© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential 1

Blue State Digital London

Influence - Putting behaviour change theory into practice

© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

How can we influence people?

Blue State Digital has been fundraising, campaigning and engaging audiences for our clients since 2004. We test everything - from alternative calls to action to timing of messages, emotional vs. rational arguments and much more.

Our best practices, pragmatically derived, closely relate to the six principles of persuasion that Professor Robert Cialdini outlined in his classic work, ‘Influence’. These principles are reciprocity, commitment, social proof, liking, scarcity and authority.

But it’s often difficult to imagine what these mean in practice - so we’ve put together some research that shows how our best practices work.

I hope you enjoy it.

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© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Reciprocity

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RECOGNISE YOUR SUPPORTERS FOR

THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS

AND ASK THEM TO TAKE ANOTHER

ACTION See the full email here:http://www.bluestatedigital.com/studentsfirst-email

© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Reciprocity

Reciprocity means that we feel obliged to give to those that we have received from. This gift does not need to be material, although free samples are a common application of this principle. It can be as simple as praise, or as basic as information.

When our supporters take action, we strengthen our bond by thanking them – and build the relationship for the future. We then ask them to reciprocate by doing something more.

Our recognition comes in many forms – anything from a thank you email to a Facebook badge. But it always includes a further call to action, an appeal to their underlying understanding of reciprocity.

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© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Commitment

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IDENTIFY YOUR COMMITTED SUPPORTERS

AND TURN THEM INTO YOUR

ADVOCATES

See the full email here:http://www.bluestatedigital.com/RCM-email

© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Commitment

People like to honour their commitments.

If people have taken an action for you in the past, they’re likely to support you again – but they may need to be reminded of their pledge. At BSD we work hard to convert our committed supporters into campaign advocates. To do this, we acknowledge their support and remind them that it can’t stop with a single action, that we need their commitment to carry through the entire campaign.

Note that this means you don’t necessarily need to start with changing attitudes to change behaviours: you can do it the other way round.

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© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Social Proof

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CAPITALISE ON SOCIAL

ENDORSEMENT

© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Social Proof

People draw guidance from those around them.

When making decisions, they look to those who have already chosen. In the age of social media, where everybody’s preferences are broadcast on a public platform, an awareness of social proof is especially important. Your supporters are your potential sales force.

A campaign must provide content that supporters can share via Facebook, email or Twitter – and they must be encouraged to do so.

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© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Liking

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“I put my hand over his and together we traced his name...I

could see from the emotion on his face that this moment was a major life event - it was the first time he had ever signed his own name.”

See the full email here:http://www.bluestatedigital.com/NAACP-email

APPEAL TO YOUR SUPPORTERS’

EMOTIONS THROUGH RELATABLE SENDERS

AND PERSONAL STORIES

© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Liking

It’s no surprise that people respond better to those they like. It’s easy to underestimate how much this principle could benefit your campaign.

A genuine emotional connection between a supporter and a campaign is beyond value, but to achieve this the campaign needs to speak with a compelling personality and human voice. In other words, it needs some likeable people to tell their incredible stories.

Your requests will be more successful if they’re coming from senders your supporters can relate to, people who will inspire them to take action, stories that remind them of the importance of your cause. Find these personalities in your campaign and let them be your voice.

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© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Scarcity

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SET DEADLINES

HIGHLIGHT CRITICAL NEED

FOR URGENT ACTIONSee the full email here:

http://www.bluestatedigital.com/caringforce-email

© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Scarcity

As soon as we know something is limited, our desire for it increases.

In a campaign, this knowledge is key to providing incentives for action. An obvious example is the use of contests with limited prizes. But scarcity has much broader uses than that. Scarcity can apply to time as well as quantities. Set deadlines for your appeals and remind your supporters when they’re looming. Tell them there is an expiry date on their chance to take action: time is scarce, it’s now or never.

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© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Authority

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SPEAK WITH CERTAINTY

USE TRUSTED, RECOGNISED, NAMES

STATE THE FACTS

© 2012 Blue State Digital | Proprietary and Confidential

Authority

An urgent warning and call to action, such as in the Partners In Health email, means more coming from a trusted and recognisable name such as Paul Farmer than an average person on the street. Paul is an expert in his field. If he says Haiti needs our help, we believe him.

Of course, authoritative speech, personalities and visuals must all be based in reality. A campaign must carefully cultivate its authoritative voice over time, showcase it only when necessary, and be very careful never to give cause for it to be questioned.

[Note for UK readers - Paul Farmer occupies roughly the same position in US society as a combination of Robert Winston & Bob Geldof.]

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