6 Secrets About the Human Brain That Will Make You a Better Marketer

Unlock these secrets of the brain and reach your customers more effectively.

- An Handley

Researchers in a new(ish) field of study called neuromarketing are trying to figure out how our hardwired preferences affect the decisions we make. Put simply, they’re trying to determine how our brains respond to marketing and how this can influence our behavior—consciously or unconsciously—explains Andy Crestodina, cofounder and strategic director of Chicago web design and development company Orbit Media Studios, who speaks and writes about the topic. “There are ‘cognitive biases’ built into all of us,” he says. “We can’t help it. Marketing works either with or against these cognitive biases.”

What’s the interest? Grey Garner, a Nashville-based marketing and sales consultant for cloud-based software startups, has the answer: “The competition for attention is fierce, so knowing what lights up our brains gives marketers an edge that can help them win.”

So let’s take a look at some secrets of the human mind you can tap into from a marketing perspective.

WE ALL HAVE A PRIMITIVE BRAIN.

The amygdala controls our reactions and emotions, and it works much faster than our conscious, rational mind, Garner says. In fact, we experience gut reactions in three seconds or less. Emotions make a more lasting imprint than rational thought.