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Unlock Your Conversion Rates: How Behavioural Science Can Be Your Secret Weapon

Blog,Growth Marketing

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Have you ever wondered why people say one thing but do another? Why we make choices that aren’t always in our best interest? The answer lies in the fascinating field of behavioral science. This discipline studies the psychological, emotional, and social factors that influence our decisions and, ultimately, our actions.

And guess what? This knowledge can be a powerful tool for businesses looking to boost their conversion rates. By understanding how people think and behave, companies can design products, experiences, and marketing messages that nudge users towards desired actions.

Here's how:

1. Bridge the Gap Between Intention and Action:

We often have good intentions, but the friction involved in taking action can easily derail us. Take for example, the mobile app Steady, which helps gig workers track their income. Linking their bank account is crucial, but this step creates friction, leading to a 92.9% drop-off rate.

Solution: Applying behavioral design principles, Steady redesigned their choice architecture. They used forced choice, asking users to “accept” or “decline” the bank linkage. This simple change, by making “no” a definitive and final action, increased linkage by 63%.

They further employed the concept of goal gradient, highlighting the completion of setup as an immediate benefit. This boosted conversion to 15.9%.

The takeaway: Always evaluate the cost-benefit of any step in your user journey. Minimize friction and emphasise the immediate benefits of taking action.

2. Leverage the Power of Ownership:

We tend to value things we perceive as ours. This is known as the endowment effect. Livongo, a diabetes management company, used this insight to increase registration by 120%.

Solution: Instead of asking users to “Join the program,” they offered a “Claim your welcome kit” option. This framed the action as acquiring something valuable they already “owned,” making it more appealing.

The takeaway: Design your product to allow users to feel ownership early on. This fosters a sense of investment and increases the likelihood of continued engagement.

3. Make the Easy Choice the Right Choice:

People often follow the path of least resistance. EarnUp, a fintech app, wanted to help users pay down debt faster. They A/B tested two email prompts: one asking for a general increase in payments, and another suggesting rounding up to the nearest whole number.

Solution: The “round up” option saw a 40% increase in users choosing to overpay compared to the generic request. This aligns with our tendency to mentally round numbers, making “rounding up” feel psychologically easier.

The takeaway: Identify existing user behaviors and make it easier for them to take the desired action. This can involve leveraging familiar patterns or simplifying complex choices.

4. Seize the Momentum of Day One:

The initial stages of user engagement offer a unique window of opportunity. Duke University’s Common Cents Lab partnered with a credit union to help borrowers build savings buffers.

Solution: During loan signing, borrowers were offered the option to round up their payments and save the difference. This opt-out approach (where users have to actively decline participation) resulted in a whopping 36% opting in.

The takeaway: Integrate behavioral science principles from the beginning of the user journey. By understanding how users make decisions early on, you can design features and experiences that maximize engagement from the outset.

Beyond these examples, here are 5 actionable tactics you can incorporate into your product development process:

  • Conduct a literature review: Learn from existing research on similar problems and user behaviors.
  • Pick a key behavior: Define the specific action you want users to take.
  • Map the decision-making environment: Identify every step users need to take to reach the desired behavior.
  • Experiment and iterate: Test different interventions and measure their effectiveness.
  • Seek expert guidance: Consider collaborating with behavioral scientists to gain deeper insights.

By harnessing the power of behavioral science, you can unlock the full potential of your product or service. Remember, understanding how people think and behave is key to designing experiences that drive real results.

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My name is Ferran. I am a Professional Digital Designer and Front-End Developer with over a decade of experience in this field. I was born and raised in Denpasar, Bali.

I developed an interest in art and design from an early age and started my career as a designer in 2008.

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