Now with less than a month to go until GatorCon2018, we’ve caught up with Katie Hart. Looking at marketing from a vastly different angle, Katie has been sharing her passion for how Psychology applies to Marketing.

I have to say, I’m really looking forward to your talk. How did you get into the area of looking at psychology applications in marketing initially?

Katie: By accident more than anything! I studied Psychology at University and I was absolutely passionate about it. I was always trying to find out more about what makes us tick. After Uni, I started with a job in marketing, but I wasn’t really applying Psychology at this point. It was when I was deciding what to do next with my career, whether to return to teaching or go back to marketing, when I had a wake-up moment. I realised how succinctly the two topics come together.

I googled how psychology is used in marketing, and there was very little on the topic. What does exist is extremely exciting, and I wanted to get involved. It was like a light coming on.

It sounds like there’s plenty of uses psychology has in marketing, can you give us a few examples of how you’d use it?

Katie: Really, when I work with a client, there are so many aspects to employ across the board. Images are a common consideration. When putting together resources, a brochure or a website, we need to think about what the images convey. Fonts are another regular one. As is the colour palette being used. Wording can have a huge impact as well. By changing a few specific words, the entire message can gain a far greater impact which resonates with the audience stronger.

In digital marketing, with so many channels to use, the restrictions from traditional marketing are stripped back. We have so much more flexibility in our marketing materials. We can be far more adaptive to what resounds with people.

You’ve got two talks at conference this year, you’ve briefly mentioned colour already, is that a topic we can expect at GatorCon2018?

Katie: Yes, colour is such a powerful and incredibly evocative force, that is hardwired into all of us. We respond to colour very strongly, and it has the potential to cut through our rational thinking. It’s hugely important to consider in marketing. Typically, when rebranding, people will give some thought to colour. By understanding how our brain process colour, we can make its impact far, far, greater. In fact, there have been some really great studies which show that something as simple as changing the colour of a call-to-action button, on a website page, can increase click-throughs hugely!

It’s fascinating how such a tiny change, can have such a huge impact. It seems the same for the differences between gender. Are there really such big differences between the genders and how you should market to each?

Katie: We’ve learnt by watching the brain in action, that male and female brains have evolved very differently. Whilst socially, the roles are no different, in evolutionary terms, the different genders have evolved for different things. As a result, each responds to certain triggers in a different way

Having begun in a time when men comprised the majority of marketers, traditional marketing “rules” are very much skewed towards the male perspective. Nowadays, with increasing levels of purchases by women, these tactics don’t tend to work at such a blanket level. Considering how the different genders brains are wired, allows us to understand more precisely how each will respond. This is where psychological findings can greatly influence how we market to the separate genders.

You will have TWO opportunities to let Katie enlighten you to the world of Psychology. See her 9.25am Thursday 22nd November and 1.50pm Friday 23rd November. If you haven’t already, book your tickets here.