Content is everywhere. We’re constantly consuming it in different forms, from videos to tweets and email blasts to amazing blogs, like this one. According to statistics, the average person spends about 7 hours a day consuming content. That’s 29% of your day. If people are consuming so much, how can you be sure that your content isn’t just noise in the background?
Well, we’re going to let you in on a little secret so you know exactly how to get your consumers’ attention. It’s all about psychology. If you know how your consumers think, you’ll be able to reach them and get your message through to them. Let’s take a look at a few psychological principles that can improve your content marketing.
1. Social proof
The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the platform. How often do you find yourself wanting to buy something that your friend recommended? Or wear something similar to what you saw your favourite celeb wearing? Social proof comes from the psychological persuasion of wanting to mimic something that someone you like or trust does.
So when you get your consumers hooked on your content, make it easy for them to share with their friends and followers. This will not only give you credibility but also the opportunity to reach more people without having to do the heavy lifting.
When you publish content, encourage your consumers to share it by implementing share buttons, if it’s on a website. You can also encourage user-generated content which serves as a testimonial for your brand and includes users reposting or uploading a picture with a specific hashtag on social media. It’s a great way to get your consumers to boast about your products or services.
2. Consistency is key
We’re not saying get all up in your consumers’ faces 24/7, but you do need to be publishing content on a regular basis to keep them interested. You want them to be constantly reminded of your brand so that it’s the first thing they think of when they need to.
Try integrating different campaigns so that your message is still clear, but you give them the illusion of fresh content. Use multiple platforms to reach your target audience but keep the main idea similar. For example, if you’re advertising for the best web development services, you might write a long-form caption on Instagram about how you offer streamlined, fast and user-friendly websites, complete with 100 hashtags, to get your followers’ attention. But, if you were tweeting about it, you would have to tailor your message to make it punchy and effective without shifting from the main message of your overall campaign.
3. Reap from reciprocity
As the saying goes, you get what you give. Humans are wired to think that way and that’s why it’s important that your consumer feels that they’re going to get something valuable from you if they give you their attention.
Yes, sure, your content is something valuable to them because they can learn or gain knowledge from it, but you should also offer them more incentives to fuel their loyalty. If there’s something you need from your consumers, you should be willing to give them something in return. For example, giving away free products or services or a shoutout on social media in exchange for a sign-up to your newsletter.
4. Give them easy-to-process information
The goal of your content is to educate and interest your consumers. If you write content that’s difficult for them to understand, you’ll drive off your prospective customers and potentially lose your current ones. Avoid an overkill of jargon and keep the information simple and easy to understand or else you risk instilling doubt, especially in first-time readers.
It’s good to assume that your consumers know little to nothing about your services or products and need to learn about them from the ground up. This way your content will always be engaging and interesting for them.
5. Create habits
Let’s face it, we’re creatures of habit. Remember the time you walked into a classroom and saw someone sitting in your mentally proclaimed seat? It completely threw you off because you built a habit of sitting in that very chair over a period.
When it comes to your consumers, you need to learn what their expectations are so you can meet them. 88% of content marketers already use web analytics tools to help them successfully develop strategies. Try and analyse your consumers’ habits so you can interpret their preferences by using tools like Google Analytics to track when they engage with your content, and how. This way, you can be sure to publish it at that exact time and manner. And once they become attuned to seeing content from you at that time, they’ll form a habit of coming back for more.
Final thoughts
Content marketing is one of the best ways to draw in customers. It costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates 3 times as many leads. So you need to make sure that you’re leveraging it to suit your business’s success. Follow these psychological principles and you can be guaranteed that your consumers don’t drown out your content. You can also get in touch with our content marketing experts for more tips and tricks and a solid campaign strategy that will boost your brand and take it to new heights.
