Neuroscience Tells Us Social Media Marketing Doesn't Work

What Neuroscience Tells Us About Social Media Marketing

People are unable to receive marketing messages when they are directly engaged in purposeful social interaction, neuroscience suggests, because they're hard-wired to fiercely protect against anything that will break their social connections. Marketers are engaged in social media with their work hats on and their nonsocial network activated, resulting in strong biases. Dr. Matthew Lieberman explains that people experience social pain and protect themselves against it the same way they do physical pain. Persuading people in a social setting is hard, as new information creates a natural conflict. Social media communities tend to generate negative biases, and word-of-mouth on platforms such as Facebook is typically negative.

Organizations are realizing that social media activities can return more value when used outside a marketing context, such as in customer care settings. British Telecom lowered the cost of its customer service operations by £2M a year due to its online social communities. Avinash Kaushik appeals to people to stop marketing to their online social groups. To make social media marketing successful, it is important to meet customers where they are, coordinate interactions with moments they are primed to take in information, and build communities outside of the marketing department.

People are instinctively driven to protect their social connections, leading to strong biases against marketing intrusions. To succeed, marketers should understand the power of purposeful social interaction and use social media outside of the marketing context. That could involve meeting customers where they are, coordinating interactions with their readiness to take in information, and building communities outside of the marketing department.