Brands looking to expand their reach, generate leads, and make sales need to invest in paid social marketing. But how can you make your ad dollars work smarter, not harder? The secret is to use psychology! Great advertising should tap deep into our minds. Psychological researchers have plenty of data on how the human brain works while we shop. Some of the more interesting data illustrates how different products spark different decision-making processes in the mind.
Does it come down to impulse or logic? Well, it all depends on what we're browsing. Small ticket items? We're operating on an emotional level. Larger purchases? We switch into logic mode. Of course, psychology is never simply black or white. Activating the right part of a potential buyer’s brain requires a thorough understanding of the mind and human emotions. Join us as we dive into four cognitive psychology tricks to help your paid marketing strategy convert leads and drive sales!
1. Framing Effect
We've all heard about the glass half-empty or half-full perspective. When it comes to paid social marketing, it's important to remember that it’s all about the spin or the framing effect. How you present a product can seriously influence how customers feel about it (and how likely they are to buy it). You might think positive framing is the clear choice, but you'd be surprised! Negative framing can get even bigger reactions. Let's take a closer look at both ends of the spectrum.
Positive Framing
This angle works wonders when you show buyers how much they’ll save in a sale or what value they’re gaining. A sense of urgency and the promise of instant gratifications makes potential buyers more likely to purchase. Positive framing is ideal for newsletters, memberships, and more.
Negative Framing
Don't mistake negative for bad-mouthing your product or service. The best way to view this is by highlighting what potential buyers might miss by not acting fast. Think limited-time offers, items going out of stock, expiring discounts, or even missing out on rewards opportunities. The key is to activate their fear of missing out (FOMO), and sealing the deal!
Source: Shopify
2. Choice Paralysis
Ever scrolled through Netflix for 20 minutes, only to give up without picking anything? That’s choice paralysis at its finest. This cognitive phenomenon refers to when buyers are overwhelmed by too many options. For marketers, the last thing you want is for your potential customers to feel lost in a sea of products. The easiest way to avoid this is to simplify their options.
Make life easier for potential buyers by guiding their decision-making through your paid ad strategy. Highlight key features in your captions and graphics, or use product recommendations tailored to target audience behavior. Also, you can organize your campaigns based on what potential buyers need and when. Avoid overwhelming customers and maintain focus by keeping your paid marketing ad creative organized and visually simple. Sometimes less really is more!
Source: Patagonia
3. Identity Labeling
Storytelling doesn't just help build a brand, it also serves as a psychological trick that helps customers see themselves in the product. When people feel connected to a product, they’re more likely to hit that "add to cart" button. The secret is using the right branding, images, and descriptions to bring your product’s personality to life.
Consider your target audience. How would they identify? Sporty? Eco-conscious? Family-oriented? Do the research and use those insights to segment your paid social marketing campaigns. In addition, A/B testing your ad creative is a great way to test out different identities and see which gets the most response. Buyers will feel the vibe and pick the product that matches them. When you tap into this psychological need to identify, your paid social ads will have a higher click rate and generate more quality leads and sales. So, let your products do the talking!
Source: HelloFresh
4. Availability Heuristic
Every day we make thousands of decisions. What to wear, eat, do, and a million other choices are constantly being sorted and processed by our brains. To save time (and energy) our brain takes shortcuts. Psychologically speaking, we tend to lean towards something we’ve seen or heard about recently. This is also known as the availability heuristic. In simple terms, when we let the most recent information we've received guide us.
Therefore, staying relevant while crafting your paid social marketing campaigns can have a huge payoff! Stay on top of trends, hop on viral moments, and showcase products that tie into what’s hot. Think back to how every brand under the sun found a way to have a Brat summer to sell products, services, and much more. Although it can feel like piggybacking on fame, when your products are flying off the shelves, you won’t mind one bit!
Make Paid Social Marketing Work for You
It's time to build the best paid social marketing campaign using cognitive psychology! Bear in mind, that there is so much more to the story and that this is just scratching the surface. Once you’ve nailed these techniques, you can dive deeper into other psychological tricks for paid social marketing success. Leading companies like Apple, Groupon, and Amazon already use cognitive psychology to boost their sales. However, the right strategy for you depends on what you are selling.
Always remember to test, tweak, and analyze your metrics after every campaign. If something’s not working, don’t stress! There are plenty of strategies you can use in the cognitive psychology playbook. Keep it fresh, keep it smart, and watch your sales skyrocket.
Want to start running ads on social? Let Social Society guide you through the process! From ad setup to campaign monitoring and more, our team will work with you to ensure your paid social media marketing campaigns succeed. Book a one-to-one consultation with Josie today!
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