Psychology of Marketing
How Customer-facing Strategy leads to Customer-informed Marketing
Marketing can use behavioral psychology to interpret and predict human behavior by focusing on observable actions and the conditions that produce them. The most effective campaigns don't simply persuade; they shape environments that make desired behaviors more likely.
Behavior becomes useful to marketers when it is translated into something observable and measurable. Instead of only asking, “What is this person feeling?” we examine the conditions that precede the action, the behavior itself, and what follows after - the antecedent, behavior, and consequence - scientifically known as the A-B-C equation.
Think of the A-B-C equation as such: the antecedent is the precursor that influences the behavior to happen, for example, an easel placed on a canvas. The antecedent becomes “the set-up” that influences the behavior, in this case, painting. Without the antecedent, the behavior becomes less likely to occur. The antecedent, the canvas on the easel, influences said behavior, painting, which leads to a consequence, the result, or what happens after painting, which influences whether the behavior will be repeated.
In marketing, the antecedent could be an ad, notification, price change, social proof, or product recommendation. The behavior could be clicking, purchasing, abandoning a cart, or subscribing. The consequence could be a discount, confirmation, reward, or satisfying product experience.
This becomes useful because consumer behavior can be tracked through signals like clicks, engagements, searches, etc. Online advertising can incorporate these behavioral signals to tailor advertisements to a user’s demonstrated preferences and interests, making the ad more impactful. Rather than simply observing these behavioral signals in a silo, the real impact derives from designing antecedents and consequences that make a behavior more likely. In this sense, marketing becomes not only a way to interpret behavior, but a system for constructing it.
Behavior Modification & Reinforcement
Behavior modification is not only found in psychology, but also in marketing tactics. It involves identifying the antecedents and consequences that influence a target behavior, then systematically applying behavioral principles to increase or decrease the likelihood of that behavior. One method is to make a valued reinforcer contingent upon completion of the desired action.
For example, within my current role, marketing campaigns for our IT and Spend products sometimes use “incentives” to increase meeting conversion. A prospective client may receive AirPods after attending the scheduled product meeting. In this case, the AirPods function as a valued reinforcer, while receiving the gift is contingent upon the target behavior of attending the meeting. The ultimate business objective is product purchased, and to achieve this target behavior, modification can be approached through smaller intermediate behaviors. Incorporating value reinforcers, like AirPods, increases the likelihood of meeting attendance, creating an opportunity for the customer to learn about the product, recognize the value, and move closer to conversion. Rather than directly reinforcing the final purchase, the incentive strengthens an earlier behavior within the customer journey, increasing the likelihood that the customer progresses toward the desired end behavior.
How does one identify target behaviors and create behavioral definitions of them?
The behavior we wish to change is a target behavior. To measure change effectively, the target behavior should be defined in clear, observable, and measurable terms. This is known as a behavioral definition, designed to make it easy to measure behaviors in numerical units. Behavioral definitions ensure concise descriptions of exactly what the behavior looks like, so it can be consistently identified and measured.
It’s important to begin with a baseline measurement of the target behavior before initiating behavior modification. This is your control metric, used to evaluate whether the intervention produces change. It is important to focus on objective goals, and the more specific the better because it will benefit from the scientific use of behavior principles.
There are three benefits to using objective behavior definitions:
First, objective data gives us the basis for rewarding a job well done and not rewarding suboptimal behavior. For example, setting a goal for 100 different clients to attend the IT meeting from the incentivized campaign. If only 30 clients join the meeting, it is objectively clear that the campaign is 70 attendees short of its target. The incentive, AirPods, seek to reduce the delta on client attendance.
Secondly, objective records help us ask questions and create rules for correcting problems we may encounter during behavior modification. For example, tracking campaign data within its duration to help refine strategy. Asking, “What did these 30 clients have in common to convert to meeting joined?” “Are IT buying trends impacted by seasonality?” “Are there certain industries more interested than others?” By triggering questions when a behavior was not completed, helps you realize other behaviors that are preventing you to reach the conversion goal of 100.
Thirdly, objective data helps people evaluate the relative merits of different behavior modification programs. For example, increasing the target pool by adding additional clients into the campaign. Keeping data objective enables clear results to help refine strategy. If targeting an additional 600 clients does not improve conversion rate this objective data reveals targeting additional clients does not directly lead to a higher meeting conversion rate, and encourages strategy to be refined in other areas.
Identifying the Weakest Link
Complex target behaviors can also be broken into smaller operant behaviors that form a behavioral chain. Rather than attempting to modify the entire behavior at once, each link can be evaluated individually to identify where the chain is breaking down. The weakest or neglected behavior then becomes the new target behavior. Careful evaluation can help us identify neglected behavior that becomes the new target behavior in the chain, polishing all the links in the chain. By strengthening individual links, the entire behavioral chain becomes more effective.
For example, a campaign where the target behavior is attending a product meeting. The behavioral chain might be: see campaign → open message → click CTA → schedule meeting → attend meeting. If 300 people click the CTA but only 30 schedule, increasing campaign reach may do little to improve the final target behavior. The weakest link is no longer awareness; it is the transition from interest to scheduling. That intermediate behavior can then become the new target for modification.
The weakest link is the transition from interest to scheduling. The focus is now to modify that step in hopes of reducing friction like, shortening the booking form, embedding available meeting times directly into the CTA, triggering an SQL notification for direct sales follow-up, changing the next campaign step in relation to the action of scheduling drop-off with a follow-up explaining the meeting agenda, and more.
Therefore, behavior modification, in conjunction with objective data, enables marketers not only to track measurable outcomes, like the number of emails converted to meetings attended within a given week, but also to create systems and rules based on behaviors that have previously produced successful results. Marketers can then build on that baseline by experimenting with variables like booking forms, email formats, language around CTAs etc. By comparing scheduling rates before and after these changes, one can determine which intervention improves conversion.
Buyer Personas & Targeting
Specific buyer personas will resonate with different product value propositions within a campaign. It is critical to narrow down your audience to a specific target in order to “control” the likelihood of a certain consequence ocurring from a specific behavior, and in this instance not waste precious ad spend/budget on the wrong decision maker.
For example, targeting only active admins within the Rippling platform with IT titles at the director level and above, further narrowing to accounts with previous IT evaluation engagements, with a focus on high yield industries like growing SAAS and AI companies.
Expanding the Behavioral Chain Through Channel
In my role within channel partnerships, the end client also works with a referring partner, and in some cases the Partner’s team includes a fractional IT leader, who supports various clients only for IT purposes. Targeting the Partner in addition to the end client opens up more white space. This campaign could be strengthened through the ripple effect of the channel. With partners it is more intentional targeting because they receive additional incentive for co-selling Rippling through our rev-share agreements. The partners can range from supporting two to 100+ Rippling customers. Also, they have direct insight into the end customer’s sentiment / growth phase / strategic needs and beyond. If the partner recognizes the product value, they become an additional vessel for revenue generation across their supporting accounts. This creates a mutually beneficial relationship: stronger outcomes for the client deepen the partner's relationship with both the customer and Rippling, ultimately fueling the partner's own business.
As the second founding member of the Accountant Partnerships Channel team, I helped define our partner tiers and its correlation to our rev-share policies. Our partner tiers were constructed through data insights of total accounts referred, cumulative CX entitlement of their referred accounts, as well as the current percentage of paid invoices on Rippling services. Partner tiers also include a minimum Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) requirement to ensure consistent growth. This includes per customer payout breakdowns, on specific product services. With an emphasis on high-return product add-ons, such as IT and Spend. An important data insight to help inform marketing strategy within the channel.
The Rippling Partnership roadmap follows a clear progression: define the pillar and tier in which the partner sits, understand the maturity model for expansion from standard to platinum status, and drive product activation and growth. All of this is built on a foundation of mutual success.
Using co-selling as a method to market Rippling to key partner stakeholders can accumulate a compounding growth effect. When a partner recognizes the value of a product like IT or Spend, this simultaneously enables Rippling to become a key provider beyond HRIS tech. That understanding can influence how they recommend the Rippling platform across their broader book of business, increasing adoption rates within each Rippling platform itself, and across their supporting accounts. In turn, this higher adoption and utilization deepens customer loyalty and trust. Over time, this also generates super users within the Partner and Customer ecosystem, furthering product influence and partner/customer experience. It’s a domino effect.
This is why partner education (and customer education) is very important for deepening trust and loyalty long term. In part of this, we host Executive Business Reviews quarterly for each Partner to walk through new product releases, align on mutual accounts, review necessary commercials, and refine collaborations to produce win-win success. The conversion for a partner champion is less often, but compounded in effect. The motion is more strategic and timely, but higher in its overarching reward potential and feedback loop.
From Individual Behavior to Business Value
Zooming out, the strategy behind the incentivization campaign is to capture more market value for Rippling as a whole. The IT/Spend products are newer SKUs at Rippling, and consequently have a lower adoption rate across our existing customer base. As adoption rises with IT/Spend products within Rippling’s new and current customer base, Rippling’s market valuation increases dramatically. Looking at our AirPod campaign example, the lead to purchase conversion for these products results in a higher ROI than the initial investment for the AirPods themselves.
In addition, Rippling partners with Apple within our IT product offering, specifically, for Inventory Management which assists in the logistical component of deploying and redeploying devices (laptops, phones) to a workforce. A customer of Rippling Inventory Management has a direct data connection the Apple Store, encouraging active customers to purchase Apple products in app, in high need circumstances. The IT product incorporates partnership lead generation and co-selling opportunities within the app, beyond initial sale of Inventory Management. By leveraging this partnership agreement within the campaigning of Rippling IT product, and continuously within the product enables further negotiation within campaigning to utilize Apple specific products to drive conversion rates. Alternatively thinking, if you can get more people to use more tech in their day to day, then subconsciously more tech will become required in their life and in their business.
Applying the Framework at a Micro Level
In my current day to day, an email campaign tactic I consistently utilize is centered on contract restructuring. Looking at a consistent pattern in my Book of Business (BoB), some of my clients undergo reductions in their workforce, which can result in a seat delta of active seats in the platform versus the billed seats. For example, a client could have signed for 50 seats, but had to conduct a series of layoffs within that same year, which results in 30 active seats. This means there is a delta of 20 seats that are being billed and under-utilized. In order to right-size the seats and re-allocate spend towards something meaningful, I guide the client towards a specific product investment that aligns with their business needs + strategic priorities. By targeting accounts with a clear reduction in workforce, this tactic increases the likelihood of product conversion by creating an objective goal: reallocate spend from underutilized seats toward a product add-on that better serves the customer's current needs.The product add-on becomes a holistic contract restructuring and the seat delta enables this behavior to occur. At a micro level, I use my BoB as a testing ground for identifying behavioral patterns and refining strategies that ultimately drive my individual sales objectives.
