One key part of being a great inbound marketer is understanding how -- and why -- other people think and act the way they do. Think about it for a second. How can you create compelling content if you don’t know why it would be compelling to your audience in the first place? How can you personalize content to reach the right people if you don’t know what type of content they would like, and why they would like it?

Before you start jumping into all the tactical nitty gritty of marketing, it’s really helpful to understand how people operate … which is essentially what the entire field of psychology attempts to explain. Understanding some key principles in psychology can take your content from good to amazing, all because the right audience is reading and identifying with it. Bonus: if you understand these principles and weave them into your marketing, you’ll also convert more visitors into leads, and leads into customers.

Many of these psychological concepts can be used across many aspects of your marketing, but we’re just going to give one example for each. They also aren’t universal; we all know people who are outliers, do we not? With that in mind, let’s get started!

9 Important Psychology Concepts You Can Use in Your Marketing

1) Reciprocity

Introduced in Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the concept of “reciprocity” is simple -- if someone does something for you, you naturally will want to do something for them. No, this isn’t bribing. If you can act in a sincere and giving way, the other person will naturally want to help you.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Give away something -- for free -- to help build community or customer loyalty. You don’t have be rolling in dough to give something away; it can be anything from a branded sweatshirt, to an exclusive ebook, to a free desktop background, to your expertise on a difficult subject matter. Even something as simple as a hand-written note can go a long way in establishing reciprocity. By delighting your audience with these small gifts, you’ll be one step closer to establishing a true, solid relationship with your visitors, leads, and customers.

2) Commitments

Another principle developed by Cialdini, “commitments” is another way of saying that people don’t like breaking their promises. If someone commits to something -- whether it is meeting for lunch or signing up for your product, they feel like they’ve made an obligation to you. Once they make that commitment, people will be much less likely to bail.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

This is a great way to fight customer churn. Though you should never stop trying to delight your customers (per principle #1), it’s important to keep in mind that the longer the commitment they make to you, the harder it could be for them to churn. Think about your pricing structure. Can you lower prices but have new customers sign up for 12 months instead of one? Then, once you’ve gotten your customers’ commitment, fuel it by offering great products and customer service -- and maybe even customer-specific content.

3) Authority

Most people naturally obey authority figures, according to another principle in Cialdini’s book. When we view someone as having authority, we’ll be much more likely to trust his or her opinions and suggestions, simply because we believe the person is credible.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Amp up your authority in your content by prominently featuring authors’ information alongside their blog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, or videos. This way, your audience can see just how smart and amazing your inbound marketers are, which can be a step in the right direction if you’re trying to establish thought leadership as a brand.

4) Social Proof

We’ve talked about social proof a few times on the blog already, but basically, it boils down to a situation in which you adopt the beliefs or actions of a group of people you like or trust. In other words, it’s the “me too” effect. Think of this like an awkward middle school dance -- few people want to be the first one on the dance floor, but once a few people are there, everyone else wants to join in. (Keep in mind, this desire to conform doesn’t go away when you get older and less bashful about your dance moves.)

When You Could Use This in Marketing

One easy way to make the most of social proof is on your blog -- if you're not already, use social sharing and follow buttons that display the number of followers your accounts have or the number of shares a piece of content has. If those numbers are front and center and you already have a few people sharing your post, people who stumble on your post later will be much more likely to share.

5) Liking

Another psychological theory by Cialdini, “liking” means that if you feel positively toward another person or company, you’ll be much more likely to interact with them or buy from them. It may not matter how smart the other person is or how profitable the company is -- if you think they’re cool, you’ll want to be seen with them more often.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Liking is crucial to developing your company’s brand. Keep in mind that being “likeable” doesn’t have to mean being “nice.” Your brand could be raunchy and kind of offensive … but if your audience likes it, you can still take advantage of “liking.” You just want people to feel positively affiliated with your brand. So however you make that happen, it's worth a try.

6) Scarcity

Ever gone to buy airline tickets and seen a tagline that says “only 3 seats left at this price!” Yup, that’s scarcity (again, another Cialdini concept). This psychology principle goes back to the simple formula of supply and demand: the more rare the opportunity, content, or product is, the more valuable it is. Note: If you want to properly use this principle, you need to be careful how you word it. If you approach the scarcity concept as if there used to be a ton of a product or service, but due to popular demand there’s a few left, people will be very receptive. On the other hand, if you approach it from the angle that there are only a few products total, so get it now, the principle won’t be as effective. Check out this post from Nir and Far for a deeper explanation on why that distinction is important.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

This could be a great tactic to use when planning events. If you’re looking to increase ticket sales, it might be worth sending a personalized email to people who haven’t registered yet to remind them that there are only X number of tickets left since so many people have registered.

7) Recency Illusion

Ever heard about a product and then start seeing it everywhere you look? While that may be part of some clever ad retargeting online, it most likely is because of the “recency illusion.” It starts happening after you encounter something for the first time, and then you start noticing it everywhere you look.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

This is important to keep in mind when you’re designing marketing campaigns -- you should be aiming to develop robust, integrated campaigns, not just a one-and-done piece of content. By not pigeon-holing your inbound marketing to one type of content on one platform, you not only expose your content to new audiences, but more importantly, keep reinforcing your message with people who have encountered previous marketing pieces.

8) Verbatim Effect

According to this psychological concept, people are more likely to remember a fuzzy, general idea of your content -- not the longer, more detailed piece you originally created. For example, people will most likely remember that your presentation was generally about blogging for business -- not necessarily the details about writing and editing blog content.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

In our world today, people are headline-hungry. Given the “verbatim effect,” you should try to pack as much relevant and descriptive information into your headline as you can. Besides the fact that your headline will be fighting for attention all on its own on social media (as opposed to being accompanied by the full article text), your headline is only a few words that sum up your entire post. So use it wisely -- it may be all that your readers remember. If you need some help writing compelling headline copy, check out this post on our blog.

9) Clustering

People have a limited amount of space in their short-term memory. In fact, most people can only remember seven pieces of information (plus or minus two pieces in any given situation) at a time. To cope, most people tend to cluster similar pieces of information together. For example, if you had a whole grocery list of random items, most people would tend to mentally group items into certain categories (dairy, grain, meat, etc.) to be able to better remember what exactly was on the list.

When You Could Use This in Marketing

Do the legwork for your audience: group similar topics in your writing together -- either under numbered bullet points or with different header sizes. Besides being much easier to scan, your writing will be much easier to remember and recall down the road -- especially if you’re creating long lists of content.

Source: Hubspot.com

Vancouver City Council received an update today on the Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP), and heard that the City has achieved a four per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2007, while Vancouver’s economy and population both grew significantly.

“The 2013 update on the Greenest City Action Plan shows we’re making good progress, but there is much more to do,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “The costly impacts of climate change require us to continue working hard and strengthening our partnerships with other levels of government, business and labour communities, and our neighbourhoods and residents.

“Cities around the world are grappling with the effects of climate change, and in Vancouver we’re proving that you can have a strong, healthy economy while reducing carbon pollution. The climate crisis is a daunting global challenge and Vancouver’s leadership shows other cities what can be achieved, so it’s crucial that we keep raising the bar.”

The 2013 GCAP report to Council included an update on the 10 goals outlined in the plan, which collectively strengthen Vancouver’s natural environment, create new economic opportunities, and further establish Vancouver’s reputation as a city that balances economic growth with environmental leadership.

The accomplishments outlined in the report include:

• Reduction of total solid waste going to the landfill or incinerator by 11 per cent since 2008
• Ten per cent growth in green transportation mode share by walk, bike and transit since 2007 from 40 to 44 per cent of all trips
• Overall water consumption reduced by 16 per cent from 2006 levels
• Planted 12,513 new trees in 2012

In addition to these accomplishments, Council heard about the significant work ahead that is necessary to achieve the ambitious targets in the Greenest City Action Plan. From local food production and security to green transportation, access to nature and a lighter footprint, the 10 GCAP goals call for local and international leadership. They set out a clear path towards a bright green future for our community and our planet.

To learn more about the plan and read the 2013 GCAP Implementation Update, or to see an interactive map of green projects in Vancouver, please visit Vancouver.ca/greenestcity »

Source: Vanvantage.com

Golder Associates Ltd. and the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities' (UNSM's) Municipal Sustainability Office are launching a new guidebook - From Great Ideas to Great Communities - to help municipalities implement their Integrated Community Sustainability Plans (ICSPs).

This guide will help municipalities to translate their long-term goals and ideas into meaningful action on the ground.

The guide demonstrates how municipalities can build a culture of sustainability and integrate sustainability goals and principles into their daily operations and decision-making. Designed to be practical and easy to use, it includes a seven-part framework for action, step-by-step guidance, and priority strategies and actions for moving forward with the implementation process.

"We want each and every one of our municipalities to be successful in reaching their sustainability goals, and we anticipate that this guide will serve as a roadmap to help them along the journey," declared Councillor Frank Fawson, Municipality of the District of Lunenburg and Chair of UNSM's Sustainable Practices Committee.

The guide was prepared by Chris Lindberg and his team at Golder Associates Ltd. with support from The Natural Step Canada. It draws on examples and resources from various municipalities in Nova Scotia and across Canada that have had success with implementing their ICSPs.

"Nova Scotia has demonstrated real leadership in working with its municipalities on sustainability planning," says Senior Sustainability Specialist at Golder Associates and lead-author Chris Lindberg.

"We're very excited to launch this guide and help accelerate the implementation process. While the guide focuses on Nova Scotia, the framework, process and practices are relevant for municipalities all across Canada. We're looking forward to working with municipalities to make sustainability happen in their communities."

The guide and a wide variety of supporting resources are also available for download here »

Source: Globe-Net

Mission statements. They sound inherently business babbly, don't they? But even if you think they're a little ... silly ... they're really important guideposts for making decisions, staying inspired, and setting a bigger picture that gives your day-to-day work purpose.

Problem is, because the idea of a mission statement is so vague and broad, a lot of companies have trouble nailing one down. I did some research on companies with excellent mission statements, and pulled out the characteristics they all have in common. This post will show you how to write a great mission statement, told through the lens of some of the best ones out there.

Common Mistakes People Make When Writing Mission Statements

1) It's too long. (This will, ironically, be the longest section of the post.)

In one of my first "real world" jobs, my boss -- the CEO -- asked me to write a mission statement for the company. I knew they were supposed to be pretty short, so I wrote a couple paragraphs.

Wrong. Thank you for playing, Take this toaster as a lovely parting gift.

Just kidding, he didn't fire me, but we were both equally as clueless about how to write a great mission statement. The first thing to know is that they should be really short -- as in, like, a sentence. Maybe two. Check out Southwest Airlines' mission statement, for example:

"The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit."

To give you an idea, I probably would have written that something like:

"Southwest Airlines' mission is all about customer service. Not just any kind of customer service -- but high-quality customer service -- whether at ticketing, on the plane, in the terminal, even on our website. This should come through in a few places. First, warmth. Warmth means ... "

And on, and on, and on ... and on ...

Make it short and sweet. If you can't say it in a sentence or two, you haven't really nailed the mission statement.

2) You're thinking too small.

Think beyond the tactical. Your mission isn't to create widgets. That's what you do -- but it's not why you do it. Take a cue from Microsoft, for example. Its most recent mission statement is:

"To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential."

I consider this a huge improvement from its previous mission statement:

"A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software."

Why is it better? The old one wasn't bad, but the new one addresses something bigger than just selling a product. The new mission statement tells you who they want to reach -- people and businesses -- and what they want to help them do through Microsoft's products. It gives Microsoft a reason to exist as a business, beyond just making money.

3) It's not specific.

There's a tendency to work in generalizations when writing a mission statement, because you're trying to encompass ... well, a mission. And missions are big. (Remember, we just talked about not thinking too small.) But if you get too specific, you'll back yourself into a corner.

This isn't the right mindset. You can't be everything to everyone -- otherwise, what's your differentiator? What are you adding to the universe?

Zappos does a great job of communicating a larger mission, without compromising specificity. Their mission statement reads:

"To provide the best customer service possible."

They're not trying to loop in price, quality, changing the world, having the best corporate culture ... they want to provide the best customer service possible. That might include all of the aforementioned when it comes down to tactics, but it doesn't need to be in the mission statement. This is the perfect balance between thinking big, but still being specific.

4) The language is full of jargon.

This is where the business babble starts to creep in. (And often, the business babble creeps in because you're not being specific enough.) We all know what business babble is, so let's just look at a jargon-free mission statement to set the precedent for what we should all be striving for. Google's is an excellent example:

"Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

They could have said that like this:

"Google's mission is to utilize the digital information inputs of various sources and outlets and dispense it in a structure optimized for user-understanding."

But they didn't. Because that's ridiculous. (And it's pretty much the opposite of making information "accessible and useful.")

5) It's not something people want to "get behind."

Your mission should resonate with people, particularly you and your employees. It should address a real problem -- or something people care about, at least. Think about why you wanted to get into your business in the first place ... you were probably inspired by something, right? Whatever motivated you then (unless it was for the money, in which case ignore this advice) might be what you want to tap into when crafting your mission statement.

Inspiring mission statements aren't just for nonprofit organizations, either. I happen to think Google's mission statement is one of the most inspiring I've ever heard. Or take a look at Coca-Cola -- how can a beverage company have an inspiring mission statement? Its mission statement is:

"To refresh the world; to inspire moments of optimism and happiness; to create value and make a difference."

That last part is a little vague and verging on business babble (what does "create value" really mean?), but I love that middle part. Your mission statement should be a bit lofty. That's okay. Aspiration is good -- it inspires people to be creative and work hard.

Questions to Ask That'll Help You Write Your Mission Statement

If you're totally stuck on your mission statement, ask yourself the following questions to get the flow of ideas going. Think of it like getting past writer's block ... but, you know, for a mission statement.

1) What do we do?

2) Why did I go into business in the first place?

Or, if you're not a founder of the business ...

3) Why did I want to work at this company/in this industry?

4) What do I want this company's legacy to be?

5) What doesn't matter to this company's legacy?

6) How do I want to help people?

7) What value does our company bring that's unique from other companies?

Remember, your mission statement isn't set in stone. It's actually wise to revisit your mission statement once in a while to see if it still aligns with your company's goals. Some companies, for instance, choose to write mission statements that help them solve a short-term problem their company is facing -- these can be updated later to reflect a larger mission once your short-term issues are addressed.

However you approach your mission statement, just check back every couple years to see if it still aligns with the space you play in, and the world you live in. If your company is around for a long time, it will inevitably change -- your mission statement might have to change along with it.

FWIW, HubSpot's mission statement reads: Our mission is to make the world inbound. We want to transform how organizations do marketing.

And at Dominion Blue our mission statement reads: We will give our customers help in achieving their needs in ways that exceed their expectations. Within the company, we will give each other help in achieving customers’ needs in ways that exceed everybody’s expectations.

What's your company's mission statement?

Source: HubSpot