A Marketer’s Guide to Psychology

Patrick McFadden • September 3, 2013

What can marketers — anyone with something to say or sell — learn from the field of Psychology?

Simply said, “how to convert visitors into leads, and leads into customers.”

One key to being a great marketer is understanding how — and why — other people think and act the way they do. After all, when you seek to inspire people to take action — buy your product or services, like your FB page, follow you on twitter, sign-up for a demo, subscribe to your list, or watch a video — knowing their desires and problems is invaluable.

Here are tried and true lessons from Psychology that every marketer should know. It’s truly a marketer’s guide to psychology. Take a look:

Reciprocity  ―   The concept of “reciprocity” is simple — if you help someone, they’ll naturally want to help you. So reward your consumers with freebies and rewards, and they’ll reward you with their continued loyalty.

“You can have everything in life that you want if you just give enough other people what they want.”― Zig Ziglar

Authority  ―  Your identity―how you’re known―as an authority will make your customers more likely to trust and buy your service or product. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Let your audience know exactly what credentials you’re holding. What if you’re just starting and have no credibility? Hire a spokesman who does.

“People trust and like to buy from experts.” ― Jay Conrad Levinson

Social Proof —  You may have read about the way group thinking effects individual actions. In the case of “social proof,” it comes down to a situation in which your customers adopt the beliefs or actions of a group of people they like or trust. Let your consumer know what others are saying about your service and product, and make it easier to share your content on social channels.

“What would change the mind of many people resistant to evidence is a series of eager testimonials.” ― Seth Godin

Scarcity —  People want what they can’t have. This psychology principle goes back to the simple formula of supply and demand: the more rare the opportunity, content, service or product is, the more valuable it is. Stress your service or products limited availability and you’ll be sure to increase sales.

First, understand that scarcity is a choice. If you raise your price, scarcity goes away. If your product is going to be scarce, it’s either because you benefit from that or because your organization is forbidden to use price as a demand-adjustment tool.― Seth Godin

Recency Illusion —  Ever learn a new word, or bought a new car only to suddenly find it at every turn? That’s the recency illusion, and it applies to marketing. Develop consistent and repetitious marketing campaigns rather than fragmented “shotgun” ads. People will notice the campaign more after they’ve first been introduced to it.

Marketing works best through repetition. Just like advertising, marketing works best through repetition. Just like advertising, marketing works best through repetition. Just like advertising, marketing works best through repetition. Get the point?― Patrick McFadden

Commitments —  People don’t like breaking their promises. If someone commits to something — whether it is sending you an email, a meeting for lunch or signing up for your product demo, they feel like they’ve made an obligation to you. Once they make that commitment, people will be much less likely to bail.

Know that a mediocre marketing with commitment will always prove more profitable than a brilliant marketing without commitment.—Anonymous

Verbatim Effect —  We naturally condense information in our memory. A compelling speech is often reduced to a “fuzzy blur” wherein we remember a few key concepts.  If you’re speaking, writing, or teaching pack as much information into the headline as you can. If you’re on major media medium, aim for short, compelling soundbites.

“Shorter is better.”—Jim Estill

Whether you’re looking to communicate your brand’s message on TV, radio, online or out-of-home, these concepts are worth remembering.

Bonus: if you understand these principles and weave them into your marketing, you’ll also have “ The Mindset NEEDED to Win.”

Question: What psychology concepts do you use in your every-day marketing?

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
More Posts