Human Psychology: The Most Overlooked Aspect of Modern Marketing With Sarah Levinger

Sarah Levinger is a creative strategist, Forbes-featured consumer behavior analyst, and performance creative consultant. Having spent 10 years studying the human mind, consumer psychology, economics, and behavior science, she helps DTC brands increase paid advertising ROI using psychology-based creative. Previously, Sarah built and managed a marketing agency, where she developed social media and marketing strategies for small businesses, multilevel startups, and community associations.

While many marketers optimize their ads for technicalities, neuroscientific research shows that 95% of daily decisions are made from the subconscious mind, so ads must influence emotional decision-making. How can you leverage basic psychology principles to customize your ads for the consumer experience?

Rather than solely relying on demographic information to develop your ads, creative psychology integrator Sarah Levinger says to collect experiential and psychographic information about your target customer. This includes psychological fears and emotions surrounding a core issue. Sarah recommends gathering this information through a natural language processing (NLP) report, which identifies key emotional motivators. You can then incorporate these fundamental human experiences into your ads through humor and intentional language. 

In this installment of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris interviews creative strategist Sarah Levinger about implementing psychology into advertising and marketing. Sarah explains the importance of intentional ad designs, why influencing consumers’ emotions can cross a line, and how to leverage AI to tap into human psychology.