Social media marketers use online communication to retain customers, acquire customers, and build trust in the brand, leading to the ultimate goal of brand loyalty.
However, some methods are more effective than others.
According to Brooke Sellas, CEO of B Squared Media, marketers can use basic psychology rules to create more effective social media posts that win customers, not just followers.
In a presentation at last week's HubSpot Inbound 2023 conference, Sellas talked about the importance of using social media posts not only as a platform to share information about your inventory, but also as an opportunity to communicate ideas that speak to your customers' values. Emphasized gender.
“Brands sell emotions, not products,” she said. “We buy based on emotion.”
use emotions instead of facts
To explain the effectiveness of communication styles in marketing, Sellas talked about social penetration theory. This theory asserts that people disclose different types of information as they get to know each other and develop relationships. Essentially, she says, it's like peeling back the layers of an onion, which she calls the “onion theory.”
The varying degrees of disclosure of theories fall into four categories: clichés, facts, opinions, and emotions.
One common mistake brands make is creating social media marketing posts using clichés and facts when they should be using opinions and emotions, Seras said. She then explained why platitudes and facts alone aren't enough to build strong relationships online.
Clichés are the weakest communication style, Sellas says, because they don't even involve disclosure. No new information has been revealed.
If you want to allay consumer distrust, you need to tap into more emotion in your content marketing.
Brooke SellasB Squared Media CEO
An example of common communication is when someone is having a bad day and when they get into the elevator a stranger asks, “Hello, how are you doing?” The person replies, “Wow!” It's a common exchange. “I did nothing to develop that relationship,” Sellas said.
An example of a factual disclosure might be someone commenting about the weather: “It's raining outside.”
The level of disclosure in this conversation increases if the other person is open to their opinions and feelings. Maybe that person says, “I hate rain,'' but that's just an opinion. Maybe that person will also say, “Rain is depressing.'' It's like that.
“Emotions are obviously the deepest disclosures we can reach. Emotions are where we actually build trust and relationships,” Seras said. “If we want to allay consumer distrust, we need to tap into more emotion in our content marketing.”
stir up controversy
On the other hand, controversy can lead to posts that drive high engagement.
Seras showed a florist's post on a popular social media platform consisting of a photo of a carnation, which the florist called a “gorge” (abbreviation). niceand posted it with the hashtag “#unpopular opinion.” It was an opinion presentation.
B Squared Media CEO Brooke Sellas will speak about social media marketing strategy at HubSpot Inbound in Boston on September 7th.
This post spurred many other opinionated comments about carnations. Mr. Sellas presented a hypothetical scenario. If 86 out of 100 commenters said they liked carnations, the florist could run a special sale on carnations, which could lead to customer conversion.
“What's going on? [the florist] It's in those conversations that we collect most of our customer data,” Seras said.
Sellas also cited examples of B2B companies capitalizing on controversy in their social media content. She featured her post on LinkedIn from her LinkedIn Marketing Solutions account. She wrote, “Controversy: An effective marketing technique or a risk not worth taking? Share your thoughts.” Many people responded.
“This is the voice of customer data,” Seras said. “If most of the respondents said, 'Using controversy for marketing is a good thing,' they would come up with posts about using controversy for marketing,” Seras says.
A place to get more personal
One of the session participants, Kristen Appel, global marketing director at mystery shopping company Bear International, said she found it reassuring to realize that B2C and B2B companies no longer need to develop separate messaging strategies. Ta.
“We don't really do B2C or B2B anymore,” Appel said in an interview. “It really connects all the viewers. Everyone is the human behind social media, so everyone craves that connection.”
Appel said he appreciates that building a customer base doesn't necessarily require a serious, professional tone or communication style. In fact, something casual and approachable is more effective.
“Everyone is looking for something useful in their lives, business, and society. [media] This is actually one of the key ways we can do that on a seemingly more personal basis,” Appel said.
Mary Reines is a news writer covering customer experience and unified communications at TechTarget Editorial. Prior to TechTarget, Reines served as Art She Editor. marblehead reporter.
Digital entrepreneur, marketing storyteller and adventure seeker. Living my story means turning passion into a profession and dreams into plans. I'm the CEO of my own life.
