If you want to create social content that your audience can relate to, you need to first take the time to understand them. One of the best ways to go about doing this is to study and make use of some of the basic principles of psychology.
Social media psychology is a popular technique that is commonly used by many marketers and brands such as Starbucks, Clicks and Coca-Cola in order to successfully spread content far and wide.
Starbucks South Africa
Clicks South Africa
Coca-Cola South Africa
Below are 5 useful and basic human psychological principles that can be used in your own social media marketing strategy.
Why people share content
According to Buffer, people share content for a simple reason, to relate to others. And are especially encouraged by the chance to improve the lives of others. So, if you want to pique your audience’s interest then create content that will help to make their lives better in some way. When creating content, also think about if it fits with your audience’s interests and if they are happy to pass it along.
People also tend to share content to grow and nourish relationships. People desire connection and seek to achieve this through the content they share. Consider how your content can be used to encourage connection with others. Get your audience to share content by asking them to tag people in the comments section or encourage them to share your post using a compelling call to action, such as, “ tag a friend who you think needs to see this in the comments section below.”
People also love sharing posts about causes and brands that they care about. They like getting the word out about the causes they believe in and feel strongly about. To create effective content, think about the causes that your brand cares about and create content that supports them.
Successfully build trust with your audience
The fastest way to build trust with your audience is through positive word of mouth or social proof, as much of it as possible! Why? Because people trust their peers and for good reason, they usually provide a brutally honest opinion of a product or service they purchased for the first time, which makes them a non-biased user who is someone others can trust to give an honest review.
You wouldn’t buy something from someone you didn’t trust and your audience is no different.
Making use of user-generated content and positive reviews are a great way to show your audience that people are happy and satisfied with what your brand has to offer.
The power of visuals
It’s always a good idea to include visuals in your social content as much, and as far as possible as most people are visual learners and tend to relate to visual content more easily, and so the most effective way for your audience to engage, remember and learn about your content is through visuals.
A visual component, whether it be a photo, video, or infographic helps to more effectively capture the attention of people who stumble across your post. Making use of strong visual elements in your social media strategy will increase the likelihood of success when it comes to promoting your brand.
The effects of colour
Colour is quite important when establishing your look and feel and plays a big role in the perception of your brand. According to Digital Synopsis, 93% of buyers focus on visual appearance and 84.7% of buyers claim that colour is the primary drawcard.
Different colours can tend to evoke different emotions in people, so choose a colour that best suits what your brand stands for as well as your product or service offering. Choose colours that express your brand’s personality rather than trying to make use of colour associations that send a confusing message.
When looking for colours to include in your social media content, make strategic colour decisions and always consider your brand voice. Look at the message you are trying to send and choose colours that help you to send that message correctly. Remember that context is key.
Effectively use emotion
According to Jonah Berger, the author of a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, evoking certain emotions can help increase the chance of a message being shared and positive social content tends to get shared more often, with emoji’s wielding surprising emotional power!
This is because people experience something called emotional contagion which is the brain’s cue to start making connections with other people. Through research, scientists have found that the same parts of the brain are activated in the same way when people see emojis and respond accordingly.
