What an Old Meme Can Teach You About Increasing Conversions Online
Written by: Victoria Vela, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I started grad school and elbow deep in research studies on perception, human learning, and cognition…. but then I saw it…
"The Dress," do you remember it? Do you remember which team you were on — white & gold, or black & blue?
It was a perfect litmus test for how an individual processes information! I thought it was fascinating that while I was so sure it was White & Gold, my husband was so sure that it was Black & Blue. I knew there had to be a good explanation for why we were interpreting the same image completely differently. So, as usual, I turned to neuroscience.
There is a theory that we process information in one of two ways. Bottom-up processing is very straightforward, processing information as it comes in. We form an idea based on the smallest piece of information.
Top-down processing refers to perception driven by cognition. We apply our knowledge and expectations to form an idea, which means we "fill in the blanks" a bit to understand the input.
Here's another example…
What did you see there?
A woman (top-down processing) or a saxophone player (bottom-up processing)?
Top-down and bottom-up processing effectively explained what was happening to all of us, arguing over what color the dress REALLY was. Spoiler alert: it was actually black & blue.
Those of us seeing the white & gold dress were taking context clues to fill in the blanks and make predictions to decide what we were seeing (top-down). Those of us seeing blue & black were quickly reacting to the stimuli to make a judgment about what they were seeing (bottom-up).
Six years later, I'm building websites, sales funnels, and marketing strategies…and I realize that this old meme is actually a great way to learn about the buyer's brain. When the overall objective is to optimize content for higher conversions, understanding the buyer’s brain is a TOP priority.
So, what can an old meme teach you about optimizing conversions?
Team White & Gold (Top-Down Processors):
They are more likely to gather as much information as possible to reason out a logical answer.
They are more likely to put more thought into making a decision to buy.
They're going to need more facts & details to reach a decision.
They're more likely to be very careful with how they spend their money.
What do they need to buy?
Lots of concrete facts
Details
Tangible results
Excellent design to create credibility.
Team Blue & Black (Bottom-Up Processors):
They are more likely to react quickly to the content they see.
They are more likely to purchase based on perceived value.
They're more likely to make the buying decision based on emotions.
They're more likely to be more impulsive when spending money.
What do they need to buy?
An attractive offer
Excellent design to create credibility.
Lots of visual stimuli to evoke strong emotions.
When you understand how your buyers process information, you can better guess how they're going to interpret your content and optimize your sales funnels, websites, or social media content to convert ANY type of buyer.
Reach out to me if you want to optimize your content to increase conversions. I've got a framework for that!
You can learn more at my upcoming webinar: How to build funnels that convert any type of buyer
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I will teach you about the different types of buyers and how to optimize your sales funnels and websites to convert ANYONE.
Victoria Vela, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Victoria Vela is a marketing strategist with a specialization in Neuromarketing. After a career in teaching and learning to adapt delivering content to different learning styles, Victoria brings the same psychological approach to marketing. She is now the CEO of Microcosmic Marketing an Marketing Agency specializing in helping coaches create the kind of comprehensive marketing strategies that allow them to become a leader in their field, with expert visibility, expert design, and high converting automated sales funnels.
