Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who came up with a theory dealing with the hierarchy of human needs. No, marketing is not essential to human survival, and chances are your product or service is not either. However, whatever you are offering, it will fall into one of the categories Maslow has listed in his hierarchy of needs. And if you know which need you should appeal to, it will be that much easier to market to your prospects.

The first tier of Maslow's hierarchy is that of physical needs. Without these, humans could not survive. These are things like oxygen, water, food, and shelter, and also homeostasis regulating activities like sleep.

The hard part about selling a basic product or service that everyone needs is the immense competition from commoditization. For example, everyone needs to eat. However, what are you going to do to make your food appeal to more people than the burger joint across the street? Some of the solutions to this dilemma might be offering lower prices, tastier food, pleasant service, or a more hospitable eating area than the competition. Of course, the food you are offering should be such that it automatically becomes high on a customer's list of choices.

Safety and security make up the next part of human needs. If you look on TV, you will see ads for countless insurance companies, retirement accounts, and home monitoring systems, to name only a few. Keep in mind how your product could improve your customers' feelings of safety and stability, and use these topics to reach into the heart of the customer and therefore sell your product with more ease.

Maslow's pyramid maintains that love and belonging is the third basic human need. Everyone can relate to the longing for intimacy, whether among friends, family members, or a significant other. If you own a personals web page or singles club, use this knowledge to your advantage. Make sure to play up the social benefits and increased levels of friendship they will gain by using your service, and cite user testimonials. Reading real peoples' positive feedback is a decision-maker for most potential customers.

Maslow also makes note in his hierarchy that esteem is another driving human need. Esteem really has two areas. One area is satisfied by receiving recognition, appreciation, rewards, or respect; the other area is self-esteem, which really requires a person to feel good about himself, be independent, and have a healthy sense of self-respect and self-confidence.

I am reminded of a shampoo commercial in which the lead actress walks through an office building with the admiring eyes of many workers following her around. At the end, she walks into a board meeting and states that she doesn't even work for the company, and all the attention must be the result of her shampoo.

The crowning level of Maslow's pyramid is self-actualization. This is a complicated sounding term, but the concept is really very simple. All people have an innate desire to make the most of themselves, reach their full potential, and be successful and happy as a result. The U.S. Army no doubt realizes this, as evidenced by their popular slogan, "Be all that you can be."

Appealing to the needs of your customers can be a great way to grab the attention of your customers, as long as you remember to be responsible about it. Be aware of the psychological motivators being used on you and determine the right ones to use to convince prospects to try your product or service.

Daiv Russell is a marketing and management consultant with Envision Web Marketing. Read more Articles about Management, learn about Abraham Harold Maslow and the Maslow pyramid.