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17 actionable psychological tips you can start using now. Read how we increased conversions by 1407% Knowing what makes your customers tick and how you can influence your brand while being genuinely helpful is crucial when developing in-depth content marketing strategies.  If you find yourself wondering about how to maximize your leads from content marketing, or where your nurturing campaign is not connecting despite your best efforts, then this article is perfect for you! The aim of all marketers is to change the behavior of their audience in a way that benefits their business while helping the audience.  Understanding some key principles of behavioral psychology can take your content marketing from good to great in just a matter of days. Many businesses use content marketing as a way to drive traffic to their site, build an audience, boost engagement levels, convert leads, and ultimately complete a sale. 1.  Use titles that tell readers how to solve a problem or to achieve a goal. Well a title is what gets your readers to your sight or article and if the article doesn’t scream what they want they would not read it. It should include what they need, what they would learn after reading your article and how the article itself would benefit them.  That’s not just that 8 out of 10 people will read title but only 2 out of 10 will read your content, so put some time and decide a relevant title that is going to make it impossible to not click.  2. Using numbers in your title While some studies showed odd numbers seemed to work better than other one clear fact is that overall titles with numbers have a higher click through rate that titles without.  So for example if you want to write an article on how to lose weight… make the title “7 easy way to lose weight in a week”. I know I’d definitely want to check that out. Here is the blog headline formula that could be helpful: (Odd number) (Adjective) (mistakes/tips/insights/shortcuts) for (achieving/avoiding) (desired outcome/disaster) And here are some ridiculous examples using a random word generator: • 3 backhanded compliments for building friendships • 5 splashier techniques for snapping frozen steaks • 7 shifty behaviors for leaving embarrassing situations 3.  Use a catchy Thumbnails Well assuming you know what you’re going to write about and that you have gathered all the necessary content, now it’s time to choose a suitable and catchy image. You have to make it super relevant to your content. Try to make it something you would be very interested in. You can look through social media and get an image which is the easiest but if you want to be unique I suggest you use tools like Photoshop or canva to create an image which is super relevant. 4. Touch into your reader’s problems and show how to overcome it. So why are you writing this blog or article filled with content? To help the reader solve a problem or teach something new which he or she didn’t already know right? So why not just as you start your article point out on how reading that article can help the reader. Include in a summary what they would be reading, also how it would be useful and beneficial to the reader. 5.  Make your website load fast With today’s very busy lives people have very little time to read an article and when they do, they want to make it fast. And if your sight doesn’t load fast they won’t be very patient and they will not hesitate to go looking for another article. Some research even suggests that if a page doesn’t load in the literal blink of an eye, people could lose interest. That’s about 400 milliseconds. Not to mention the mighty Google takes site speed into account when indexing and ranking sites.        If your site isn’t fast, both your audience and Google will think poorly of it. You’ll lose visibility and traffic.  So, how fast is your site?   You can use free tools like the Google Page Insights Tool to find it out     Because if it takes longer than 2 or 3 seconds to load, you’re losing traffic right this moment.  So take action today and make your sight load fast. The following solutions might be of help – 6. Use simple language and be really, really clear Would you want to read an article like your reading “Little women” and suddenly find out Beth dies and we’ll be depressed about it? Or would you want to be excited about the content your about to read?Yes!  You’d definitely want to be excited! Because as soon as the reader feels the language is too heavy and hard to grasp they will bounce right back and look for a better more interesting article to read. So use a really simple, interesting language and try not to make it seem like their reading Romeo and Juliette by Shakespeare.  7. Capture attention Well this can be done based on the content you wright and based on how interesting it is. Make your content more exciting and to keep your reader hooked you can use call to action, highlighted or bold text, images, videos, etc. That not just it, after your audience read your blog post you want them to Leave comments, Share your post, and be that loyal fan who spreads your word.  8.Use third-party data to explain your point.  You can do this by showing numbers and stats from the past. you can also give out links to web sites of related content so that they could do more research on it and be given more data than what you’re putting out in your article.

Reaching its 10 year anniversary on the 6th of October in 2020, one of the fastest-growing social media platforms has certainly made the most of the decade by accumulating over a billion monthly active users, and becoming the 2nd most engaged network after Facebook.  We’ve already discussed why Social Media Marketing is the way to go, but in summary, you’d essentially be exactly where the people are looking- their mobile screens, and according to HubSpot; over 72% of Instagram users have purchased something they’ve seen on the platform. Seeing the potential of its platform, Instagram made alterations in its functions- finally creating fool-proof, effective marketing available for as little as nothing.  So we’ve taken the liberty of accumulating everything you should know about how marketing works on Instagram; considering both the app’s functionality and the psychological components.  Business Profile The days of using regular accounts for your business are gone; as the alterations mentioned before made it so that you can now open an Instagram Business Profile filled with useful tools that you can use for efficient SMM, and apart from that- they’re basically free! The Contact Button  This gives people the immediate option to contact your business upon visiting your page, taking away the hassle of having to turn to Google for its contact details. This minor improvement in convenience changes the disposition of the user, making the possibility of conversions more likely.  Scheduling Posts Even something as simple as posting has been optimized to become more convenient for businesses. With the ability to schedule posts, your Social Media Manager will no longer have to set reminders to manually post content at a certain time, and can just rely completely on automation. With the ability to link your social media accounts across multiple platforms like Facebook and Twitter to your Instagram, the need to post through each platform individually is removed.  Advertising  Truth be told, anyone can afford Instagram marketing, and that’s because it’s tailored to fit your budget, and won’t exceed it.   Apart from that, users no longer have to follow you to be able to see your content. With sponsored posts, Instagram will show your posts to users that seem like your suitable audience, and exclude anyone who seems otherwise. As it is with SMM, the ability to target your audience saves resources in comparison to conventional marketing, which has a lack thereof. Similar to its parent, Facebook, Instagram can narrow down your audience using anything from gender and interests to the model of their device- making sure that your content is only seen by potential customers.  From being able to display one piece of content at a time, Instagram now allows businesses to use multiple with Carousel advertising and stories that can feature up to 3 pieces of media at a time- expanding your room for creativity.  Shoppable Posts https://www.instagram.com/p/B60ClWdAQ8Y/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12&wp=447&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fshiftxmedia.com&rp=%2Fusing-instagram-to-promote-your-startup-business%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A3684.6999999284744%2C%22ls%22%3A2466.2999999523163%2C%22le%22%3A3137.0999999046326%7D Besides just showing consumers what you have to offer, you can now immediately direct them towards purchasing it. With Instagrams new “Shop” feature, all you have to do is simply curate a list of products which can be tagged in posts just like regular users, allowing your viewers to go through basic product details with just one tap. If consumers are interested in what they see, an additional tap is all it takes to lead them to your Instagram shop where they can browse, save items to look at later, share them with their friends, or be directed to the website where they can purchase it. Insights Knowing how your users interact with your existing posts is vital to understanding just how you should adjust your content to boost engagement.  Instagram insights allow you to see just how each one of your posts is doing through their reach and impressions, and even calculates how many times people have interacted with your account and visited your profile. This will tell you which posts are more likely to lead to conversions based on how their performance has led consumers to engage with them.  Additionally, you could also get a breakdown of your follower demographics according to gender, age and location- information that you could use to create more personalized content that can be catered to your audience to boost their engagement. Besides that, it also analyzes the times your followers are most active, telling you exactly when you should be posting. Combine this with the scheduled posting, and it’s near impossible to go wrong.  About The Algorithm Much to the displeasure of many users, and following in its parent’s, Facebook’s, controversial footsteps, Instagram too took the life-changing decision to disrupt the peace on the platform by changing the order of its posts from chronological to basing it off relevance. This means that the platform tries to justify which posts would be most relevant to the individual user, and push them to the top of their feed. While it still displays recent posts, this is mainly based on users’ previous interactions with you and their engagement with similar content. While this will not affect any sponsored content, it could affect all posts that are not boosted.  Stories When you think SMM has reached the pinnacle of convenience, it takes one step higher. With stories, you’ll be right at the top of Instagram users’ feeds, meaning they don’t have to scroll at all to find you, and all they have to do is tap once to see you in their automated lineup. Apart from sharing new content, with the ability to add posts from your feed to your story, you could also revive old content, and draw more attention to the new. Stories are also the ideal place to conduct Q&As and polls, which are great ways to get some insight directly from your followers regarding what they want to see from you. Features like countdowns also prove to be useful tools to keep your viewers on the edge of their seats and get them excited for things like new campaigns, products and more- experiment with your options. The days of directing

Storytelling has been around as long as communication; it has integrated itself into the lives of people and communities, and has grown from relying on mouth to mouth transactions to being just a click away. Today, stories can be told through anything- from images to campaigns. They have always played an integral part in the human life; even from the time of being a toddler. They teach morals, history, values and facts that have shaped us into the people we are today. With the technological advancements in the last few decades, and the importance of maintaining an image on social media; storytelling has become more significant than ever, especially in the global commercial hub. What is storytelling in a business? It is as simple as using a narrative to connect to an audience of consumers through your brand via shared values. Storytelling is the ability to capture the essence of a brand; how it’s driven, the non-material factors that make it unique, and the values that define it.  This technique of advertising allows consumers to connect with brands on a different, more personal level; creating an atmosphere of mutual values and opinions.  As the entrepreneur Ben Horowitz said; “a compelling story puts the company in motion”. Why do we do it? Research has proven that the human response to stories is more significant than to raw, unseasoned facts. Thus, telling a story is more likely to keep your customers interested. With less than 10 seconds to get a person’s attention in today’s world; it is important to create an attraction that will draw consumers in immediately, and stories are a great way to do it. They are known to trigger an emotional response in people; be it through an article, an image or a video- something graphs and tables cannot do. The rush of emotions from just a few impactful seconds could lead to making a purchase, or even an investment. A study done by Hubspot shows that the most shared advertisements rely greatly on their emotional content. Consumers are naturally more able to connect to stories; empathizing and relating to the characters and the plot, and research even shows that there is a direct link between empathy and commercial success. Thus, this vital tool is not just about profitability; it’s also about increasing your visibility, and creating an image for your brand. Besides that, the newly formed democratic nature of the internet has resulted in more consumers demanding that the companies that request their support deserve it; which is determined based on whether their efforts are making an impact or not.  Today, companies are expected to have a purpose and drive beyond profit; to be more human. Buying from the businesses that are supporting the right causes and doing more social work makes consumers feel that they too are helping through their own purchases; increasing the chances of gaining consumer loyalty.  With the high pressure that exists today to have eco-friendly, cruelty-free, vegan etc. products and to be supportive of diversity, consumers are setting the standards that they expect companies to follow. In return, companies can share their support with the world by sending out a message that they care about their consumers’ needs and wants, via their stories that portray it. How do we do it? We answer this question with one more; what is the lasting impression you’d want your consumers to have of you? The story you tell will determine how your brand is presented.  Content Use storytelling elements; characters, plots, settings, climaxes and conclusions. Whether they are real or fictional, they are much easier to follow and remember than statistics and facts, and can be used as bait to draw consumers in instead of forcing your product on to them. Keeping the content of your story simple is also an important measure to take; while it could be thought-provoking and have depth to it- consumers should be able to understand what is happening clearly. Themes Paul Ekman states that there are 6 basic emotions; happiness, anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and surprise. In making your story; you could choose which of these elements to focus on- the underlying consumer response unveiled by each one varies. Many companies want to be associated with positive emotions, and so stick to happiness and surprise. This could be through the use of touching, motivating stories, heartwarming situations, and even advertisements with comedic value.  As shown below, this popular technique can be seen in many Coca Cola advertisements; which frequently portray their product being shared between friends, lovers, siblings and parties- all of which instil in viewers the comforting feeling of developing relationships, and community.  Positive emotions can also be brought out through empowerment and embracing diversity. For instance, the brand Dove has had many of its campaigns go viral for their body positivity; challenging the unrealistic beauty standards that exist in the industry. Brands like Nike use stories that inspire viewers to conquer all obstacles; giving them an adrenaline rush by using inspirational people like Michael Jordan, partnered with climactic music and slow-motion edits; compelling people to buy a pair of shoes and be as free and great as the people who wear it in the story. As for the more negative emotions; companies tend to focus more on these when they want to press their audience to make a change. Although many companies don’t want to be associated with such feelings; the strength of these emotions are underestimated.  Here are a few examples; Chevrolet does this by using relationships and sad milestones in people’s lives; be it the death of a family member or pet- ending each commercial with the characters getting into a Chevy, either as a flashback or as a new beginning. Either way, it gives the audience the impression that the car will be with them from the beginning to the end- through thick and thin. People are temporary, but a Chevy is forever. Pedigree’s Adoption Drive advertisement shows its audience a heartbreaking video of