attractiveness on a scale from 1 (“not at all attractive”) to 9 (“extremely attractive”).

The researchers found that while each participant’s preferences varied widely based on their own culture or gender, there were some similarities across all cultures.

For example, they found that men preferred women who looked like young girls rather than those who looked older; women preferred men whose faces had more masculine traits (think strong jawlines).

Those results suggest that everyone has their own set of standards for what makes someone “attractive,” even if those standards are subjective and vary by culture or gender.

But when people look at a painting or photograph of a beautiful landscape instead? They might not be looking at identical objects every time;

Instead, they’re seeing subtle differences in how each picture was framed by its creator’s perspective that is, whether they’re looking through these artists’ eyes or not!

Big Numbers Baffle The Brain; Smaller Numbers We Get Easily

According to the study, the human brain can only process five or six numbers at a time. “It’s been shown that if you present people with seven or eight numbers and ask them to add them up, they can’t do it,” Miller says.

However, we’re much better at processing smaller groups of numbers: “We are good at doing one-to-one relationships,” she explains. “If you give people two items on either side of a ratio for example 2:4 or 2:6 or even 1:3 they’ll be able to tell you which one is larger.”

These findings have some interesting implications for how businesses should present their prices to make them easier for customers’ brains to understand and process.

For instance, if your item costs $19.95 plus tax (that’s 21% off $19.95), this means that your price is $23 dollars but most people would find that number too large and unwieldy (and will probably just round up).

Instead, mention the base price first ($19) then tack on an easy-to-remember tax rate ($3). This way there’s no need for mental math;

All they have to do is compare their total cost against other stores who charge more per unit than yours does or against what they’d spend elsewhere without running into any taxes!

85% Of What We Learn Is Through Visuals (Images Are Powerful)

Visuals are powerful. Visualizing your goals, dreams and the future is great, but you should also be visualizing the present moment.

Visualize the past, present, and future. This can help you learn more quickly and to remember things better in general.

Visualization exercises are a great way to help you achieve goals that seem out of reach at first glance (like running a marathon).

Red Stimulates Our Adrenaline Glands; Blue Stresses Us Out Less

If you’ve ever felt the urge to put on some music and get your dance on, or if there’s someone whose energy makes you want to jump up and down with them, then you know how powerful the effects of color can be.

It’s all because of the way our brains process visual stimuli. Red stimulates our adrenalin glands; blue stresses us out less. Red is associated with danger and passion, while blue is associated with calmness and peace. Red signifies love, while blue denotes tranquility.

History Repeats Itself (Leverage Social Proof!)

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect the correct behavior for a given situation. In other words, if most people are doing something one way, you’ll be more likely to do it that way too.

Social proof is a powerful tool in marketing, and it’s not hard to see why:

If you can influence your audience’s perception of what is popular or successful by associating your product with successful people or brands, then social proof will drive sales, change behavior and influence decisions.

Fear Sells. Create A Sense Of Urgency. (Leverage Scarcity!)

Use scarcity to create a sense of urgency. This is a tried-and-true technique in advertising, but it can also be applied to an email campaign or social media post. Simply say something like “this offer ends tomorrow” or “limited inventory available, act fast!”

Such language creates an artificial sense of urgency that makes prospects want to buy immediately rather than wait until later on when the deal may no longer be available.

Use urgency to create scarcity (or vice versa).

If your product is in limited supply and you want people who saw your ad yesterday and forgot about it today (i.e., tomorrow) to remember that they could still get this great deal if they act quickly enough tonight instead (tomorrow), then what do you do?

You create an artificial sense of urgency by saying something like “only three more hours left before this offer expires!”

Again, this causes people who missed out on buying yesterday but have been thinking about buying today.

Maybe even before they go out grocery shopping tonight – will be motivated by the idea that they might miss their chance entirely if they don’t act now instead of waiting until tomorrow morning when all supply has been exhausted

Convincing customers to make purchases requires strategic methods. Explore effective methods to use neuromarketing to get customers to buy and discover how insights from brain science can shape persuasive marketing techniques.

People Love Free Stuff. Give It Away! (Leverage Reciprocity!)

You might be thinking, “Wait a minute! How does giving away free stuff fit into this?” The answer is simple: people love free stuff. The more you give away, the more comes back to you even if it’s not what you wanted in the first place.

This principle goes by many names, but most commonly it’s called “reciprocity.” It’s the reason why grocery stores have those absurdly long checkout lines even though only two registers are working (and why all supermarkets should employ more cashiers).

If people feel like they owe us something (even if they don’t), we’ll do almost anything else before we stop paying them back with our business or loyalty!

The brain is good at making connections between things that aren’t necessarily related, so stories help us learn faster than any other method out there.

This means that whatever product or service you’re trying to sell has an easier time connecting with customers when it’s communicated through stories rather than just facts and figures alone (though those certainly have their place too).

Storytelling Is Key To Connecting With Your Audience. Tell Stories!

One of the best ways to connect with your audience is by telling stories. People remember stories because they can relate to them, they’re more memorable than facts and statistics, and they are more persuasive than both.

Studies have shown that people remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 50% when it’s delivered in a story format.

So how do you use storytelling in marketing? The key is to make sure your story has three elements:

A problem – Something needs fixing or changing
An obstacle or force standing in the way (the antagonist) – Something that makes getting from A to B difficult
A resolution/solution – Something that solves the problem

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, neuromarketing is a growing field in marketing that uses neuroscience to study consumer behavior.

It aims to understand how our brains respond to different marketing techniques and messaging, which can be useful for helping companies create better products and services.

We hope you enjoyed learning about the basics of neuromarketing!

FAQs

What is Neuromarketing?

Neuromarketing is the study of consumer behavior and decision-making using insights from neuroscience to understand how individuals respond to marketing stimuli.

How can Neuromarketing Improve Marketing Strategies?

Neuromarketing can enhance marketing strategies by providing insights into subconscious consumer preferences, allowing marketers to create more engaging and persuasive campaigns.

What Are Some Key Principles of Neuromarketing?

Key principles of neuromarketing include understanding emotional triggers, leveraging social influence, optimizing visual and sensory experiences, and tapping into cognitive biases.

How Does Neuromarketing Impact Purchase Decisions?

Neuromarketing influences purchase decisions by tapping into the subconscious processes that guide consumer behavior, leading to more targeted and effective marketing approaches.

Is Neuromarketing Ethical?

Ethics in neuromarketing involve responsible use of consumer insights obtained through neuroscience, ensuring that the understanding of consumer behavior is used to benefit both consumers and businesses.

Costantine Edward

Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.