Today I’m talking about subliminal messages and how you can use them in your marketing in an ethical way.
I know this is a really controversial topic so let me say something about subliminal messaging.
For the most part, it’s a hoax. I’ll getting to why in a second.
I’m actually doing this post to really to test the waters when it comes to psychological marketing because that’s the area that I am most interested in all.
All the other stuff like traffic generation strategies and writing sales copy is fantastic and I love it.
But when it comes to marketing the real draw for me is the psychological aspect of creating messages that resonate with people on a deeper level.
So today I’m going to talk about an ethical form of subliminal advertising called Perception Without Awareness (PWA), and I’ll tell you about that in a second.
Table of Contents:
The Terrible Truth About Subliminal Advertising
Most of what we know about subliminal messaging is a hoax.
In 1957 a chap called James Vicary claimed that by flashing images on a cinema screen he was able to increase the sales of coca-cola and popcorn by 57%.
He was lying.
In 1962 he revealed that it was a hoax and the entire whole subliminal messaging thing was just a fabrication.
But that didn’t stop other people from running with it and writing books about it.
In fact in the 1970s the United Nations declared subliminal messaging a major threat to human rights.
So because of those negative connotations researchers now approach subliminal advertising from a different point of view.
The Science Bit
They call it Perception Without Awareness (PWA) and it has a lot of solid data and evidence to support the fact that people can be influenced without them realizing it.
I’ll give you a really good example.
In the 1990s, researchers did a fascinating experiment in a wine shop.
They found that on days when they played French music the total sales of French wine increased by around 65%.
And then they repeated the experiment. On the days they played German music the sales of German wine increased by 83%.
That’s pretty conclusive evidence that proves that we are susceptible to subliminal influence – at least on some level.
With that that said, we can’t make someone do something that they don’t want to do.
But we can tip the scales in a certain direction just a little bit if the prospect has already decided that they want to take a particular type of action.
So for example you can’t make somebody hungry but you can influence the choice of food that prospect chooses if they are already hungry.
Do you see how that works?
I’m gonna tell you how you can use this in a second but the important thing to know is to think in terms of senses.
PWA is Multi-Sensory
When you engage someone’s senses you can influence the outcome of their actions, to some degree.
Remember the days of digital marketing when those guru’s stood on the beach pointing to a luxury home that overlooked the sea?
Well, I think that the days of those kinds of videos and those sales messages are over because it’s too obvious and it’s too cheesy.
But if we take the essence of why that works we can then apply that to a multitude of situations across practically every niche.
And that lets us get as creative with it as we like, or we can really dial it back and do it in a very subtle way.
However, as soon as someone becomes aware that you are engineering the environment or the multi-sensory experience, if you draw obvious and conscious focus to a subliminal it will no longer work.
How you choose to use this is really up to you and your own creativity but don’t do anything that you’re uncomfortable with.
How is this ethical?
I believe that it’s perfectly ethical because, for example, when you go into a supermarket and you get the nice smell of warm bread that’s not an accident. Its Perception Without Awareness.
Retailers have been using this technique for decades and only now have we digital marketers begun discovering ways that we can utilize this online.
But how can you do this?
How can you use subliminal influence?
For an example watch the video at the top of this post.
And we’ve already seen how sounds and smells influence behaviour.
I believe smell is strongest sense to target because of its link to memory.
But online, it could be something as simple as creating a subconscious link between you and something that is perceived as strong and powerful.
Placing carefully chosen items in the background of your video or wearing certain clothes might convey a message.
But as soon as you draw attention to that subliminal it no longer works.
And it’s completely up to you to decide if you want to use this technique, and to what extent.
If you’ve found this useful then share it with people who might find it useful too, and they’ll probably be thankful to you for sharing it.