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MEASURE FIRST, MAKE LAST A Study in Social Media Behaviors Kyle Babson | Summer 2016

Why Behavioral Psychology Should Inform Your Social Media Strategy

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Page 1: Why Behavioral Psychology Should Inform Your Social Media Strategy

MEASURE FIRST, MAKE LASTA Study in Social Media Behaviors

Kyle Babson | Summer 2016

Page 2: Why Behavioral Psychology Should Inform Your Social Media Strategy

How do you create content for your social media channels?

If you’re like most social media marketers, your publishing schedule is based on some vague idea of “engagement” or “community.” It’s easy to get into the bad habit of only thinking about metrics after you’ve published. You post a video and then realize it received a lot of shares. Or maybe a graphic you tweeted got a ton of likes. Only after the fact do you dig up more precise numbers to see how your content performed.

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But what if you could create content with the end goal in mind from the very start? What if you understood exactly what motivates specific outcomes from your followers?

The particular action we desire should greatly influence how and what we make.

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Creating content for social media isn’t rocket science, but the concepts of immediate response, advocate amplification, and direct conversation make social channels completely unique as a content distribution system. Never before has the success of our marketing

content been so immediately measurable in so many ways.

Impact can be measured with likes, ambassador amplification with shares, conversation with comments, and interest with clicks.

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This wealth of data makes it more important than ever to know at the

outset which metrics are important to us. If every data point is of equal

importance, we’ll drown in numbers.

The best strategy is to focus a campaign on a single outcome and create our

content accordingly.

Let’s take a step back and identify our desired outcome very specifically

BEFORE we make the thing we’re going to broadcast.

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But what does that look like?

With these thoughts in mind, let’s answer a few behavioral questions that will help us understand the why, and then the how of creating content for the four main outcomes on social. First up, the humble LIKE …

How does content

created for impact …

… differfrom content created for

amplification?

How and why does

content motivate action?

What factors influence how that action is manifested?

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What is a LIKE? The LIKE is the low-hanging fruit of social media outcomes. Its ubiquitous presence across the three major platforms makes it easy to understand, and the most frictionless of the potential actions consumers can take on content.

The LIKE is the “wordless nod of support in a loud room. It’s the easiest of yesses, I-agrees, and me-toos” said Erin Morgan in her manifesto on quitting Facebook.

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Why do we LIKE?

We LIKE things we like. Sounds

obvious, and it is, but what’s behind

that? We LIKE things that affirm who

we are and what makes us unique.

A photographer may LIKE great

photos because it affirms who she is

as a judge of good photography. A

craft beer connoisseur may LIKE a

post from his favorite brewery

affirming his knowledge of excellent

beers – not just because he likes the

beer on a surface level, but because

it confirms his self-definition of

someone who knows the difference

between good and bad beer.

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170LIKES PER SUBJECT

95%ACCURATE

DETERMINATION OF PERSONAL

CHARACTERISTICS

The research supports this idea. In a recent study at the University of Cambridge, researchers found they could determine personal characteristics such as race,

sexual orientation, political affiliation, gender, and age with up to 95% accuracy by examining an average of 170 likes per subject.

The things we LIKE quite literally define who we are.

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We also LIKE to affirm others. We LIKE to show our support for things we care about, a cause we’re advocates for, or people we love. A LIKE is an example of “Virtual Empathy” according to Larry Rosen, Ph.D., a professor in the department of psychology at California State University.

Dr. Rosen describes a LIKE as capable of conveying a “solid feeling of caring and kindness” to a recipient.

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So, how do we use this understanding to achieve more LIKES for our social media content? For your content to achieve your LIKE goals, it needs to take a strong stance. It must make a specific statement that is relatable to some groups, but not others. A LIKE affirms that you fit into the category reflected in the content. A LIKE confirms this aspect of yourself. Content created for everyone doesn’t affirm anything about anyone.

How do we earn LIKES?

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This content series is built around the idea of providing Tequila Rose’s primarily female audience with excuses to get out of bad dates. The Tequila Rose brand is predicated on the idea of female empowerment and friendship among women.

These posts affirm those values, celebrate the bond between women, and make a strong statement in favor of female friendship over dates with men. If you’re a woman who has wanted to get out of a bad date, you can definitely relate to this idea; if you’re a man, not so much. Remember, content created for everyone doesn’t affirm anything about

EXAMPLE

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So, in generating social media content for LIKES, think about what topics affirm the values of your followers, and ask yourself these questions.

1. Who is your brand? Who are your followers?

2. What content can you create to celebrate the unique thing you’ve identified in answering these questions?

3. Additionally, who is your group not? (For your brand to be something, it must not be something else.)

Don’t be afraid to put your foot down for what you believe in. A firm understanding of both these characteristics can help you craft content rooted in the values you share with your followers. If you do that, you’ll get LIKES.

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WHAT IS A SHARE?

The action goes by different names…share, retweet, regram, reblog, etc…but its importance is easily understood. It’s an amplification of a message to an audience who wouldn’t normally hear it.

A follower who rewards you with a share has become an advocate, which is possibly the most valuable social media outcome we can hope for. As much as we like to claim the opposite, a share is an endorsement.

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Why do we SHARE?

A good way to think about shares is

as merit badges on a sash. Social

users add ideas, beliefs, and

statements from other people and

brands to their profiles as a means

of self-definition. A share is to say,

“me too” in the most public way

possible. It shows other people

something about ourselves,

something we believe in or

something we like.

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How Do We Earn Likes?

Jonah Berger, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, describes this idea as “social currency.” He says,

“you need to create … something that makes people feel that they’re not only smart but in-the-know.”Everybody wants to be regarded as knowledgeable about something, even if it’s something as trivial as cat memes. Retweeting and sharing relevant content is one way to achieve that feeling.

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Tack on the feeling of involvement and you’ve got a clear motivation to share. Sharing can make us feel like we’re a

participant in the world, or in a specific conversation.

Twitter especially thrives on the idea of real-time conversations. It’s the digital

town-square where we go to discuss current events. But we can’t be experts

on every topic, so instead, we find someone who echoes our opinion.

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If we can share a friend’s language on a current issue, it’s an easier way to join the conversation.

Microsoft Research, in a 2010 study, found that many Twitter users reported “favoring retweets of time-sensitive material and breaking news.”

The only thing better than a merit badge is a NEW merit badge.

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Create merit badges for your fans. Craft content in such a way that your audience would be proud to pin it to their profile. Give your community members something that helps them define who they are in the public arena.

For Elanco’s Trifexis brand, the primary goal in social media content development is amplification.

How do we get shares?

In this Facebook post, you can see a clear assertion, if only in jest, placing dogs above people. Here you’ve got a strong statement, that appeals to, and affirms, the feelings of dog lovers. A share of this post from a dog lover is a way of saying, “see, I’m not the only one who feels this way.” A share of this post is like adding an “I LOVE DOGS” pin to a follower’s sash.

EXAMPLE

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Thanks to studies by Buffer and others, we have definitive evidence that social media content with a visual element drives higher engagement. Especially when it comes to shares.

Merit badges are visual.

Content without Visuals

Content with Visuals

150%GREATER ENGAGEMENT

UP TO

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The difference is the strength of the emotional response and the simplicity and

meaning of the message. If your message is difficult to understand, it doesn’t do the job

of self-definition.

In a study by Cornell researchers on the effect of wording on message

propagation, they attributed success in social media sharing to a strategy of

“mimicking news headlines.”

In other words, content that is most likely to achieve shares will be clear, self-contained

statements that almost tell you the entire story.

A SHARE IS NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM A LIKE.

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What is a COMMENT? Comments take social media responses in a more open-ended direction. Instead of the single-motion of a click to LIKE or share, a comment requires more involved thought, and more complex physical actions. According to Moira Burke, Ph.d., a research scientist at Facebook, “‘composed communications’ are more satisfying than ‘one-click communication’—the lazy click of a like.” So, comments are more gratifying for the recipient, but also require a deeper connection from the commenter.

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If a LIKE indicates an appreciation for something, a positive comment must express a significantly stronger approval. Or, on the other hand, a dislike strong enough to warrant expression.

A unique aspect of comments, relative to other social media actions, is the capacity to show both positive and negative reactions. In both cases, the emotional response must be sufficient to make the effort of having an independent thought and demonstrating it.

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In the second bucket are comments that have a strong negative reaction to the content.

“I disagree with this statement, and the story is entirely incomplete until my disagreement has been added.”

“Yes, I agree with this post, and here’s my personal take on the topic to complete the story.”

First, much like an improvisation, many comments are “yes and…” in nature.

Social media users are motivated to comment to complete a story. To generate a comment, the social media content must begin a narrative that to the commenter, is incomplete. Social comments generally fall into two buckets.

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Giving in to the strong urge we feel to finish a story has benefits beyond immediate gratification. Studies show that we also comment to relieve isolation. It makes sense that by sharing our opinion, we feel part of the community…we feel connected around an idea or thought. In Dr. Burke’s studies, she found that

“participants in composed communication became less lonely.”

Giving credence to the thought that a virtual community is not so different from a physical one.

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How do we get comments?

If a comment on social media completes a story in a commenter’s mind, then social media content that prompts comments leaves room for that narrative to be completed or customized. To do this well:

Tell enough of a story to engage your

audience.

Leave a bit of

possibility at the end.

Crack the window at the end of your story.

Don’t slam the door.

Questions are an obvious way to achieve this, but subtlety is often better. A sense of mystery allows space for your audience to speculate and discuss the meaning beneath the surface.

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The band Coldplay displayed this way of thinking in its recent Facebook announcement of an upcoming world tour. By giving no other details than a hashtag hinting at a tour, fans were left with an incomplete story, and an opportunity to complete it with guesses as to where, when, and how the tour would happen.

Music fans love to surmise tour schedules of their favorite artists, Coldplay just took this natural instinct and provided some fodder for the conversation.

EXAMPLE

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So, in generating social media content for comments, use your natural social skills, and ask yourself these questions:

1. What kind of topics prompt interesting discussions in your community?

2. What are your fans already discussing?

The answers to these questions could be fantastic content themes engineered to generate comments.

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Comments are a unique social media engagement action, and should be valued accordingly. Thanks to a study by Locowise, we know that 96% of engagements are LIKES compared to just 3% comments. So treat that “composed communication” like the rare thing it is.

LIKES COMMENTSSmall in number. Mighty in impact.

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The goal of generating clicks stands out from the rest of our social content objectives in that the content we create for this purpose is meant to take the user away from the social network rather than to engage with it.

A LIKE is a LIKE, a share is a share, but what lies behind a click can be incredibly varied. Brands use clicks to sell products, to disseminate information, to start a free trial, to sign-up volunteers … the options are limitless.

WHAT IS A CLICK?

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Why do we CLICK?

A click is a manifestation of a belief that the action

will bring you closer to a thing you want. That could be a product, an opportunity, or just information. We click on

links in social media content when the copy and image elicits a strong emotional response. A feeling of desire around

the topic of the post. We hope the click will provide a resolution to that response.

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How Do We Earn Likes?

Think about clickbait for a second. Headlines like “The Shocking Truth about Clickbait will SHOCK you!” Why do phrases like that work? Primarily because they create a sense of mystery.

They create a gap “between what we know and what we want to know…” according to George Loewenstein of Carnegie-Mellon. If we don’t click to remove that gap, we’ll feel emotional consequences. We’ll feel deprived by the missing information or opportunity.

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That said, there’s a caveat here. The sense of mystery alone is not enough. We must also believe that the potential value behind the click will be greater than the effort required. To take the action of the click, we must feel secure in the sense that the reward is greater than the investment required to attain it. If we don’t, we won’t click.

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How do we get clicks? (Align your goals. Create the gap.)To create the urge to click is a tall order. Social media users want to use social media. They’ve decided to spend their current moment browsing Twitter, or scrolling through Instagram. They don’t want to click your link. To surmount that hurdle you need to change the primary want in the user’s mind. The only way to do this is to align your goals with your users. Put yourself in their shoes. You have something to sell, or something to be watched or read, or something to sign up for. How does that “thing” align with your follower’s goals of feeling smart, or saving money? Understanding the primary wants of your followers is crucial here. If you can do that, you’ll know how your thing can help them.

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Once your goals are aligned, use mystery to create the gap we learned about from Loewenstein. Pique curiosity in your followers to a level that’s uncomfortable to resist, but don’t give away all the details. According to a study at CalTech,

curiosity follows an inverted U-shaped curve depending on how much we know about a given topic.

We’re most curious “when we know a little about a subject (our curiosity has been piqued) but not too much (we’re still uncertain about the answer).”

WE KNOW A LITTLE

WE KNOW A LOT

SWEET SPOT

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Here, eBay has something that appeals to users who want to improve their cooking. The product and the phrasing in the copy creates a strong sense of mystery. They don’t tell you exactly what the product is, only that it’s something cooks are talking about.

As a user interested in becoming a better cook, you’re left with the gap between what you know about cooking, and what this product could do to make you better. CLICK.

Align your goals. Convey part of the value you have to offer with a sense of mystery. Makeit easy.

EXAMPLE

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TYING IT ALL TOGETHER.

We all know we’re supposed to tell stories on social. But how complete those stories are should depend on our goal. The outcome we’re going for will dictate if we tell the ending or not. Now, if our desired outcome is LIKES or shares, we want to tell a complete story. Our followers aren’t going to share an incomplete message that won’t make sense to their followers and friends.

Additionally, if a story isn’t finished, you won’t get LIKES either. A story without a conclusion will have a hard time affirming something about someone.

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On the other hand, if we’re aiming for clicks or comments, a story with a cliffhanger can be used to our advantage.

Placing a bit of mystery behind a click creates that a discomfort that makes a user unable to resist, and leaving room at the end of a story provides an opportunity for a user to complete it themselves with a comment.

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How complete should my social media story be?

INCOMPLETESTORIES

COMPLETESTORIES

LIKES SHARESCOMMENTSCLICKS

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The commonality in our approach to achieving all four possible goals we discussed is to remembering to put ourselves in the shoes of our users. As humans, we’re selfishly focused on our own self-preservation, and this carries over to social. We LIKE content that affirms who we are, we COMMENT on content to customize stories the way we think they should

be, we SHARE to show others who we are, and we CLICK because we believe there’s something that will benefit us. Keeping this top of mind, and focusing in on one desired

outcome is the key to creating a piece of social media content that achieves clearly defined goals.

MEASURE FIRST, MAKE LAST.

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THANK YOU

Kyle Babson SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGIST

785 838 4774