The Psychology of Advertising
Advertising is all about the appeal. To be effective, an advertisement must attract and then appeal to its audience on some level. But what exactly does that mean? To answer that question, we need to understand two important psychological concepts: needs and wants.
People have two types of needs: physiological and psychological. Physiological needs are things like air, water, and food – they’re the basic requirements for human survival. Psychological needs are things like a sense of belonging, a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of self-worth.
Wants differ from needs in that they’re not essential for survival. Instead, they’re things that we desire – things that make us happy or fulfilled. For example, someone might want a new car because it will make them feel accomplished or because they perceive it will increase their social status.
When crafting an ad campaign, it’s important to keep these concepts in mind. Your goal should be to appeal to either your audience’s needs or wants – or, better yet, both. Let’s take a look at how that can be accomplished on different social media platforms.
Facebook Ads
When creating Facebook ads, it’s important to remember that people use Facebook to connect with friends and family members, as well as stay up-to-date on current events. As such, the best Facebook ads are those that evoke positive emotions like happiness, love, and nostalgia.
A proven way to do this is by featuring people in your ads – specifically real people rather than models or actors. This helps create a connection with viewers and makes them more likely to trust your brand. You can also use copywriting techniques like evoking fear of missing out (FOMO) or using social proof to increase the effectiveness of your ads.
Instagram Ads
Instagram is all about visuals, so your ads should be too. When creating Instagram ads, make sure to use high-quality images or videos that are eye-catching and visually appealing. You should also pay attention to the colour scheme you use, as certain colours can evoke different emotions in viewers (e.g., blue is often associated with trustworthiness and green with nature and eco-friendly).
It’s also important to keep the text on your Instagram ad short and sweet – viewers scrolling through their feed aren’t going to stop and read a long paragraph about your product or service. Instead, focus on creating a catchy headline and using keywords that will grab their attention.
Twitter Ads
Twitter is all about timely updates and current events – which means your ads should be too. When creating Twitter ads, make sure they’re relevant to what’s happening in the world right now. You can do this by using trending hashtags or by talking about current newsworthy events in your text. You should also consider using video content in your ads, as tweets with video tend to get up to 10 times more engagement than those without video content.
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn Ads tend to attract a more professional audience than other social media platforms – which means you’ll need to adjust your ad strategy accordingly. When creating LinkedIn ads, make sure they’re tailored towards professionals working in specific industries. If you’re selling products or services that would be useful for business owners, for example, make sure your ad copy reflects that. You should also include images or videos in your ads, as posts with visual content tend to perform better than those without.
Psychological principles are essential for crafting effective ad campaigns on social media, and by understanding human needs, wants, and the way that different emotions affect buying decisions, you’ll be able to create ad campaigns that are more likely to resonate with your target market. Keep these concepts in mind when planning your next social media ad campaign, and follow for more tips on bringing a human behaviour perspective to business growth!