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Three neuromarketing tips to increase the impact of your folder

EEG, Neuromarketing, eye tracking

Three neuromarketing tips to increase the impact of your folder

Folders. They are still a trusted physical medium to be able to display your assortment to the customer.

But how do you ensure that your folder is being read by the customer? How does the layout of your folder ensure that sales becomes even more attractive? In short: how does an effective folder differ from waste paper?

We have been researching the folders for years to increase its impact. We do not do this by asking a group of respondents for their opinion about the folder.

No, we let the target group of our customer read the folder(s) in a cozy environment. While the respondents browse through the folder and select a few products, their eye movements and brain activity are recorded by an Eye Tracker and an EEG.

The combination of these techniques enables us to measure which elements within the folder stands out and which emotion these elements generate. For example, we say goodbye to biased opinions and we welcome subconscious emotions that really hide behind the majority of our (buying) decisions.

In this blog, we share the three neuromarketing insights that we see most often in our neuromarketing research folder.

#1 Branding in your folder: it cannot be clear enough

Our brains are able to decide in a matter of seconds which folder to read and which folders end up in the trash. It is therefore crucial for each folder to provide immediate clarity. What can the reader expect within the folder?

The most effective way to achieve this is to simply communicate your brand. So: place your logo clearly on the front page.

This may seem obvious, but we regularly see this go wrong. Some brands try to stand out by deviating from this convention. For example, they opt for a more subtle logo at the bottom of the cover or make the cover so busy that the logo disappears. The result? The logo is not immediately seen by the viewer and negative emotion occurs.

Folder voorbeeld 1    Folder voorbeeld 2

Examples of covers with sub-optimal branding on the cover, due to a different location of the logo (left) and a too busy cover.

The best place for a logo is at the top of the page, on the left, or page wide. People look here first, because this is where they expect the logo. So make it as easy as possible for the viewer and place the logo where it is expected.

Folder voorbeeld 3    Folder voorbeeld 4

Be as clear as possible: weaker (left) vs. strong (right) branding on the cover

Important: do not forget the back of the folder when you are branding. Often you only see the back when opening the folder package. Sometimes only this page is taken into account in the decision whether they are going to read this folder or not.

In addition to branding on the outside of the folder, branding within the folder also has an advantage. We notice that the logo, usually at the bottom of each page, is often scanned briefly. This is beneficial for the brand. In this way, all positive associations that are gained during reading are linked to the brand.

#2 Take advantage of the hotspot of your folder spread

We find a general viewing pattern in almost all our neuromarketing folder surveys. People first look at - and in total pay more attention to - the right page than the left. This mainly has to do with the way in which people scroll through the folder (from left to right).

In addition, people generally prefer the part of the page close to the fold. In other words: the right side of the left page and the left side of the right page.

Take advantage of this preference by reserving the first viewed spot for:

  • Your most important product. For example, by placing your most popular product or the product with the highest margin here, these products will receive even more attention.
  • Your most expensive product. This way you benefit from the "anchoring effect": the highest price is the first to be seen, after which all other prices appear even cheaper.

Folder aandacht

#3 Keep your pages calm

In our neuro-studies of TV commercials, we often see that busier images evoke more negative emotions. The brain is rather lazy than tired. This is also reflected in our folder research: busier pages cause more brain overload and more negative emotion in the reader's brain. This also plays a role in behavior: a busy page is often accompanied by chaotic eye patterns and is browsed faster.

Many folders contain unnecessarily busy design elements, such as long product descriptions and overlapping visuals. We always advise against this. Be picky about the products you include in your folder and keep text short and to the point.

Other tips to make your folder more relaxed are:

  • Frame your product categories with design elements (blocks or lines)
  • Choose a fixed position of the price in relation to the product
  • Choose a structural design with clear horizontal and vertical alignment over an organic design

Folder voorbeeld 2Folder voorbeeld 2

A busy folder spread with many and overlapping visuals

Folder rustig 1Folder rustig 1

A calmer folder spread with clear frameworks and a fixed price position

Want to learn more?

You can make great impact in your sales with neuromarkting. Do you want to learn how, with brain data? Check out the Complete Neuromarketing Essentials Training. In 9 lessons you will discover how you can apply neuro insights directly. 

Xnip2021 05 18 15 57 34

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