Do you feel like content writing is similar to planning the ultimate April Fool’s prank, but in a good way?
No, we’re not joking!
Think about it: you create content that tells a story about your audience’s existing perceptions and behaviors and then introduce an unexpected plot twist to shake up their current beliefs — doesn’t that sound like a prank?
We’re definitely not telling you to provide confusing information to fool your audience. We want you to use a little “trick” to deliver your messages better, and that is to leverage confirmation bias!
Confirmation bias means that people tend to believe and interpret information that matches their existing beliefs. As content creators, how do we shake that perception and lead them down the path we want them to take?
Let’s dive into three tactics to master this psychological phenomenon and craft content that hits the mark.
Build and reinforce your brand image
Leveraging confirmation bias can be a powerful tool to shape a positive brand image. One tactic is to craft content that centers on your audience’s beliefs.
Let’s start with a question: Do you see bees as pests? If you answered yes, ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs’ creative ad campaign, “The Extraordinary Honey Bee,” is crafted to change your mind!
The marketing campaign centers on the value of environmental sustainability by talking about declining bee populations. This results in less crop pollination, which threatens food security — thereby threatening Häagen-Dazs’ production of ice cream flavors! The brand also invested heavily in bee conservation efforts, putting their money where their mouth is.
Make your brand inseparable from a particular cause or movement; that’s how you get more people talking about your brand’s qualities and attract potential customers!
Cater to preconceived notions
Your audience is bombarded with online information all day long, so you have to make your message stand out by leveraging confirmation bias! One way to do so is to address common misconceptions about your industry in your content and provide concrete evidence.
Everybody knows that buying quality furniture can cost a lot of money, right? To dispel this, IKEA Saudi Arabia launched a series of ads that showed how affordable their products are.
The ads show cropped images of IKEA furniture on everyday items like coffee cups, toothpaste tubes, and pizza boxes. The image of furniture is completed by placing the items side-by-side like a jigsaw puzzle. They convey affordability through comparison in a creative and clever way: an IKEA table costs the same as three coffees, a nightstand costs the same as six tubes of toothpaste, and a bookcase costs the same as two pizzas.
This approach challenges common beliefs and reinforces trust in your brand. By doing so, you capture attention while driving engagement that converts into sales.
Invest in customer retention
Brand loyalty is important to retaining your customers. What is the greatest hurdle for brands to achieve this? Buyer’s remorse!
In the customer experience, your brand is the guide that leads them on the journey to success. Once customers start feeling you’re the go-to solution to their problems, they’ll stick with you. Using retention strategies is key to keeping your customers happy.
Take cosmetics retail giant Sephora as an example. They send personalized follow-up emails with helpful tips or exclusive offers to reassure customers they made the right choice. Sephora also eliminates buyer’s remorse by showcasing positive reviews and success stories everywhere: website, social media channels, and more. You can count on positive customer reviews to effectively demonstrate your brand’s quality!
By delivering exceptional after-sales experiences, you strengthen the bond with your customers, leading to long-term loyalty and advocacy for your brand.
Conclusion
Are you ready to pull the ultimate April Fool’s prank on your customers?
By implementing these three tactics in your content creation, you’re on the right track to leveraging confirmation bias to cultivate a strong and enduring brand identity.
As content creators, we should be bold and sprinkle a little fun in our writing to engage our customers and keep them coming back for more!
* * *
Ready to turn words into a marketing masterpiece? Dive into your brand’s story with the help of our copywriters and let us craft the magic!
Contact us to learn more.
