3 ways to use psychology in social media
We all know good marketing is really about the best use of psychological influence. Effective travel marketing is telling someone where they need to holiday and which hotel to stay in and have them believe it was their idea.
You can’t do this with a hard sell of advertising days gone by, people just don’t accept being told what to do anymore, but they do appreciate help in getting what they want. Whether we know it or not our choices are heavily influenced by subtle psychological tactics all day, every day.
Here are three tips on how you can use the persuasive power of psychology to “win friends and influence people” on social media:
Be mysterious
Very few humans can resist the allure of a mystery. One easy way to get attention is to hint at the fact that something is going to happen. Whether they want to or not, people will begin to formulate their own idea of what it could be and if people are thinking about you, then you just need to hold their attention for a little longer to get them to start talking about you.
Call it instinctive, we just can’t bear to be teased with information, we just have to know. There are a couple of ways to incorporate this into your online strategy. You can create a big content strategy that builds up to a release of a new product or service, or you can just subtly hint at interesting content to follow – for example “Why are tourists suddenly flocking to this tiny island? Read next week’s blog post and you’ll want to go too.”
Social Media knows best
Not really, but we seem to think so. Have you ever noticed that you may skip past and article once but as soon as you see the same story published by a few other people you start to take notice? All it takes is for one friend to share the story and suddenly you’re not only reading it but sharing and discussing it in real time too?
It’s the psychological power that comes with the backing of a crowd. It’s called Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon – which is what happens when you see something for the first time then start seeing it everywhere. So don’t be too shy to ask your friends and business partners to like and share your content, and if it’s great content then they won’t mind because it could increase their own following.
Create exclusivity
This is something we deal with on a daily basis. Why are celebrities famous? Because they’re part of a group that very few people have access to. Humans want recognition and we certainly won’t say no to a reward. We don’t even care what it’s for, but if it gives us access to something that not everyone can have then we feel special.
The Pale Skin and Freckles Club? Sign me up! A dating site only for the ridiculously good looking? That is so elitist!! But can I at least browse around and have a look? Create something that not everyone can have (although it’s best to avoid controversy) and everyone will be talking about you. Just make sure you deliver on all your promises because if they’re worth it, the public will do all your marketing for you – at no cost.
Content marketing is easy, everyone can post to Facebook or Twitter or write a blog post, but if you want effective content marketing you should be hiring a professional who knows secrets like these and plenty more like them, to get your business online and into conversations.
