When we take a close look at marketing, we can ascertain how essential psychology and comprehension of psychological factors are. Furthermore, we can deduce how they can help you improve your whole social media strategy. It isn’t uncommon for marketers to focus on conversions and traffic and forget that on the other side of the screen they are communicating with real people, not dealing with data points.
Theories about human behavior and how your consumers think can truly improve your social media tactics and enable you to provide your customer base with what they need. Here are some of the tactics that you should try out, especially if you are a business that is just starting out and spreading its roots.
Give something to get something in return
Reciprocity is a principle that definitely works in the world of marketing. When you give something to your audience, they will often feel the need to return the favor by giving you something back. If they feel that the gesture you have made is honest, and that you aren’t really expecting them to provide anything in return, but giving something away as the means of saying “thank you” to them, or to provide them with something of value, they will most probably respond.
Every marketing campaign starts well if you provide something valuable, such as content, to your audience. However, if you make the first thing you give them a free piece of content with real value, more people will engage with you, due to the aforementioned principle of reciprocity.
Color affects customer behavior
The proven fact is that the psychology of color has a very big impact on your social media strategy. A large part of the assessment that your customers make about your product is based just on color. However, you must keep in mind that it isn’t all just about the color itself, but about how much it suits your product and brand image. It is of an essence that the colors that you use fit the personality that you are portraying to your audience. You should do your best to avoid color associations that are a stereotype.
When deciding which colors to use for your social media content, think about how they go along with your brand voice, and what message you want to convey. There are, of course, common associations with colors (yellow – happy, red – passionate), but context is essential.
Hit them where it hurts
People tend to steer clear of things that make them feel troubled. This is what experts often refer to as the psychology of pain. It is the desire to get away from pain, and it is something that you can use in your marketing strategy in order to reach a wanted effect. Think about what your customers try to avoid the most. It could be anxiety, fear, embarrassment, or pretty much any other negative emotion. Psychology of pain is most commonly used by health and wellness industries to present what they can do to alleviate that pain, directly addressing the problem.
However, you mustn’t forget that there is a line that divides motivation from manipulation. You need to stay ethical and make sure that everything that you claim is true, and that you can really provide a solution that will work for your customers. Hitting them where it hurts is fine, as long as you can help it stop.
Design is important
Your social media page is an essential companion to your website. In some cases, it can even be a good alternative to it. This means that you should apply what you would to your website as well – a great visual design for your page. Facebook needs a truly enticing cover photo that works as a banner for your site. Twitter requires both a cover photo and a big background image. According to the advice from a web design agency, your logo needs to be where ever it makes sense to put it.
Make sure that you know all the specifications when it comes to photo sizes that you will implement into your social media page. Everything that you design – your banner, logo, background, and the like – needs to be made so that it doesn’t obscure or hide any relevant information that your visitors need to see.
Ask for a favor
When someone does a favor for someone else, they will more likely do another one for that person than if they received a favor themselves. This is called the Benjamin Franklin Effect. It’s a great way to bring out generosity out of your customers. All that you have to do is ask for some feedback and their thoughts, and your likeability will rise. Those who respond when someone asks a favor justify their action by the fact that they like the person, or they wouldn’t have done it in the first place.
As a business owner, the way you take care of reciprocity has an effect on how you are perceived by your customers. When someone responds to your request for help, reward them with a public “thank you” post, and mention them in your blog or in an article. But don’t tell them about it. Let them find out, and be pleasantly surprised, instead of seeing it as some hidden agenda of yours. This way, your customers will feel as if they have helped your business, instead of just doing a favor, which is a very important difference.
The truth about social media channels today is that they have become one of the most efficient ways for small businesses to market themselves, and therefore every young entrepreneur needs to make the most out of them by advertising their products and responding to opinions and suggestions from their customer base. Social media is basically an effective way of communication between entrepreneurs and their customers and prospects. If you apply the right psychological tactics when designing your social media pages, with a particular goal in mind, you will easily reach target customers and build a relationship with them.
Guest Post: Nick is a blogger and a marketing expert currently engaged on projects for Media Gurus, an Australian business, and marketing resource. He is an aspiring street artist and does Audio/Video editing as a hobby.
