Understanding people is the key to successful Social Media Marketing so let’s dive in.

One major mistake that companies make is treating social media like a megaphone, rather than a telephone. When speaking to your consumers, you should act as though you are having a conversation, not shouting at them. If you share your company culture, your personality or your beliefs in this way, your customers will respond and listen to you. There is a famous psychology book, written by Robert Cialdini, titled Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, where Cialdini describes 6 principles of influence. Although created in 1984, these principles are still applicable today, in the era of social media marketing.

Social Proof

The first of Cialdini’s principles is social proofing, meaning people are more inclined to do something if other people are. Your website & social media channels are a place to showcase your brand, but also a place for your customers to interact with you. You need to ensure that you are providing the opportunities & encouraging users to leave reviews & testimonials and to resolve issues. Much like when purchasing off Ebay or Amazon, you are more inclined to purchase from somebody with more positive reviews. If you do the same, more customers will feel inclined to buy from you as opposed to your competitors. Similarly, many people will ‘like’ or ‘follow’ a brand because they have seen that their friends ‘like’ or ‘follow’ a brand.

Commitment and Consistency

People generally have a deep desire to remain consistent to what they think or agree to first. Meaning if you can encourage users to follow and interact with you on social media, you will increase brand loyalty & they will be more inclined to purchase from you, as opposed to your competitor if they do not follow & interact with them.

Authority

As a brand, you have an obligation to your customers & potential customers, to be trustworthy, knowledgeable, and respectful. Let’s say you are providing a service that distributes broadband, if you are to create content around this, you will be expected to be an expert on this topic. This is why when done correctly, influencer marketing is so effective. Matching the correct influencer to the correct product or industry & distributing content to the relevant audience.

Reciprocity

Closely linked to social proofing in this instance – when your customers do interact with you on social media, ensure that you are always able to answer these questions & to provide satisfactory helpful answers. This will enable you to create long-lasting relationships, & improving the chances of repeat purchases.

Scarcity

Items are more desirable when it is difficult to get hold of them. Promotions are a great way to encourage your users to share your content, enabling you to reach new audiences in a positive way. Ensure that these promotions have an expiration date, to ensure a feeling of scarcity, thus increasing engagement.

Liking

People are more influenced by people who they admire & who are likeable. This is the same for your brand, people will purchase from brands who they do not admire, but they will not become brand advocates, something that is vitally important to enable a business to grow. One way you can benefit from this to look closely at your customer’s pain points and do your best to go above and beyond to fix these problems or add value to their lives.

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If you are thinking the time has come for a re-brand or relaunch of your business. We would be more than happy to discuss with you how we can meet your needs to support your business growth and stability. Contact Handle Branding for further information.