The Power of Heuristics: Overcoming Barriers in B2B Marketing

It’s said that we make roughly ten thousand decisions per day, with 90 percent of our decisions made subconsciously.

Complex tasks, such as learning, reasoning, and comprehending, which are conscious, call on a system of the brain known as working memory. Working memory assists us in executing tasks and controls our attention; it helps us hold on to information long enough for us to use it.

But different tasks require different amounts of attention for successful completion, and working memory has limited capacity. This is referred to as cognitive load, and the working memory is extremely vulnerable to overload, as it can hold only around three or four bits of information at one time, and information in working memory lasts around ten seconds.

In extremely complex situations, especially scenarios in which there is a lot of new information,our ability to learn and understand suffers. To protect itself from overload, the brain tries to reduce the effort associated with a task by using tried-and- true mental shortcuts called heuristics.

Heuristics are simple and efficient rules that people use, whether intentionally or subconsciously, to facilitate their decision-making.

However, they can lead to cognitive biases. By understanding common heuristics, you are better equipped to choose the right information to help decision-makers during the buying journey.

Most decisions are influenced by the associations we’ve already made in the past and thus cue us to predispositions we aren’t consciously aware of.

Let’s take a look at a few heuristics and how they align with the principles we’ve discussed thus far.

Repetition:

Studies suggest that repetition can have a positive effect on someone’s reception of, and agreement with, a persuasive argument.

The more a person hears something, the more likely he or she is to begin to believe its validity. This is an area that many B2B companies underestimate. I often see marketers and salespeople get bored with the same messaging, to their own detriment.

Remember that it takes seven to thirteen touches just to get a lead. Don’t assume people remember everything your sales or marketing touch points said.

Loss aversion:

We respond more strongly to loss than to gain. Loss aversion implies that losses loom in our minds about twice as large as equivalent gains.

It is significant for you to realize that your prospect will focus more on the risks than the rewards when making decisions.

Familiarity bias:

Politically correct or not, our brains favor members of our own social groups. This can go beyond ethnic and social groups, but here, again, when we see people familiar to us, our brains trust the provided information.

Familiarity is one of the most common heuristics. Branding helps because it directs initial impressions and provides a long-term framework of recognition and trust.

When you combine this with consistency and repetition, your brand offers the mental associations buyers will use to catalog their impressions of your company and your value.

Inertia:

We tend to interpret information the same way over time and rely on familiar assumptions. Don’t underestimate how difficult it is to change people’s minds and preferences.

This is especially important in positioning. If you find your business in a situation where you need to reposition your brand, you must first acknowledge buyers’ perceptions and seek strategies that will help people shift their opinions, rather than try to convince them you are different from what they first thought.

In branding, you must begin with what is true about you because your customers already have a preconceived notion of how to understand you. Simply saying you are different from what they assumed is not enough to make it so.

It’s critical to remember, also, that the data suggests the most common reason B2B companies don’t close a deal is that the prospect decides not to move forward. If you are losing deals to the status quo, this is inertia at work.

Social proof:

When unsure how to proceed, we’ll often look for cues as to how others make a decision. Reading reviews, recognizing prominent clients or endorsements, and using testimonials are all examples of social proof.

When the social proof comes from people or companies who share your buyer personas, it’s all the more powerful.

Confirmation bias:

We tend to favor and believe information that confirms what we already believe. This influences not only what we pay attention to but how we interpret information and even what and how we remember information.

This reinforces why it is critical to begin your messaging choreography with mirroring how those of a certain buyer persona see their problem.

Contrast effect:

When we compare options to one another, we tend to exaggerate our opinion of something more than if we had considered that same thing by itself.

For example, you’re more likely to be impressed by an average-looking person if that person is standing next to a less attractive person than if you had seen him or her alone.

Pricing comparisons, stories that provide context, and before-and-afters are good examples.

Reciprocity:

In general, humans don’t like to feel indebted to anyone, and the desire to pay someone back can be powerful motivation.

Have you ever bought something you didn’t want or didn’t like after accepting a free sample? This is the reciprocity heuristic in effect.

Free guides, demos, and trials are great examples, and they can lead into other heuristics, such as familiarity. Be aware, however, that this heuristic has been overused in certain areas, so your generosity should be authentic and of high value.

It’s my philosophy to give what you want to receive but not expect a payoff. Do it because it’s the right thing to do as a servant leader. If you follow these principles, you will do this naturally.

Anchoring:

Our exposure to a number—even a random number—will serve as a reference point against which we’ll compare our options.

Do not lead with a low number when verbally giving pricing options, as the buyer’s brain will anchor to it.

This is by no means an exhaustive list—it’s not even close.

So why, you might ask, bring this up at all? To reinforce one simple message: we are not logical beings; we are emotional beings. Dry self-oriented marketing does not work.

The science of decision-making heavily influences the strategies recommended here, so you’ll be incorporating these heuristics already, but it helps to be aware of the additional reasons why this roadmap works.

If you want to get people’s attention, you must talk to them about them. Use words, images, and emotions that they already prioritize to open the door to conscious recognition of your product or service.

Tap into emotion over logic. Know what your buyer personas care about, and pay attention to and help your buyers by using this insight to get their attention.

Seek simplicity in your messaging to avoid overload, and consider ways in which the thoughtful use of heuristics can make it a little easier for a prospect to choose you.