Humans are social creatures. We love sharing and in fact, we need to share.
Whether it’s a quick snap of our breakfast cereal or an artistic shot of the Eiffel Tower at sunrise, by nature we are drawn to tell our stories to those around us.
That’s where the psychology of social media today begins.
But how do we understand social media and learn what content will perform well and on which platform?
Keep reading to find out!
Platforms
When attempting to understand the psychology of social media today, we first need to understand the platforms, the type of users within those platforms, and how they see the material on their feeds.
Instagram, one of the largest social media networks in the world, which never seems to stop growing and adjusting. An article that’s relevant about the ever-changing algorithm that’s all the rage one week is quickly debunked in the next.
Instagram is a fantastic platform because of all of its content options. From Instagram stories to IGTV and standard feed posts, there’s a lot to work with.
So how in the world do you know what kinds of content will succeed when Instagram keeps changing the way the platform works?
The best place to start is by getting a more in-depth understanding of the platform than you might have from using it as an entrepreneur.
- Primary demographics: Instagram is dominated by women between the ages of 13 and 29. Income and education levels are fairly equally distributed with most users located in the United States.
- Instagram stories: With the development of Instagram stories, people are feeling more connected to their favorite influencers than ever. Those with over 10,000 followers can add a link feature in their stories that connects followers directly with a web page. Stories give users a glimpse into the daily lives of those they follow. They’re also extremely valuable to increase interactions between user and brand or influencer. Through questions, polls, and quick reactions users feel a stronger connection and are more likely to take buying advice.
- IGTV: IGTV is ideal for videos, such as a product review or unboxing, that are longer than about a minute. These videos can also be posted on an influencer’s page with a minute-long preview before asking the viewer to continue watching on IGTV.
- The Algorithm: Oh to understand the Instagram algorithm! There are a few elements to consider here: the removal of likes, engagement rate, reach, and following. Instagram recently announced that it will be removing likes, but this by no means indicates that the platform is dying. Those with business and creator accounts will still be able to see all of the post insights, but the average person will not. This means that engagement rate and reach are more important than ever. Now while influencers with a larger following will have a larger reach (people are more likely to stumble across the post) but they have lower engagement than micro-influencers.
- Psychology Aspect: Instagram is addicting because we love to talk about ourselves and the platform allows us to do that through edited photos and videos, as well as unfiltered looks at our daily lives. Because of reciprocity effect, in which we feel the need to return favors when brands and influencers interact with users in the comments and through stories, the users feel the need to reciprocate and feel a greater connection to brand or influencer.
- Key Takeaway: If your brand is aimed at women under 30, you’ll likely find success through Instagram influencer marketing. But don’t head for the largest influencer you can find! Look for micro-influencers with high engagement rates and niche communities. They should post stories and constantly interact with their followers.
Facebook has long been a part of many of our lives with social media today and Facebook now owns Instagram as well, which means they’ve got some integrations set up that are beneficial for businesses.
But as we’ll see, the same techniques that work on Instagram don’t have the same effect on Facebook.
- Primary Demographics: Facebook is dominated by women between the ages of 18 and 29. The younger generations are rapidly moving away from Facebook. Additionally, most Facebook users have an income of above $75,000 per year.
- Pages: Pages are a great way for brands to keep users and followers updated on their business. But unlike other platforms, they’re not really the type of thing that gets discovered by new users unless someone shares it or a user specifically searches for the business. Because of the nature of Facebook, it’s a very closed circuit. So unless you’re paying to promote, your posts likely won’t be seen except by those who have already liked the page.
- Groups: Groups are a great way to provide a service to your customers while also promoting your brand. You’ll want to create a group that provides a space for discussion and helps. with a certain topic, a topic that you’re an expert on or for which you have a product that solves that problem. For example, if your business sells travel charm bracelets, create a group aimed at travel advice for young, women travelers (if this is who your bracelets are marketed toward). You’ll have the chance to gather new clients and become an authority on travel information.
- The Algorithm: The unique thing about Facebook is that unlike other platforms where much of what we see is discoverable content, Facebook mainly keeps us in touch with our friends and pages we follow.
- Psychology Aspect: Because we mainly connect with friends and family on Facebook, there’s a greater sense of trust among Facebook users.
- Key Takeaways: If you’re looking to promote your business to women over 18 who have a larger income, Facebook ads are probably the way to go.
Youtube
Every day millions of hours are spent watching Youtube videos. Along with Facebook, Youtube is the most widely used social platform.
- Primary Demographics: Unlike Instagram and Facebook, Youtube is dominated by men and most users are between the ages of 25 and 34.
- Channels: Youtube channels are essentially a homepage for a creator’s content. Channels are discoverable but it’s more likely that videos will be discovered which will then lead to the discovery of channels and further subscribers.
- The Algorithm: According to Tube Filter, the Youtube algorithm is designed to promote channels and not individual videos. But the way that it promotes channels is by promoting individual videos. That’s confusing. Basically, the idea is that Youtube promotes a great video, but it’s up to you to have a call to action that includes subscribing to your channel within the video. If you’re a brand working with a Youtube influencer, an important aspect to consider is watch time, which includes more than how long the video was watched. It’s a good indication of how well the channel is doing and how much the viewers are engaging with the content.
- Psychology Aspect: Oh how everyone loves that Autoplay button. You don’t even need to move a hand to continue watching videos for hours and hours. Because Youtube suggests videos to automatically play based on the type of content a user likes, it’s easy to fall down a rabbit hole of videos.
- Key Takeaways: Businesses can use similar content autoplay to their advantage. By creating content or working with an influencer whose image aligns with the brand’s, you’re likely to appeal to a wider audience. Be sure to look for niche channels as you’ll have more success with sales.
Twitter, the land of endless scrolling! With only 140 characters tweets require imagination, wit, and quick thinking to make a mark on their audience.
- Primary demographics: In the United States, Twitter is used by men and women fairly equally, with the average age range at 18 to 25 years old. Internationally, a larger portion of men use the platform than women.
- Hashtags, Likes, and Retweets: Hashtags are a large part of getting a tweet to be seen. If you can manage to use the correct hashtag, one that isn’t so broad that everyone is using it, but also not so narrow enough that no one looks at it, you stand a good chance of getting recognized. If someone resonates with your tweet, they may either like it or retweet. Because of the quick, conversational tone of Twitter, going viral can be something as simple as a tweet with a call to action that initiates conversation, controversial or even just humorous.
- The Algorithm: With more than 5,000 tweets sent every second, how do you make yours, or that of the influence that you’re working with, stand out? As of 2019, there are a large variety of ways in which users can view their tweet timeline. People can choose to see top tweets or recent tweets, with other options appearing from time to time. In order to make the most of this, your brand or influencer needs to be tweeting constantly! This will help the tweets to show up in the recent section as well as in the top tweets if the tweet has been widely liked, commented on, or retweeted. Be sure to have a call to action that entices people to respond.
- Psychology Aspect: With such a short and conversational tone being used, it’s easy for people to make snap decisions while on social media today, especially on Twitter. Use this to your advantage. Create a call to action that is quick and directly linked within the tweet, such as signing up for a mailing list, or giving your brand a follow. The fewer finger taps the better!
- Key Takeaways: If you’re hoping to target young adults of any gender, Twitter is a great platform to try it on. Make sure that you have a strong call to action that inspires response, but it shouldn’t take more than a few taps to get there.
Ah Pinterest, the place where users can so easily plan their dream lives. Pinterest is a valuable platform, not only for its unique advertising opportunities but also for its genuine growth potential.
- Primary demographics: Pinterest is overwhelmingly dominated by females who are generally over 30 years old. This higher age also means that they generally have an income of about $50,000.
- Keywords: With the limited title and description space for each pin, keywords are valuable real estate. Using an SEO unique to Pinterest to find highly searched keywords that yield low results, you have the potential to gain high engagement with your audience.
- Boards: Working with influencers who have a large audience on Pinterest is incredibly valuable. They’ve likely gained their audience not only through quality content but also because of their precise keyword usage to show up in results. Often, you’ll find that they’re also part of group boards, where not only does their audience see the pins, but the audience of all other contributors as well. You can either request to join the board and add your own pin, or work with the influencer and have them create pins that go on various boards of their own.
- The Algorithm: Pinterest has a variety of ways to explore. Users can look at the pins from those they follow, they can explore based on hashtag or search term, or they can look at their home feed. This home feed uses an algorithm to find pins that will probably appeal to the user. It’s a mix of who they follow, what they typically pin, and what they seem to be interested in. Because of such a variety of ways to search and explore, the best way to get your pin to have high engagement results is to work on your Pinterest SEO, pin quality, and domain authority.
- Psychology Aspect: Because Pinterest is all visually based, having a quality pin that conveys meaning is the difference between a user clicking the link and accessing your site, or scrolling past. Color psychology comes into play here and is worth researching further to make the most of your small vertical space on someone’s screen. For example, orange instills a sense of confidence in the viewer, while purple conveys spirituality or ambition.
- Key Takeaways: If you’re targeting women over 30 with a higher level of income, Pinterest offers a chance for major success. Invest quality time in designing your pins and researching Pinterest SEO because keywords can make or break your engagement rate.
Mastering Social Media Today
Understanding social media today and how influencers can help your business succeed is key to continual growth.
Now that you have a better understanding of how these major platforms work and how you can use them, keep reading to learn more about how working with influencers, both micro or macro, can help your business boom.
