Availability Heuristic.

More emotions, more memories. More memories, more benjis.

Abhi & The Crew
July 13, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

Hey there 👋 - The Crew here!

Happy Thursday to the 28,999 marketers reading today :)

Our brain is lazy and likes shortcuts. Marketers like a good ROAS. A match made in heaven, isn’t it?

More on that in a moment but before we dive in…

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Availability Heuristic

Do you have a higher chance of dying from a shark attack or from being hit by falling airplane parts?

If you ask most people, they would say shark attacks.

But in reality, the chances of dying from falling airplane parts are 30 times greater than the chances of being killed by a shark.

See, our brain doesn’t analyze thousands of data points like an algorithm. It takes shortcuts. It analyzes the facts that are readily available.

There are wayyy more news stories about shark attacks than about falling airplane parts.

And because it’s easier to imagine a shark attack, we’re tricked into believing that shark attacks are more common.

This is called the availability heuristic bias. We tend to form our beliefs based on information that is more available.

This is why investors sometimes overestimate the future performance of a stock based on recent performance, rather than accounting for all the relevant information about the company and market conditions.

So, how can you use this to improve your marketing?

Three ways…

Three Tactics Based On The Availability Heuristic

1/ Be dramatic.

In the 1800s, elevators were notorious for failing, which prevented cities from building skyscrapers.

… Until one day, a man named Elisha Otis invented a way to make elevators safe.

The problem? Nobody believed him.

So Elisha rented out the main hall in the largest exhibition center in New York to demonstrate his new system in front of a crowd.

He stood on the platform at a three-story height… and let it fall. And when the safety breaks engaged automatically and abruptly stopped his fall, the audience was amazed.

It was the first ever “elevator pitch.” After that, people started trusting elevators. And more skyscrapers were built.

The lesson? Use selling arguments that are unusual and emotionally charged. Use vivid examples and anecdotes. Create dramatic demonstrations of how your product works.

Not only does a dramatic demonstration build credibility... it also sticks in people’s memories.

If you make it easy for your prospects to remember your value propositions, they’ll pick you over your competitors.

2/ Be memorable

Imagine you’re in the supermarket, looking for laundry detergent. Which one do you buy?

You choose the brand that comes to mind first, of course. You don’t start weighing all the pros and cons of each brand.

Here’s how you can stay top of mind for your customers:

Create as many touchpoints as possible between your brand and your user base. Post on social media more often. Send more emails. Be present on more channels.
Sponsor events: Red Bull is a master here. By sponsoring high-adrenaline, emotionally charged events, they rent space in their customers’ heads for free.
“I am lovin’ it!” “Just do it!”. Can you read these sentences without thinking about McDonald’s and Nike? A good advertising jingle can get stuck in your head for days. Or years.
Use well-known ambassadors and influencers to increase the familiarity of your products.

And if you have an unlimited budget, shell out some cash to feature your product in a movie:

3/ Ride the media

A 2010 study revealed that when it comes to forming social reality judgments, people watching vivid violent media gave higher estimates of the prevalence of crime and police immorality in the real world than those not exposed to vivid television.

What we see more often, we believe.

So if you can connect your product to events, stories, and examples that are featured often or recently by the media, go for it.

One of the most successful direct response mail promotions was run by Stansberry Research during the 2011 financial crisis.

Do you see a pattern there?

Clickworthy

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🐦 Remember we mentioned Psychology of Marketing was acquired by Stacked Marketer? In this Twitter thread, Manu, the founder of Stacked Marketer shares the answers about how this came to be, and you can ask your questions too, of course.

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ICYMI, last week we looked at the Zeigarnik Effect.

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