"Measure First, Make Last: A Study in Social Media Behaviors" Social Media Content Strategist Kyle Babson's presentation helps content marketers create better content for their social media channels, focusing their efforts on specific targeted outcomes. Understanding how social media content motivates action is key to achieving your company's goals. This informative and entertaining presentation shows why you should be using behavioral psychology to inform your social media strategy.

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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 …
… differ
from content
created for
amplification?
How and
why does
content motivate
action?
What factors
influence how
that action is
manifested?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 170
LIKES 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.

10. 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.

11. 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?

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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

28. 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.

29. 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 COMMENTS
Small in number.
Mighty in impact.

30. 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?

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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

36. 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. Make
it easy.
EXAMPLE

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. How complete should my social media story be?
INCOMPLETE
STORIES
COMPLETE
STORIES
LIKES SHARESCOMMENTSCLICKS

40. 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.

41. THANK YOU
Kyle Babson
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGIST
785 838 4774