Understanding your target audience is crucial when it comes to
social mediaTo do this, it's best to understand at least the basic principles of psychology that govern each of us. They influence our behavior in every area of life, including our social media activity. In this article, you'll learn four lessons we can learn from scientific research and experiments:
Why do we share content?
What motivates people to share information so readily on their profiles? The New York Times conducted extensive research that identified five key reasons why we share content online:
1. Improving the lives of others – Nearly all survey participants (94%) admitted that they share content because they believe it can improve the lives of those who receive it. Therefore, you should strive to create useful content that helps your target audience and its audience.
2. Defining yourself Two in three participants (68%) share content online to create their own "idealized version of themselves online." So when you create content, consider whether it will be something the audience will feel proud to share or something that will help them build a narrative about themselves.
3. Developing relationships – Four out of five participants share content because it allows them to maintain relationships with others. Consider how your content can help foster interpersonal relationships. Ask your audience to tag their friends in the comments or engage them in other ways, such as "share this video with the biggest dog lover you know."
4. Self-fulfilment and a sense of belonging – Everyone likes to feel useful and valued. The study showed that participants enjoyed sharing content themselves. However, they felt even more joy when they received interesting and useful information from their friends.
5. Manifesting your beliefs – 84% of participants said they see sharing information as a way to support issues or brands they care about. So consider whether you can create content related to topics that matter to your audience.
So, as you can see from the examples above, the main reason we share information on social media is our relationships with other people.
We share positive content more often
According to the Association for Psychological Science, evoking certain emotions increases the chance that information will be shared. The study explains that sharing stories or information may be partially driven by arousal. When people are aroused, whether by emotional stimuli or otherwise, the autonomic nervous system is activated, which motivates social action. Emotionally charged content always has a greater impact on recipients. However, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that positive content is more likely to be shared. How can we share emotions? In face-to-face conversations, we often imitate the facial expressions and behavior of our interlocutors to build a sense of unity. The study
Emoticons in mind: An event-related potential study Research has shown that when we see emojis, we react similarly to observing real facial expressions. So, share positive content and embellish it appropriately with emojis. This is, of course, the beginning. You also need to use creatives that evoke emotions, as well as the right words that will stimulate in the right direction.
We all apply the rule of reciprocity
Reciprocity and gratitude are of great importance in society, as is altruism itself, which simply pays off socially. Each of us has been taught to say "thank you" and that it's "unseemly" not to help someone who has previously done something good for us. We feel immense disappointment when someone doesn't repay us for previous favors, and similarly, we feel obligated to return favors. We frown upon people who, for example, receive something good but fail to show appropriate gratitude. We don't want to identify with such attitudes, so we're willing to make great efforts to reciprocate for the help we receive. That's why people like each other's photos, tag those who have tagged them before, and so on. This principle—because it's so strong within us—is widely used in marketing. An example would be giving away free product samples with the expectation that such a gift would encourage a larger purchase or a free trial of a piece of equipment (for example, a long time ago, you could use Neostrada for free for three months, and few people returned the equipment after that time. In this case, it was not only a matter of gratitude but also... habit). Use this principle in your marketing activities as well. Free e-books, reports, trend books, inspirations, tool lists, etc., have great value in the eyes of your audience. This can encourage them to buy your product, sign up for your mailing list, like your profile on social media, or share your information.
We compare ourselves with others
Opower Company, a software company, wanted to encourage people to reduce their home energy consumption. Selected residents received mailings stating, "Your neighbors are reducing their energy consumption," followed by a comparison of energy consumption figures in the area. This information was met with a lively response. When residents learned that 77% of their neighbors were turning off their air conditioning, they did the same. As a result, energy consumption in their neighborhoods changed noticeably. This communication method yielded significantly better results than typical slogans like, "Save energy to save money." Comparing yourself to others is also related to the phenomenon of social proof, which states that our stance on certain people, issues, etc., is governed by the majority's reaction. But how can you use this knowledge? User-generated content is a great way to show your target audience what others are saying about your brand. Positive comments and reviews posted by your customers are examples of social proof working to your advantage. Additionally, another study found that 76% of consumers consider opinions and reviews from ordinary people more credible than brand ads. In theory, every marketer knows this, but not everyone emphasizes it sufficiently in their advertising efforts.
Summary
You don't need to be a professional psychologist to understand people's behavior on social media. By keeping the facts discussed here in mind, you'll certainly be able to better engage your target audience and acquire customers on social media. It's also worth consulting professional literature that skillfully connects the issues of marketing and "imprinted" human behavior. 🙂
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Reasons for Sharing Content Online
