The art of persuasion:
How to convert more users online

Robert Cialdini:
The Persuasion Bible
What are the 6 persuasion principles?

6 principles of persuasion
◉ Reciprocation
◉ Social Proof
◉ Commitment & Consistency
◉ Liking
◉ Authority
◉ Scarcity

Reciprocation
Reciprocation recognizes that people feel indebted to those who do
something for them or give them a gift.
1

Reciprocation: Some Practical Tips
◉ Offer something– Allow your customers to feel indebted to you
◉ Offer somethingexclusive – Make your customers feel special
◉ Personalize the offer – Make sure your customers know it’s from you

Amazon
With the “look inside” and
“download sample”
features,Amazon nails
reciprocation.
The user feels obligatedto
“buy” as Amazon has made
it so easy to sample and
review the product.
Reciprocation in action

Social Proof
When uncertain, people tend to look to those around them to
guide their decisions and actions.
2

Social Proof: Some Practical Tips
◉ Get approval from past / current users (Ratings, testimonials etc.)
◉ Get approval from large groups of past / current users

Kickstarter
Kickstarter uses quantitative
social proof to appeal to new
users who may be on the fence
for funding.
It displays the dollar amount
raised for each successful
project.
Social Proof in action

YouTube
The number of video views
and preferences of similar
listeners help YouTube create
customizedplaylists for you.
Views are also social proof of
the popularityof a video.
Social Proof in action

Commitment &
Consistency
People like to be consistent in their commitments. Once they
commit, they won’t look back!
3

Commitment and Consistency:
Some Practical Tips
◉ Ask your customers to start from small actions
◉ Encourage public commitments so they’ll be less likely to back out
◉ Reward your customers for investingtime and effort in your brand

Coursera
Coursera encourages sign-ups by only asking users to commit to one
course at a time.
Once a user gets a good grade on one course, he is more likelyto pay
for the entire course specialization.
Commitment in action

Liking
People are likely to favor those who are similar to themselves.
4

Liking: Some Practical Tips
◉ Physical attractiveness – Sell somethingwell-designed
◉ Similarity– Behave like a friend, not a brand
◉ Compliments – Use social media to form customer relationships

BMW
The latest BMW ad has a
very attractive Gigi Hadid
in front of a spate of
BMW M2s.
To make the brand fun,
this ad has even been
gamified in a 360°
YouTube video.
Liking in action

Authority
People respect authority. They want to follow the lead of real
experts and influencers.
5

Authority: Some Practical Tips
◉ Titles – Make social influencers your brand ambassadors
◉ Clothes – Include superficial authoritycues in your promotions
◉ Trappings – Include indirect authoritycues in your promotions

ShoeDazzle
ShoeDazzle’s sales
increasedafter they named
Kim Kardashian their co-
founder.
Any surprise? She is a huge
social influencer,with
almost 50M Twitter
followers!
Authority in action

Scarcity
The more rare and uncommon a thing, the more people want it.
6

Scarcity: Some Practical Tips
◉ Tell your customers that your offeringis limitedin number
◉ Tell them that your offeringis available for a limitedtime
◉ Promote one-off events like collaborations and pop-up stores

Booking.com
Booking.com listings
indicate the number of
rooms left and the number
of people viewing that
listing,to create urgency.
Scarcity in action

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Created by: Belmond Victor, Head of Inbound Marketing at Happy Marketer