Earlier, individuals could be easily connected with businesses through the internet. Since then, this process has gone through various modifications which only complicated it for the entrepreneurs. Now, finding consumers online is similar to a massive maze that has tons of dead ends. However, businesses on social media have found the cheat sheet to tackle this task. What is this cheat sheet, you ask? In one word: psychology.
The Art of Manipulation
Digital marketing UK, USA and even Russia, in combination with social media, is not what it used to be. For instance, if the consumer wanted something, they simply had to search and internet would turn up with only one or two direct results. But now, with the increased competition, social media and search engines show a ton of matches, leaving the consumers to make the choice by themselves.
In this sea of competition, getting noticed is becoming hard. Of course, there is no need to abandon your current online social profiles to pursue other hobbies. You just need to change your tactics and this is where manipulation comes into play.
In order to make sales, marketers need to understand their consumers in a better way. They need to understand what their consumers like, what they resonate with, and what kind of advertisement do they respond to. Generally, this all relates back to human psychology.
That said, social media has provided the marketer with a close connection to their consumers. This gives them all the opportunities to manipulate and use consumers’ psychology against them. Also, there are various studies to back this claim. But how are marketers cashing in on the psychology to make money on social media platforms?
Social media has helped tons of businesses get back on their feet. Since various changes in its policies, it does not let businesses enjoy the same spotlight they once did. So marketers have turned toward psychology to push visitors to become customers. How marketers take advantage of psychology, we are here to help you find out!
Integrating Brand with a Human Touch
Have you ever wondered why more and more brands are collaborating with celebrities or why major brands are going after social media celebrities? One reason is that they want to increase their exposure, but the other important reason is that such brands want to put a recognizable face on their brands, speaking in a tone which people understand.
To be a successful social media brand, businesses need to focus on engagement and conversation with their potential customer. By putting a familiar face to your brand, more and more consumers will feel obliged to get in touch with or buy your merchandise. However, tying this type of consumer behavior with a familiar face would not be justifiable since human psychology plays a role in it as well.
Yes, collaborating with a known face builds trust and credibility; however, research has revealed that intelligent people are more willing to trust other individuals. This means that people having information about a certain topic would easily trust other individuals articulating the same material.
For instance, if someone wants to buy a washing machine and have done all the necessary research regarding its specification, they still would not be compelled to make a purchase. On the other hand, if someone on the television is articulating all the specifications, consumers will be more inclined to buy it. Why? This is because if someone’s thoughts or research line up with your existing knowledge, you will be more willing to trust that person. Thus, your psychology ends up tricking you into making purchases which otherwise you would not have made!
In today’s world, we are always finding relevance on social media, so if some brand has a known face sponsoring their products, and speaking in a language which you understand, you will be more than likely to purchase from that brand.
Justifying Emotions with Facts and Reasons
Neuroscience has proven that consumers make purchases based on emotion and justify their spending through reason and logic. Additionally, humans have the tendency to not only justify necessary purchases but also justify their unnecessary and lavish purchases.
To help you understand, here is an example. You already own a car but there is an advertisement on the social media about your dream car with a reduced price tag. Despite having the means, you will never buy the car. Unless, the advertisement is followed with a list of specifications, technical details, and safety measures of the car. After going through the specification, you now have a reason to justify your purchases. So once you have bought the car, you did not buy it because it made you feel good; you only bought it because your conscience justified it with reason and logic.
This provides marketers with another opportunity to use psychology as a tool against their potential consumers. That said, many of the social media businesses enlist benefits, uses, and specifications that influence the decision-making part of the consumers’ brain.
Building Trust through Engagement
The best way to increase consumer activity on social media platforms is by engaging users in a meaning conversation that offers assistance as well.
On social platforms, consumers do not make impulsive purchases, especially with a brand they barely know. To tackle this issue, maintaining consistency is the key. So for a brand to form trustful relationships that could prove beneficial in the long run, they need to engage, converse, and provide help consistently. Once consumers realize that your social brand is making an effort to talk with them, they will instantly connect with your brand.
Building trust takes time and you need visitors’ trust to compel them to buy from you. You cannot buy other people’s trust this is why you need to manipulate your visitors’ way of thinking to convert them into your loyal buyers.
Marketers also need to maintain consistency because, through this, consumers will subconsciously form a trust bond with their social brand. This is a long process but one which could result in making money through social platforms.
Conclusion
Human psychology is a technical topical and one that could hurt your brain. However, human psychology can work wonders if you know how to manipulate it for your gains. With that being said, manipulating psychology is not easy since it requires years of efforts from the marketers’ side. But once brands have successfully built a relationship with consumers using psychology, money will gradually come.
Author Bio: Shawn Mike provides ghostwriting and copywriting services. His educational background in the technical field and business studies helps him in tackling topics ranging from career and business productivity to web development and digital marketing. He occasionally writes articles for Hire PHP Developers.