Use Buyer Psychology To Launch a Successful Video Mini-Course

Are you using (or thinking about using) a video mini-course to generate leads? If so, it’s essential to use buyer psychology principles to encourage participants and ensure you get worthwhile lead generation results. 

A well-structured video mini-course can be an extremely powerful way to generate leads, as you can quickly build authority among your warm leads and move potential customers down the sales funnel toward converting. 

If you really want to create a course that keeps people engaged—a course that drives conversions—you need to think about the buyer psychology of purchase decisions. By leveraging the ways people process information and make decisions, you’ll make your offering more attractive. 

But don’t worry, it’s not as technical or daunting as it might seem. You only really need to get to grips with three of the most proven buyer psychology principles, which we’re going to outline in this blog post. 

Not only that, we’ll also show you how you can use ScoreApp to keep video mini-course viewers gripped, motivated, and heading toward a purchase. 

Read on to find out:

• The most common reasons why video mini-courses fail to convert, and how to counteract them. 
• The three key buyer psychology principles for boosting engagement and action include:
  • The Zeigarnik effect – creating open loops to keep people engaged with you.
  • The endowed progress effect – making your leads feel like they’ve already started the process with you.
  • Self-perception theory – helping leads understand their pain points and see themselves as action takers.
• Best of all, how ScoreApp makes it easy to apply buyer psychology in marketing your video mini-course.

There’s no time like the present, so let’s dive straight in. 

Why most video mini-courses fail to convert

Anyone can create a video mini-course and put it out into the world, but many who do don’t see a meaningful uptick in sales or lead generation. It’s not always enough to nail down and present a clear-cut offer. You need to think about the impact your course content has on the viewer. 

For example, the amount of information you present in your course can make or break it as a lead generation tool. The theory of cognitive overload was developed by John Sweller in 1988 and shows that once viewers hit saturation, they disengage. 

Another threat to engagement is a lack of immediate benefits. If leads perceive that what you’re saying is of little or low value—if they can’t see the benefits straight away—then they’re going to start to drift away. That’s Robert Cialdini’s low perceived value theory in a nutshell.

Lastly, you need to make sure you have commitment triggers built into your video course and its marketing. As far back as 1966, Freedman and Fraser were advocating for commitment triggers: small, frequent psychological nudges that will keep viewers engaged throughout the length of the course. Without them, you’ll see a steady decline. 

Acknowledging the need to moderate information, outline benefits, and keep bumping engagement is the first step in getting a handle on the psychology of sales. 

The next step is harnessing the three buyer psychology principles we outlined earlier (the Zeigarnik effect, endowed progress, and self-perception theory) to make your video mini-course a success. 

3 buyer psychology principles for a high-converting mini-course (and how to apply them)

1. The Zeigarnik effect: Keep people hooked with open loops

It turns out that people remember incomplete tasks more than they remember those with a clear resolution. 

That was what Bluma Zeigarnik found in 1927, and the concept can still be applied successfully to your video mini-course nearly a hundred years later. In technical terms, if you leave a concept unfinished at the end of a segment, then the viewer is more likely to feel compelled to continue watching, to close the open loop. 

Or, to put it in everyday terms, you want to end each episode on a cliffhanger to keep the audience coming back for more. It’s the oldest trick in the TV playbook, but it works. Netflix are particularly good at making this method work to their advantage. 

How ScoreApp helps you apply the Zeigarnik effect 

Now you know about the Zeigarnik effect and why it works, it’s time to put it into action. For a start, the easiest way to use this particular piece of buyer psychology is to end the videos in your mini-course with a teaser of what’s coming next. 

Even better, introduce a question at the beginning of each instalment that is only going to be answered in the following part. Show the audience you’re not done yet, that there’s more to learn, and let the psychology of buying do the rest. 

Lastly, a ScoreApp quiz gives you a second loop to keep open. By promising personalized results on a particular subject—a subject your video mini-course addresses—you create a sense of anticipation and curiosity that will draw leads to your course.

2. The endowed progress effect: Motivate completion with small wins

Research by Nunes and Drèze in 2006 found that a feeling of progress toward a stated goal makes it more likely for people to see the goal through to completion. 

It may seem obvious that we’re not going to abandon progress, but it works surprisingly well. Just think about the loyalty card from your favourite high-street coffee shop. You get a stamp, with the promise of a freebie down the line, and you’re compelled to keep collecting—to keep moving toward the goal.

Here’s the kicker, though. You can use the psychology of sales to increase motivation just as well with an artificial head start. Tell your lead segments they’ve been selected to be ahead of the crowd and you’ll see the endowed progress effect kick in straight away.

How ScoreApp helps you apply the endowed progress effect

But how can you use the endowed progress effect? Let’s start with a quiz. 

A quiz is a great way to instantly show a lead their progress, with personalized results demonstrating that they’re ‘on the right track’. The fact they haven’t started the course yet is where the artificial head start comes in, with the endowed progress effect making completing the video mini-course all the more likely. 

As for your video mini-course itself, there’s more you can do. Break the course into small, digestible lessons to create momentum that takes the viewer on to the next episode. You can also include a progress bar, showing how many episodes they’ve completed, or a percentage for the course overall. 

Either way, visually reinforcing progress promotes more progress. It’s the perfect example of the endowed progress effect, and buyer psychology in marketing. 

3. Self-perception theory: Let viewers define themselves as action-takers

We’ve covered this in greater depth elsewhere, but self-perception theory is a powerful piece of buyer psychology that can have a big impact. 

First put forward in 1972 by Daryl Bem, self-perception theory shows that engaging with content reinforces the idea that you’re the type of person who will follow it through to the end. That if you can see yourself in the problem, you’ll be more open to the solution. That means anybody who starts your course can be made to see themselves and their progress, and therefore see themselves converting. 

How ScoreApp helps you apply self-perception theory

The first step to using self-perception theory in your video mini-courses is to set out small, easy actions for the lead to take. Taking part in a quiz is a great example, especially when it comes with personalized results that strike a chord. 

Follow up the quiz results with language that speaks to the lead directly. For example, ‘You’re the kind of person who takes action’ reinforces their identity and primes them to take the action you’re lining up in your video mini-course. 

Speaking of which, be sure to end each video with a task. An implementation step doesn’t just promote engagement, it reinforces the idea that they’re making progress and keeps them open to making bigger steps. 

ScoreApp’s automation tools make it easy to contact leads by segment, personalizing the messaging for a more effective use of self-perception theory with the buyer psychology of purchase decisions.

How ScoreApp helps you integrate buyer psychology into your video mini-course

A video mini-course isn’t just another content channel. It’s your chance to engage leads and keep them engaged as they move down the sales funnel. By using ScoreApp alongside three key buyer psychology principles, you can do that with relative ease.

Let’s recap:

The Zeigarnik effect – Keep leads looking for the next part of the puzzle with open-ended content. Add an extra element with a ScoreApp quiz and personalized results, guiding leads to the videos for further insights.

The endowed progress effect – Inspire leads to move through each episode of your video mini-course by showing them their progress. You can use your quiz and its results to show your leads they’re on the right track and they can do even better by watching your content.

Self-perception theory – Confront the lead with their challenges, and they’ll be more open to finding the solution with you. A ScoreApp quiz will give you the insights for segmenting leads and following up with automated, personalized marketing.

With ScoreApp, you can build a video mini-course that engages leads and boosts conversions, by understanding and harnessing the psychology of buying. It’s free to try, so what are you waiting for? Use buyer psychology and ScoreApp today and make your video mini-course a success.