What if I tell you that the wiring of the human brain can impact your social media marketing strategy? Yes, that’s true! This technique is known as neuromarketing – a scientific approach to marketing businesses, products, and services on digital channels.
According to a report, the global neuromarketing market is projected to reach $21,218 million by 2030, growing at a staggering CAGR of 8.9% (2022 to 2030).
Regional growth insights (Source)
Businesses and marketers have been using neuromarketing to understand how human brain functions and processes different emotions and thoughts. Many brands remain unaware of precisely what this technique is, despite major companies and social media platforms utilizing it in one way or another.
Here’s an introduction to neuromarketing to help you understand how to use neuromarketing to improve your social media marketing efforts and better understand customer behaviors.
What is Neuromarketing?
Unknowingly, people consume a lot of information through social media, making the human mind prey to subliminal marketing techniques. Using advanced technologies, companies can tap into the brain’s power to influence consumer behaviors and create a more effective digital marketing campaign.
Neuromarketing combines neuroscience with digital marketing to influence consumers’ buying decisions. It tells you what colors, images, or messages resonate the most with your target audience. Your online social media marketing agency can use this data to identify customers’ preferences and online behaviors.
This unique approach to marketing uses a cognitive method to understand customers and interact with a brand, using different strategies and technologies utilized in the neuroscience-based discipline. You can determine a customer’s buying pattern by monitoring eye movements, such as the length of time they stare at a specific product.
Techniques | Working | Results | Uses |
fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) | Detects blood flow in brain | Emotional response and engagement | Sets pricing and improves branding |
EEG (electroencephalography) | Records electrical signals on the scalp | Engagement and recall | Improves ads and branding |
Eye-tracking | Detects where subjects direct their eyes | Level of interest, engagement, and user experience | Improves web design, branding, and packaging |
Facial Coding | Identifies facial expressions | General emotional responses | Improves ad content |
Applications of Neuromarketing
Neuromarketing can be used to influence consumer habits. By studying the brain of your target customers, you can use different neuroscientific strategies to predict how they make buying decisions. Here are some ways in which neuroscience can benefit the best social media marketing in India:
* Using attention-grabbing visuals: A human mind can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. This simply means that using images, videos, and infographics can help boost customer engagement with your brand.
* Building an emotional connection: Humans are emotional beings. Our emotions are closely linked to our decision-making. By tapping into different emotions, you can increase the likelihood of a purchase on a website or social media.
* Utilizing social proof: Consumers are more likely to make decisions based on the actions of others. Neuromarketing helps create a sense of social evidence by showcasing reviews and testimonials on social media, influencing consumers.
* Streamlining decision-making: A human brain can easily get overwhelmed with too many choices. Neuromarketing can simplify the decision-making process. For instance, using a limited-time offer reduces decision-making anxiety.
* Leveraging storytelling: Stories activate our brain, creating a sense of connection with the subject. Implementing storytelling in your social media marketing strategy can help create a narrative around your brand that influences consumer behaviors.
Examples of Neuromarketing
There are several examples of neuromarketing being used to influence and manifest consumer behaviors. Companies like Airbnb and Starbucks are increasingly investing in this technology to better understand their customers. Below are some common examples of neuromarketing you can consider for the best social media marketing in India:
1. Eye Tracking
The eye tracking sensor technology is not a new thing, but it becomes more effective when combined with the principles of neuroscience. It records the movement of a human eye and gathers data on a colored heat map, revealing where respondents locked eyes the most.
The technology is usually followed by a small research exercise that uses eye-tracking sensors to investigate precisely what respondents were actually gazing at, and why. It provides highly detailed feedback with which you can maximize the impact of social media marketing and advertising.
2. Color Psychology
Studies reveal that color can boost brand recognition by up to 80%. Color psychology is the study of colors, contrasts, and hues as a determinant of human behaviors. It studies how colors influence people and differs depending on the age, gender, and culture.
Source
Even so, it is observed that personal experiences, cultural differences, and context can interrupt the marketing message. Prudent use of colors can differentiate products and influence the moods and feelings of consumers on social media. Coca-Cola is a classic example; everyone recognizes its red hue.
3. Ad Targeting
Before launching an ad campaign, ensure that it evokes positive emotions like trust, sympathy, or compassion. This will prevent negative associations with your ad and business. You can create different ads promoting the same product to the same target audience. Based on the results, you compare the ads.
To optimize an ad’s reach, the National Cancer Institute used fMRI in a comparative study to compare the self-reported predictions from a small key demographic group. EEG is another popular tool used frequently in this space to identify an individual’s emotional response to a product or advertisement.
4. Content Engagement
Social media marketing professionals and businesses have begun to include psychological principles like dopamine into their products, onboarding psychologists to ensure content engagement. Even so, neuromarketing has taken to the web design space.
UI/UX designers widely agree that horizontal website layouts are not as effective as traditional vertical webpages. A top-to-down website layout engages the human brain and incentivizes consumers to keep scrolling.
5. Product Packaging
Businesses often consider using neuromarketing to track different emotions or reactions to different packages. This approach helps them determine which packaging evokes the highest level of desired emotion.
Alpro is a Belgium brand that promotes plant-based milk products. They incorporated neuromarketing to create barista-preferred packaging by working with neuroscientists to leverage eye-tracking and measure engagement.
Criticism of Neuromarketing
While neuromarketing aims at determining a consumer’s responses to brands or social media marketing campaigns, not everyone believes it’s ethical. Some suggest that it’s an invasion of privacy. A book titled “Towards Ethical Neuromarketing 2.0 Based on Artificial Intelligence” addresses such ethical issues associated with neuromarketing.
In itself, the neuromarketing technique isn’t unethical. Still, businesses must follow a high standard of ethics when studying their audience. For example, they must not promote anything harmful and avoid studying minors to figure out how to get them hooked on a product.
Make Neuromarketing Work for Social Media Marketing
Not all neuromarketing methods and techniques are readily available to marketers and businesses. But as technology advances, they become more accessible. That means you don’t have to be Apple or Microsoft to get in on the neuromarketing act. What is important is that you focus on ethical use. Find this post useful?
Discover more insights with our online social media marketing agency.
FAQs:
1. What Will Neuromarketing Cost Me?
Perhaps less than you could think. Complex EEG and eye-tracking may require a large number of participants, but smaller studies like an online usability research are inexpensive.
2. Should the World be Afraid of Neuromarketing?
On the positive side, neuromarketing is about understanding how the human brain works and using this data to improve marketing messages.
However, some experts may be concerned about the impact of neuromarketing on consumers – as the technology can be used to manipulate people into buying things they don’t need. This is why the world needs a responsible and ethical adoption of neuromarketing.
3. Is Neuromarketing Good for My Social Media Marketing?
Although neuromarketing has an edge over standard digital marketing, this isn’t the type of marketing we recommend to every brand. There are some basic requirements that you have to meet to really profit from neuromarketing.
For instance, you need to conduct a specific research. If your research question can be answered using simply best social media marketing in India, we’ll recommend that to you.
