Who doesn’t want more traffic?
Don’t look at me, I’m not in that group.
In recent studies of cognitive psychology and clinical psychology I have came to the realization that everything we do, and I mean everything, is a reaction from something else.
The people that are capitalizing on this, and becoming successful from social media traffic are the people that are utilizing the psychological effects in different aspects.
Whether they know it or not.
There is always that one person that you can find where it seems like everything they publish gets a ton of results on social media. To some it comes naturally, to others it takes a bit of learning, but it isn’t impossible.
We all start at square one with every article we publish on our blogs.
So I would like to show you some of the facts behind the psychological impulses and reactions on social media that grab results and stimulate those neurons that cause people to react the way you want them to on social media.
#1: Click Bait Still Works!
You’re bound to see a click bait title if you’ve been on social media long enough.
You know the one’s I’m talking about.
Click Here To See Your Grandma Dance To Billy Ray Cyrus!
Wait a minute, how’d they know she likes Billy Ray Cyrus anyway?….CLICK!
Well, maybe it’s not that horrendous, but click bait titles still work.
By the way, that’s my own opinion, but seeing as how we can use certain triggers on social media and visual marketing, then click bait titles DO work!
As a blogger whose reputation depends upon its content, you understand the negative ramifications that come with a title that begs a click and sorry content that follows it.
That’s why it’s ok to use click bait titles as long as you’re creating the content that fulfills every promise in the baiting.
Words and magic are, in the beginning, the same thing. ~Sigmund Freud
It’s ok to create the magic in the social platform, just make sure you can back it up when they click. This is also a great way to start building relationships with others online.
The Psychological Factor
Research by scientists and experiences of career online writers has revealed that there are certain words (UCL’s Findings) that online readers tend to respond better to than others. Some examples of these types of words include you, free, because, new, and instantly. It’s surprising that most of the words that can be used bring up an emotional nostalgia to the subject as well.
Make sure to use trigger words in social media to get the best psychological resultsClick To TweetThese are trigger words that create an electronic impulse in the brain that cause the reader to want to stop and take notice. For instance, the word “You” relates to the reader in a more personal sense. They feel that they are being targeted and therefore have to pay attention.
#2: Get Your Words Right!
Too many times I have seen marketers just throw up their latest share on social media and hope it sticks.
I’m sure you have seen this too.
What I’m talking about is the word choice in the social share description. This usually consists of Check this out or something to that nature.
When you don’t take the time to properly describe what it is that the reader is about to click on, then you will lost the attention.
You have only a few seconds when the social media user scrolls over your share in their stream to gain their attention.
Check this out doesn’t work.
When you don’t get too in depth with writing your descriptions, (hey, it’s social media, not rocket science, right?) then you create opportunities for your wording to get negative.
There is a relation between positive and negative wording that can affect the action that the social user takes with clicking your link.
This means that whether your message is positive or negative will have a bearing on how much of an impact your message has on your reader.
As one would think, negative messages are more likely to push away the reader while positive messages reel them in like a fish on a hook. In contrast, negative messages work best where the receiver does not get enough time to consider their decisions.
The results of a study done by Stanford Graduate School of Business tell us that positive messages are more suitable for online writers. Creating happiness also works because it puts them at ease and ready to be prompted into any action that you so desire.
The Psychological Factor
This one is all about mood.
Understanding your message and how you want the social media user to perceive it is very important. That’s why it’s crucial to understand how to write your description on social media.
Positive messages induce more proactive neurons to fire simultaneously inside the brain thereby creating a better chance that they will click on your link through social. In fact, a Yale study informs us how a positive message improved physical functioning in the elderly.
Negative messages have detrimental activity in the brain, so make sure you stick to the positive side of things.
#3: I Hate Visual Marketing
Who cares?
I still have to do it.
While you may be like me where the pen side of the brain is mightier than the visual side of the brain, there are still some very important aspects that visual imagery has on a psychological level.
Images on social media are symbiotic to text descriptions, so make them count!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then you better make sure that your image is relevant and speaks to the social media user the way you want it to.
Although the description is a great way to pull the reader in, there’s nothing that creates a faster reaction in the brain than images.
Images make the brain impulses speed up and that’s a good thing.
Remember the positivism we talked about above? When you can keep a theme like this going with your visual marketing then you will have a recipe for a successful click-through on your social media posts.
The image is a call to action in itself.
9 times out of 10 they’re going to take notice of the image first and this is simply because the neurons are telling the brain to take notice.
If it’s a good enough image.
My good friend Dustin Stout talks about creating that perfect post for Google+ and of course, he talks about the importance of visual stimulation.
The Psychological Factor
Images make the brain speed up, thereby taking that positive message that you have created and turning it into a response. Imagery is the first stop on the road to a successful click through on social media.
The eyes are an extension of the brain. They are intimately connected to the nervous system.
Published scientific and clinical studies have reported visual stimulation’s to be effective in inducing relaxation, reducing stress, reducing blood pressure, relieving tension headache, managing chronic pain, relieving insomnia, and reducing the discomfort of premenstrual syndrome. Here is one of those reports.
You may be surprised at how much the emotional constructs of the brain is affected by visual stimulation.
So there is a lot of good that comes from a great image.
Don’t blow it.
The Final Thought
We all want traffic, and we all want to learn what we can do to make people click through on our social media links.
It’s not just about the loyal followers, because sometimes they’re not there, or perhaps they’re not paying attention.
It will always be up to you to prod them to action on social.
With these psychological tips you can turn an ordinary social update into a rocket ship of clicks and traffic. Not only just that, but clicks and traffic that convert when they arrive at your described destination.
The brain is a powerful marketing tool. Best of all, it can be manipulated. Now you have an opportunity to understand the true power that your words and visual marketing has on social media.
Go get ’em.
Wade Harman
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