TCC Podcast #467: Hacking the Human Mind with Michael Aaron Flicker

Want more responses, sales, and customers? Let's hack the human mind. This is the Copywriter Club Podcast. Several months ago, I was fortunate enough to get an advanced copy of a book called Hacking the Human Mind.

Now, if you have a book and you want me to read it, giving it a title like Hacking the Human Mind and including ideas and insights from behavioral science and neuromarketing and psychology is pretty much guaranteed to get my attention. But this book goes one step farther by looking at marketing in the real world, then searching for the psychology that explains why something works. This approach basically flips the usual marketing tactic to-do list from here are a bunch of psychological triggers, things like exclusivity, scarcity, risk removal, curiosity, and so on.

make sure that you include all of those into your sales process and instead look for what works already and figure out why it works. It's a bit different from the usual approach. So I asked one of the authors, Michael Aaron Flicker, to talk with me about some of the concepts from the book. We talked about things like the pratfall or blemish effect and how to turn a product flaw into an asset.

There are very few perfect products in the world, so understanding how to use This effect in your copy is incredibly useful. We also talked about how to address product changes in a way that doesn't generate backlash. We've seen customers revolt against design and formulation changes over the past few years. Kraft Mac and Cheese did it the right way.

And to hear that story, you'll have to keep listening to this episode. Another idea we talked about is offer simplicity. We're often tempted to stack feature on feature, then benefit upon benefit. it We do this to pile on the good stuff and make our offers more valuable to our clients But the actual effect may be the exact opposite Again to hear how that works you going to want to keep on listening One thing Michael Aaron points out that it takes more than knowing about a particular psychological effect or persuasion trigger.

Often you need to find new and innovative ways to use these triggers in order to make them work. We also talked a little bit about humor. Lots of stuff we covered here. You're going to want to stay tuned.

Before we get to my discussion with Michael Aaron, this episode is brought to you by Research Mastery. Research Mastery is the one-stop program or course that will change your writing for the better. Instead of just organizing words, you'll have the tools and strategies you need to truly understand your customers so they relate to your offer and buy more often. Research Mastery digs into the four critical areas of research, and if you miss just one of them, your research isn't complete.

And it includes the AI tools you need to do research faster, more effectively, and more profitably. You can learn more about this unique program at thecopywriterclub.com forward slash research mastery. And now my interview with Michael Aaron Flicker.

Michael Aaron, welcome to the Copywriter Club podcast. I, as just before we started to record, I told you your book is right up my alley. This is the stuff that I love thinking about, talking about. We've had a few episodes already this year talking about similar concepts, but I think you've got a slightly different take on some of this stuff.

So let our viewers, our listeners know, how did you get here? Business advisor, author of this new book, Hacking the Human Mind. What's your story? Thanks so much, Rob.

I'm so excited to be on. I've gotten to listen to quite a number of the podcasts that you all have done.