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Customer Behavior in a Hyper Connected World

I recently attended the Affiliate Summit East conference, which had a record breaking 3,943 attendees, it was the largest Affilate Summit to date.

One of the many information packed sessions was presented by Larry Bailin, of Single Throw his session was titled: Customer Behavior in a Hyper Connected World.

Larry, like myself started his career in design then tied in marketing. I firmly believe that both design and marketing speak the same language of influence and communication. After all the goal of both disciplines is to move a prospect to take action and convert. Which is why so much of conversion rate optimization is grounded in core principals of marketing and design.

Larry’s session provided a great primer on the core principals that touch on both marketing and design with a slant towards social and the internet.

Here are the main take-aways form Larry’s Affiliate Summit Session along with my thouhgts:

  1. All buying decisions are emotional. Fundamentally, human nature doesn’t change. Platforms may come and go and new shiny objects may take our focus for a little while, but what it really comes down to is, people are people. It doesn’t matter if they are a mobile device or on a tethered desktop, the way people make decisions is the same.
  2. Selling requires a transfer of emotion.It’s the art side of the design equation that effectively delivers the emotional driver to bring visitors to action. Get this part right and you’re off to a good start on converting prospects, online or off.
  3. Know your customer.A fundamental principle of conversion optimization that, I’ve written about here may times. Glad to see Larry point this out early in his presentation.
  4. The expert connection.Larry’s main point here was that”Customers follow the leader”
    ~ Larry Bailin,

    this is why it’s important to position your brand as the leader in your space through various online channels.

  5. Customers are social beings.Larry stressed that,”…monologues have evolved into dialogs”
    ~ Larry Bailin.

    Meaning that social behavior is built into our DNA, which goes back to the time of cave men sharing pictures on cave walls, much like the Facebook wall posts we see today. I believe marketers need to support conversion actions around this social need to succeed. The platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. may change overtime but fundamental human nature will stay the same.

  6. Listen carefully, speak strategically.”Social is a two way street and two of the biggest mistakes brands make is:
    1. Speaking before they think and
    2. Speaking before they listen”
    ~ Larry Bailin
  7. To influence customer behavior you must first define your personal value.
  8. To succeed online you need a deep understanding of search.It’s so true. Fundamentally if you can’t be found they can’t buy.
  9. Always think like a customer.It’s not enough to know your customer but to empathize with them, which is also a key principal to conversion rate optimization.
  10. Get to the point quickly.And finally you’ve only got one shot to make a first impression no where is that more important than online, because you don’t just need to get to the point quickly with short attentionsapns but you more importantly you need to make it correctly which goes back to points  1, 2 and 3.

I highly recommend Larry’s book – Mommy, Where Do Customers Come From?: How to Market to a New World of Connected Customers

Want a Free Pass to Conversion Conference NYC?

I have one (2 day) pass to the Conversion Conference NYC Oct 19 – 20, 2011 to give away.

Just download and listen to a few episodes of my Podcast (Conversion Rate Marketing Podcast) from iTunes, then leave a five star rating and write a review.

Honest feedback is much appreciated. I’ll select a random winner on October 15, 2011. After you leave a rating and review on iTunes send me an email (bobby at creativethirst dot com ) so I can contact you if you’re the winner.

Want to go to Affiliate Summit and Hear Great Speakers Like Larry?

The Affiliate Summit West 2012 is coming up January 8-10, 2012 in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

The three day conference includes an exhibit hall with affiliate merchants, vendors, and networks, as well as multiple tracks of educational sessions covering the latest trends and information from affiliate marketing experts.

By Bobby Hewitt

Bobby Hewitt is the founder of Creative Thirst. A conversion rate optimization agency for health and wellness companies with a specialized focus in dietary supplements. We’ve helped health clients profitably scale using our four framework growth model validated through A/B testing. Bobby has over 17 years of experience in web design and Internet marketing and holds a bachelors degree in Marketing from Rutgers University. He is also certified in Online Testing and Landing Page Optimization and won the Jim Novo Award of Academic Excellence for Web Analytics. As well as a public speaker and contributing author to “Google Analytics Breakthrough: From Zero to Business Impact, published by Wiley.