Ask any marketer, and they’ll tell you that generating engagement on social media all comes down to persuading your audience to respond to you. In order to persuade, you need to apply simple psychological strategies to trigger emotional responses from your audience, as a result of them viewing your content. According to a 2016 survey by global data company, Nielsen, media is 23% more impactful when it tugs at our heartstrings. You could focus on a baseline of emotions, for instance, happiness, melancholy, anger, disgust, surprise and shock. Look at your content and consider whether it would trigger any one of these. Mix the ‘emotion’ with rational thinking to deliver your marketing message, and you should have a killer piece of content. As humans, we’re always more drawn to things that make us feel something.
There are some other aspects to consider when it comes to balancing the emotional with the rational. Make sure you’re choosing the most appropriate visuals and showcasing human-interest stories. On social, people love the ‘fear of missing out’ factor, and this is also why we use it so much, so incorporate this where possible. It could be as simple as changing colour themes, as colour psychology is very much a factor on social media, because subconsciously, different colours we see on social can change the way we think or feel, as well as how we perceive a brand.
Using humour is arguably one of the easiest ways to evoke emotion. Social isn’t a serious business! Emotions in social are contagious, so they encourage people to share. Get psychological!
