Robert Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion
They are an essential tool in any marketer’s toolkit that makes marketing messaging convincing. I need to refer to them repeatedly – for email copy, product design, website copy, advertising design and so on.
I found this framework so pervasively applicable that it’s worth holding in my active memory. Holding it in my active memory means it is instantly and always accessible to me, the cumulative benefit of which has become evident over time.
The Concept
1. Authority
People will tend to obey authority figures and even to symbols of authority (such as academic degrees, uniforms, expensive cars, etc.).
2. Commitment and Consistency
People have a general desire to appear consistent in their behavior and value consistency in others.
3. Reciprocation
People generally feel obliged to return favors offered to them.
4. Scarcity
People tend to want things as they become less available.
5. Liking
People are more likely to agree to offers from people whom they like.
6. Social Proof
People look to other people similar to themselves when making decisions.
The Homigram
A king is playing with his boomerang in the desert accompanied by his bodyguard. The royal bird sits nearby singing a love song for the king. This encodes the six principles of persuasion! Let’s see how.
How I Came Up With the Idea
The symbol of a king as “Authority” was one of a few obvious options to me. “Scarcity” brings images of a desert or a famine to my mind. Twitter’s Larry Bird was an obvious symbol for “Social Proof”. And I was lucky to find an image of Larry with hearts- that took care of “Liking”. Once I had these elements, the rest began to fall in place.
Homigrams are highly personal. The symbols that felt obvious to me, would most likely not feel that way to you. You would go about this homigram in a completely different way. And that’s the essence of it – you have to use imagery that carries meaning for you.