Why your customers care about certainty and why you should too.

We humans have a proclivity towards certainty.

We tend to choose in favour of more probable outcomes rather than non-probable outcomes. This is despite the fact that the non-probable outcome is just as probable.

This is a cognitive bias known as ambiguity effect.

Let’s understand this by way of an example - Customer testimonials.

Imagine this.

You own an e-commerce store and you’re looking for a web designer who specialises in designing Shopify stores.

You find an agency. Let’s call it “Agencia”.

Now Agenica will take $5000 from you to build your site.

But you find that he has a lot of testimonials. So much that you find yourself scrolling down the entire length of the page.

Where he asks you to finally make a payment and avail his services.

Compare this with another situation B.

You come across a freelancer who has his small little website on Notion.

He doesn’t have the clout as Agencia. Neither do you find any testimonials.

He’s just Billy the freelancer.

If you’re anything like me, you'll be inclined to give your business to Agencia instead of Billy the freelancer.

You’d think - “He has more proof. He has a proper website. He looks good on paper.”

It’s certain. So obvious. How could you be wrong?

Except when it comes to the delivery of the service, Billy the freelancer has an equal chance of coming up with an awesome website.

Maybe he can even do better.

Since he’s working solo, he’ll give you his full undivided attention. He will go the extra mile to satisfy you. ( No pun intended).

He will do what it takes.

Mathematically, both Agencia and Billy have the same probability of delivery.

Except we are more likely to go with Agencia.

Humans tend to believe information they already know so they have an enhanced perceived value of it. So as marketers, how can we use this bias to our advantage?

Tactic #1

• Be transparent in your landing page copy.

• Answer the 4 questions: Who, What, Where, and Why?

• Who are you?

• What are you selling?

• Where can they get it?

• Why they should buy it?

Tactic #2

• Help your users recall the key benefits before, during and after checking out.

• Write a TLDR benefit summary right before the checkout page. This will give their memory a nice jog.

• Keep the CTA’s benefit-focused. Use verbs and action words.

• Show them the “New World” - the world they’ve become a part of after buying your service or product.

Tactic #3

• Use numbers in your headline copy and body copy. Objective facts convert better than subjective statements.

• Compare your product to that of your competitors and show them why you’re better.

• Embed a demo on the website. Sweeten the deal with a free trial.

• Embed testimonials :P

That’s it for today.

I hope you learnt something.

I’ll see you again tomorrow.

Until then :)

PS: In case you were wondering, I’m Billy the freelancer. And this is my Notion website. :P