How innovators can embrace heuristics to increase demand
Be remembered
Ambitious organisations can succeed in a risk-averse economy by understanding the shortcuts in human decision-making.
The ‘newness’ of your innovation might be stifling your growth in the current economy.
That might sound crazy, but here are the facts. Two fundamental behaviours have shifted, making growth in the new economy much harder.
Funding - There’s less about supporting pre-profit activities, speeding into profitability matters.
Buying - Budgets are tighter, so choosing new, unfamiliar choices is considered riskier.
In his book ‘Crossing the Chasm’ Geoffrey Moore proved that scale-ups require a shift in the perception of their innovation from ‘new and high risk’ to ‘familiar, sexy and desirable.’ Put simply, your innovative product or service needs to shift from high-risk to desirable in the mind of your customers. And fast.
In theory, innovations are new, which is great, right? Unfortunately, new is a significant challenge when people are more risk-averse. New technology generates attention-grabbing headlines, at least for most people, until they’re asked to pay for it. Most people aren’t fans of taking a punt; we want predictable outcomes in return for our money. Most people aren’t fans of change, and getting to grips with new things usually means more effort, which is why we like others to go first, to wash out imperfections before we dive in.
Understanding Heuristics: Decision shortcuts innovators can embrace
As a species, we’ve developed ways to prevent our brains from having to work too hard. These shortcuts, or heuristics, help us navigate life at speed. Example? Whether we like it or not, we all make assumptions based on appearances.
Heuristics offer opportunities for intelligent innovators to improve their chances of success. Crucially, heuristics don’t just provide innovators one shot. Played well, they can operate through the purchasing lifecycle, helping to shift potential buyers from aware to interested, from interested to sale, and from sale to recommendation.
Here are four critical heuristics to understand and embrace right now. And one to avoid at all costs >>>
THE AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC - We use the information that’s most available to us to make decisions. We’re less likely to engage with an organisation we’ve not heard of or don’t recall. So invest in brand distinction and use it consistently to nuzzle into your buyers’ minds.
THE RELATABILITY HEURISTIC - We gain confidence in a potential choice when we see it’s worked for others like us or in situations that relate to our own (or that we’d like to connect to our own). Tell stories of your past successes in ways your targets can relate to.
THE LOSS AVERSION HEURISTIC - We all dislike letting opportunities slip through our fingers. For innovators, ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) can be a powerful way to counteract perceptions of risk associated with new things. They can reframe their products and ideas as mitigations that can be presented as potential losses should their audience not act fast.
THE MERE EXPOSURE EFFECT - It’s easy to get hung up on your message. But marketing science proves that being distinctive, loud, and consistently out there is super effective. Think how often your buyers are in-market for what you do. Hitting them at the correct times means being in their minds for the long haul. Plan to be ‘always on’ with your target audiences.
The best time to start building your brand was three years ago; the second best time is today.
When we’re unsure about a potential purchase, we tend to seek the reassurance of others. Heuristics can be played to accelerate favorability equally well for all of these influencers. But multi-stakeholder conversations require a distinctive brand that all parties recall. Brand connects these conversations.
Putting off building a consistent, distinctive brand will inevitably delay growth. Can you afford to do this?
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