It's a noisy world out there and there's lots of competition. If you want to stand out, you must provide excellent value and persuasive copy. Without these two things the summer season will not be the boon you are hoping for. Luckily, creating copy that drives your audience to action is very easy during the summer season. While many people have a strict budget this year, they want to provide a nice time for their friends and family. That means they are looking to buy. Here's how you can help them decide to buy from you.

Effective Sales Psychology Techniques for the Summer Season

Purchases are often impulsive. A shopper sees something and without much thought decides it would be perfect for someone on their list. As the start of summer draws closer, less time and budget are left, and panic ensues. This is an opportunity for your business for two reasons. First, little time and little money forces quick action. Secondly, providing good value and the perfect summer or vacation item will make many frenzied shoppers appreciate you. If you make it easy to buy from you, customers will take note.

When the energy for mental activity is low (like when summer is fast approaching), self-control is often weakened (buying anything to just get the shopping checked off the long list of summer or vacation to-do’s). The following ideas can help you sway needy shoppers into buying from you.

Make Them Believe It

Remember high school and how impressionable we all were? Labels and nicknames could color reputations for four years of school (and well into the future). Maybe you were labeled brainy or cool or something less appealing. People saw you through that filter.

The same can be true of how you label your products or services. If you claim things like, “This is the perfect gift for your hard-to-buy-for friend” or “Every dog loves these bacon treats,” last-minute shoppers will believe you and act accordingly. You may have hated labels in school, but they go a long way to driving purchases in the weeks leading up to summer and vacation season.

Use a Reason

Along those same lines, and pulling from the seminal influence study by Robert Cialdini that found people responded positively when presented with a reason, using a simple “because” can make people much more likely to honor your request. Keep this in mind when creating copy (or even videos). Give people a reason to buy your products or services. “This is perfect for the budding artist because…” or “Our service will delight your family because…”

Catch People Enjoying Your Offerings

Social proof is an effective motivator for purchases. When people see customers buying from you, enjoying your establishment/offerings, or talking about you, they’ll want to be a part of it. If you have a full store, take pictures or videos of the crowd. Interview those who are shopping, especially your regulars. A few seconds of them sharing why they love coming to your business can drive many more to check you out as well.

Promote Discounts, Not Fees

No one likes to be penalized for their behavior, yet a lot of businesses are now charging shoppers credit card processing fees. This can leave a bad impression at check out for people using the convenience of paying by card. Remember, just a year or so ago, some businesses were refusing cash and insisting people pay through a touch-free interface.

But with the rising costs of credit card processing fees, what’s a business to do? In this situation, you have two options. Either increase the price of your offerings to cover the increased fees (so no one sees them) or pass it along as a “nostalgic” discount for using cash. If you give the cash user discount a fun name patrons may be less likely to be disturbed by the upcharge for using plastic.

If you want to increase sales this summer, think about how you can use psychological incentives to drive more business. Value and experiences give small businesses an advantage. If you use those things as a focus in your marketing, you’ll have a stellar summer.