THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social media marketing is ever changing; something that is trending today is likely to be forgotten about by the beginning of next week. Simply adding social media to your marketing strategy and giving it a budget is not enough—it is also important that you make the effort to understand the process!

People’s preferences evolve over time and in order to make your social media marketing a success it is important that you are aware of these changes as and when they happen, otherwise you risk getting lost in the crowd.

Today many businesses fail to create ripples in the social media ocean because they ignore the psychology of social media marketing. Instead, they appoint ‘hard sell’ as their main objective and often forget about the emotion behind the online platforms. Ultimately the secret is in the name, so to speak (SOCIAL media). Sites such as Facebook and twitter are about conversation—generally, people log on to see what others are saying. This makes it vital that you have something interesting to say and give your followers something to talk about!

By taking additional steps such as implementing simple psychological tactics in your digital marketing strategy it will make it easier for you to attract, engage with and sell to your target market.

Don’t worry—you don’t need a university degree in order to accomplish this, and Manifesto Design has put together a list with a few points to help you get started!

• The act of giving: by giving something away, such as a guide, gift, or free trial, people will feel a sense of loyalty and perhaps even indebtedness to you, and this will encourage them to do something for you in return. This could be to ‘like’ your page, register for an event or share a post, for example.

• Emotional triggers: appealing to your target clients’ emotions will help to encourage more engagement—you need to think about what you want to say and when. For example, posting an image of a creative cocktail to announce ‘Happy Hour´ at your bar will be more effective on a Friday afternoon when people tend to be looking forward to a spot of relaxation than on a Monday morning. However, posting about a new gym membership offer or workout class might work better on a Monday, when people are feeling sluggish after the weekend!

• Tell a story: telling stories is not just the oldest form of entertainment; it’s the highest form of consciousness. A good story has a profound effect on our behaviour, so a well-crafted story can make people feel an emotional connection. Indeed, psychologists have been telling us for years that emotion is a key trigger in the decision-making process.

• Exclusivity: adding a time limit to something creates a sense of urgency. For example, limiting the time to which something is available or available at a certain price encourages people to take action as they do not want to miss out on the offer.

• Create excitement: we humans are curious creatures, so by leaving some of the information out in your social media post you can leave your followers wanting to find out more. That in turn should stimulate them to click through to your website.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write them below, or contact us to find out how we can help you with your social media marketing strategy.

-Rhea Craib –