Boost Facebook Engagement With These 3 Psychology Principles Try these tactics if your Facebook marketing strategy is starting to feel a little stiff.
By Wade Harman Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In this era of marketing, Facebook is King. People are spending more and more time on the Facebook platform than any other. As of the fourth quarter of 2016, Facebook had 1.86 billion monthly active users.
Not many people realize how effective psychological triggers can be for their business. Psychology has been used in marketing by large corporations like Coca-Cola, UPS, Pepsi and a lot more. If your Facebook marketing strategy is starting to feel a little stiff, here are some psychological principles which you can use to promote a positive social marketing campaign on this platform.
1. The K.I.S.S. principle
Everyone loves simple. Simple does not promote procrastination. Your audience gravitates towards simple strategies on Facebook because the idea of simple means they're going to be able to do it. This always promotes a healthy attitude about whatever they're doing, and it's up to you to serve simple up on a silver platter for them.
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You already understand how you need to break down your business in a simple way, allowing your target audience to be drawn to your brand. But why is simple so complex sometimes? As Steve Jobs said, "Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But, it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."
Even Facebook experts like Amy Porterfield sometimes share just how simple something is to their audience. Spelling it out creates a personification of completion within your audience, as seen in the example below.
In a 2012 study by Google and the University of Basel, researchers found that humans are hardwired to make snap decisions. When you create a social strategy on Facebook, you want to make it look as simple as possible for your audience to get to their goals. In a flash, they will judge your content through a process called Cognitive Fluency.
The simpler you can make your brand, your product or your new Facebook advertisement, the more action you are going to get on your post. This goes from the description of the text all the way to which image you choose to represent a particular subject. They all have an effect on the brain.
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2. The law of similarity
There are a lot of great Facebook experts out there who have developed a brand name for themselves on this platform. You may know some of them and maybe even adopted some of their Facebook strategies for yourself. While others may think this is straying from your own brand's vision, being similar is not a bad thing.
According to Gestalt psychology, your target market is naturally inclined to perceive forms and patterns or similarities. When you learn what great marketers are doing on Facebook, it's okay to pattern yourself after them. However, you need to make a slight adjustment in your marketing to allow your audience to discover the differences between your brand and theirs.
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I'm reminded of the time I "kidnapped" Jay Baer, founder of ConvinceandConvert.com. Baer allowed me to help one of his social accounts with a special project. His audience is similar to mine, and so in helping him with this project, I grabbed a runoff from his audience who are still active on my blog and social accounts today.
Do you have a specific product or service which makes you different? There is something about your brand which will help you stand out from the influencer who seems to have all of the clout on Facebook. Creating similarities between your brand and theirs psychologically allows your audience to feel your brand is safe and trustworthy, just like the influencer you are modeling after.
3. The psychology of the string
Have you ever wondered how people can quickly absorb followers and grow their community on Facebook? There is a string theory in psychology which makes your Facebook marketing relevant with your followers.
Take a piece of string and stretch it out in front of you. Place your finger on one end of the string and push it forward. When you do this, the string collapses in the middle, creating chaos. However, if you straighten out the string again, place your finger in the same spot and pull the string towards you, the string begins to follow your finger wherever you lead it.
In pull marketing, your audience follows where you want them to go. You are leading by example. These people are like the string; they are not designed to be pushed around. Psychologically, people don't like when you tell them what to do. It puts up a wall between your brand and their wallet, causing problems for you. But, when you lead them, it's a different story.
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One of my favorite Facebook pages which exemplifies this is by Jeff Sieh about his brand Manly Pinterest Tips. Sieh created his brand page, niched down to a specific topic, and became the leader to everyone wanting marketing tips on Pinterest. He does this consistently every week on Facebook and has procured quite an audience in revealing answers and building trust connecting his brand and target following.
With the string theory, you do just that: You lead by example. Especially on Facebook, where more marketers are looking for problems to be solved. Just like Sieh, you have accumulated a real following and these people will go where you tell them. The psychology of the string simply means you have to understand people want help, but they don't want to ask for help.
M. Nora Klaver explains why people feel it's hard to ask for help. It's a "universally dreaded behavior." Understanding this, you can use your brand to begin leading them to the questions they really want to ask you anyway. Learn how to solve their problem and give them the answer in a helpful way to where they will follow your brand's solutions.
