Why do some offers convert effortlessly while others struggle to make a single sale?
At a recent Impact10X event held at the JCU Ideas Lab, Omer, co-founder of Mindesigns, stood in front of a room full of aspiring changemakers. The focus? How to increase sales by understanding what really drives people to say yes, at the moment, messaging meets decision.
“Marketing has always been about psychology. Now with AI and data moving so fast, the best strategy is knowing how humans think,” Omer shared. The session offered a deep dive into the science of influence, paired with real-life examples of successful marketing campaigns
From why emotional ads outperform clever ones, to how simplifying your website can double conversions, and why asking the right question matters more than delivering the perfect pitch. This session unpacked the small psychological shifts that lead to big business wins for Mindesigns Clients. Along the way, it revealed a practical roadmap that anyone can follow.
Why Some Ads Work Better
On his way to the session, Omer noticed two billboards. One showed a woman mid-bungee jump. Smiling, terrified, fully alive in the moment. The other? Just a pair of wine glasses clinking, above a platter of nibbles. No faces. No emotion. “Guess which one stayed with me?” he asked. Everyone knew.
The point was simple: ads that show human emotion are remembered. Ads that don’t are ignored. Psychology backs this up. Our brains are wired to notice faces, and emotional imagery strengthens memory. What people remember, they act on. That’s why great marketing creates moments, not just messages.
Omer shared an example from a Brisbane-based hardware supplier. The campaign used a plain photo of a door and one line: “Save up to $1,000.” That ad triggered over a hundred comments in weeks. Why? The offer was clear. The image solved a real problem. The moment felt relatable. No fluff. Just relevance.
Want to make your ads more clickable?
- Use real faces and real emotions. A moment of joy, surprise, or relief creates instant connection.
- Show the customer’s win. Capture the peak moment in their journey.
- Keep headlines under 8 words. Short, specific, emotional copy works best.
- Lead with the best offer you have and display it front and centre.
But images alone aren’t always enough. “Have you ever cried from a photo?” Omer asked the room. A few hands went up. “Now, how many cried watching a video?” Nearly every hand did.
That’s the power of format. A static image can stop the scroll, but video pulls people in deeper. It adds emotion, voice, and timing. Elements that create empathy and connection. If your message is simple, a still image works. If you want to build brand meaning, share a journey, or trigger a feeling, use video.
Here’s a quick breakdown:
| Campaign Context | Use Static Image | Use Video |
| Simple promotional offer | ✅ | |
| Emotional storytelling or customer journey | ✅ | |
| High attention span is not guaranteed | ✅ | ✅ |
| Complex product or service explanation | ✅ | |
| Fast social media scroller engagement | ✅ | ✅ |
| Building brand connection or mission | ✅ |
Omer recalled a client who swapped a static homepage banner for a short behind-the-scenes video. Website visitor engagement spiked. Users stayed longer, remembered the brand better, and more of them converted.
Format is strategy. Great campaigns match message to medium and let emotion lead the way.
A Visual Guide to Psychology in Action
Effective marketing is about how people experience your brand. From the first scroll to the final decision, human psychology plays a role in every stage of engagement. But how do you put all of this into a strategy you can actually use?
To make it easier, here’s a visual that brings the session’s core lessons together into a single, actionable funnel. It shows the five key stages of influence. The psychological principles that help people move from passive viewers to active buyers.
Marketing Psychology Funnel
Each stage is a chance to build a stronger bridge between what you offer and what your audience needs. Miss one, and you risk losing them. Nail each one, and you create a seamless, meaningful experience that drives real action.
This framework helped Omer’s clients turn around underperforming ads, websites, and sales processes. It is how one static photo with a simple offer became a magnet for hundreds of buyers. It is how a better follow-up question led to deeper conversations and more conversions.
If you’re designing a campaign, building a landing page, or just trying to be heard in a crowded space, start with this funnel. Use it to audit what you already have. Then build with intention, using psychology as your edge.
Because when you align with how people really think, you stop pushing. And start connecting.
The 3-Second Rule – Design for the Brain, Not Just the Brand
What makes someone stay on a website instead of bouncing away in frustration? According to Omer, it starts with what happens in the first three seconds.
In those three seconds, a visitor’s brain scans for clarity, relevance, and trust. If the page feels overwhelming or cluttered, the brain hits the mental brakes. That’s why Omer shares one core principle with every client. Design your site to match how people think, not just how you want it to look.
One of the most powerful design decisions is limiting choices. When a page shows ten different menu items or four conflicting calls to action, the visitor freezes. This is what psychologists call cognitive overload. When there’s too much to process, the default decision is to do nothing. The best websites simplify. They say just enough and guide users’ step by step.
That is why Omer insists on using the “power of three.” Benefits, testimonials, and key features all work best when limited to three. That’s the sweet spot. People remember three points better than four or five. It feels complete but not crowded. It works in ads, product descriptions, and landing pages alike.
The “Power of Three” in Action
- Three benefits per product. Focus on what matters most to the user.
- Three types of testimonials. Include different buyer types to build trust across audiences.
- Three main navigation links. Streamline menus to help users act faster.
- Three calls to action across your site. Avoid clutter and lead visitors toward one goal.
Omer shared a case where reducing a client’s homepage from eight paragraphs to just one headline, three bullet points, and one call to action boosted conversions by over 40 percent. No extra traffic. Just less friction.
It’s about delivering information in a way the brain can absorb. Innovation goes beyond what you create. It includes how effectively you invite others to connect, explore, and act.
Closing the Sale Through Conversations
By the time a customer answers a call or replies to a message, the hardest part, getting their attention, is already done. Yet this is where many businesses lose the sale, because of how they delivered the message.
Omer recalled trying to place a T-shirt order with a local supplier in Cairns his agency had worked with for years. Instead of handling it professionally, the person on the line abruptly said they didn’t have the capacity. No patience, no options, just a blunt refusal. The tone felt dismissive, and in that moment, the relationship ended. Years of loyalty, gone in a single call.
The lesson is clear: every customer interaction is a moment of truth. On calls and follow-ups, empathy beats efficiency.
Omer encourages teams to skip the pitch and start with a question like, “How did the guide we sent work for you?” This creates space for a real conversation. The best salespeople listen, ask meaningful questions, and respond with care.
High-Trust Sales Call Framework
- Start with a question
- Open the conversation with curiosity. Don’t jump into a memorised pitch. Asking something like, “What made you download our guide?” helps shift the dynamic from selling to understanding. It signals that you care about their experience, not just the sale.
- Listen actively
- Give them space to speak, and show you’re fully engaged. Take notes, reflect back what they’ve said, and avoid jumping in too soon. Active listening builds trust and helps you uncover what truly matters to the person on the other end.
- Empathise with their experience
- Acknowledge their challenges and validate their perspective. Saying something like, “That sounds frustrating, and I’ve heard others face similar hurdles,” shows you’re human and relatable, two things most buyers value more than a polished pitch.
- Offer only when relevant
- Once you’ve heard their story, connect the dots to your solution in a way that feels natural. Only make an offer if it truly fits their need. This approach respects their time and increases the chance they’ll say yes when it counts.
Building with Psychology in Mind
Every ad, every landing page, every sales call, behind all of it is a human decision. And human decisions are shaped by more than facts. They are driven by emotion, memory, identity, and trust. That is the power of psychology in sales, and it is the power every innovator should understand.
For Impact10X, this session with Omer was a call to rethink how we engage with the people we’re trying to reach. Understanding how people think is what turns ideas into action.
It also means rethinking how success looks. Sometimes it starts with a shift in language. Sometimes it’s a clearer homepage or a better follow-up call. But always, it is grounded in understanding your audience as humans first.
Are you ready to take that next step?
What You Can Do Next
Audit your marketing. Where are you losing attention? Where can you add clarity or emotion? Experiment, test, improve. The best marketing is never finished. It is always learning.
If you would like to improve your marketing and are interested in a one-on-one complementary session, connect with Omer and the Mindesigns team.
Psychology is about serving people better by understanding what matters to them. That is how we grow. That is how we create impact.
And it starts with asking a better question.
