Social Media and Psychology: Factors for Marketers to Consider

By thought-horizon | May 17, 2019

Psychology and social media? What do they have in common? More than you can imagine. Likes, shares, clicks, comments, and conversions are not a guaranteed thing. They are a result of a deep understanding that goes hand-in-hand with knowing the buyer personas and then publishing the content they need.  

But what if your don’t understand your audience’s psychology? Never fear – we have it covered. Read on to learn more.

1. Audiences trust peers

It’s a common human woe: dealing with strange salespeople. It’s understandable that your buyers feel a lack of trust amongst their peers.

Consider the following: an unknown salesperson visits you and claims to offer a fantastic product that makes your weight loss journey smooth. Since the trust factor was missing, you don’t buy it. However, when you were walking in your neighborhood grocery store one day, you bump into one of your neighbors who has used the product, and realize that the product actually works. You buy it for yourself, too.

This is a typical example of how other customers determine the potential buyer’s purchasing decision.

Go for social-proofing of your products. Encourage customers to share their reviews and experience after using the products/ services. Discover user-generated content ideas, and use them to advertise yourself.

2. Most of your buyers are visual learners

Want to stay on their mind? A visual aid is all you need. A visual component, whether it’s video, illustration, photo, etc. helps sway and educate the customers who stumble upon your posts. Not only this, but it also enables you to stand out among other brands while people are actively looking for, studying, or comparing the products.

3. Color is a vital part of your marketing efforts

According to this study on the impact of color on marketing, consumers make a buying decision within 90 seconds of their initial interaction with either people or products. Of these, 62-90% of the assessments are based on colors alone.

That’s a huge number.

However, color is not just about the one that suits your product or brand. Instead, it is about the strategic use of colors that express your brand’s personality. When making color decisions, consider how they’ll fit in with your brand voice. What is the message that you wish to send, and what colors will best suit it? While there are common associations with specific colors, context is the key.

4. If you scratch their back, your customers will do the same for you

Not really, but yeah, kind of. Let’s explain it to you.

When someone does good for us, our instinct is generally to do something nice for them, too – and that’s precisely the right idea.

When it comes to your brand, this could be anything from a product giveaway, some free content, or even something like a resource hub that your audience can regularly return to.

These freebies help you garner the audience’s trust. That’s how you encourage them to do something in return for you as well. It can be anything from purchasing the product, signing up for the newsletter, following your social channels, or just sharing a message within their network.

Social media touches the ‘gratification’ nerve center in the brain. This is why it is so popular. By interacting on social (especially liking posts and allow others to collect ‘views’ of their content), it makes them feel good. That positive feeling is transferred to the person who interacts with them. This is why regular online interactions are so meaningful. Then, when you reach out to that contact, that ‘positive’ psychological feeling continues with your prospect.

5. FOMO is real

No, we are not encouraging you to exploit your buyers. We are just telling you to use this principle sparingly and humanely. After all, FOMOs don’t have to be that bad.

State things like, “the sale expires at midnight – act now!” or “Follow us on Twitter for a great dose of content!” Isn’t it more effective than explorative?