Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Social media recipe, right ahead,
Is waiting on Bulk.ly for you!
Just in case you wonder what that weird poem is for, it’s one of the psychological hacks to become memorable on social media. We’ll discuss this one and more in the blog post.
To begin with—why do some brands get tattooed to the mind and never come off, while others vanish like dreams at dawn with the next scroll?
Social media psychology deserves a “thanks” for that. And luckily for you, there’s no need to search its tenets elsewhere on the web. We have a proven psychological formula to make your brand unforgettable on social media.
Grab the perfect social media formula below.
Key Elements of Brand Stickiness on Social Media Powered by Psychology
Let’s first explore the basics behind “sticky” social media content.
Business owners and social media marketers often rely on Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. The authors describe the SUCCES principle. It empowers ideas to get etched in memories. And it goes as follows:
S → Simplistic
According to the science of simplicity, our brains dislike heavy mental burdens and rather crave understandable and simplistic things. That’s why people are more likely to remember companies that provide easy-to-grasp information with the help of:
- Lists
- Infographics
- Schemes
- Quizzes
- Short videos
- Maps, etc.
U → Unanticipated
Brands that take social media audiences off guard root deeper in their memories. At this rate, a surprising piece of content may help increase your brand awareness among social media users and plant it firmly in their minds.
Similar to the below post by Scrub Daddy on TikTok. No words can describe the feeling of astonishment evoked by this video in which the company’s CEO is running naked, covering himself with a sponge!
You’d never anticipate that from a brand, let alone the CEO. Would you?
C → Credible
You should always speak with your authentic brand voice on social media to achieve higher credibility. When people trust the source of information, they are more inclined to believe it and recollect it later.
C → Concrete
Clear, up-to-the-point information helps social media users better understand and remember the brand’s message because it is easier to visualize and memorize.
Compare two examples of a social media copy promoting the fitness app.
Abstract information
Get in shape in the blink of an eye with FitLife’s fitness program!
Concrete information
Join our 12-week fitness program at FitLife! It combines 30-minute daily workouts with individual nutrition plans!
E → Emotional
Emotion is the catalyst for social media virality. Plus, it can easily make your brand top-of-mind on social platforms.
For example:
Do you remember the #KFCProposal going viral in 2019?
People still can’t stop raving about the touching and heartwarming move from KFC South Africa. The brand found the couple that faced mockery after the proposal made at KFC and contributed to their dream wedding.
S → Story-woven
According to Dr. Jennifer Aaker, a behavioral scientist, a story is up to 22 times more memorable than a factual layout. Why? Because masterful storytelling tugs at the heartstrings and establishes a long-lasting connection between the user and the brand.
Of course, other psychological drivers can also make brands recognizable on social media.
These are:
- Visual familiarity (e.g., color, typography, or other design strokes)
- Newness
- Authoritative reference
- Peculiarity (uniqueness)
- Mnemonics (e.g., hypnotic marketing through rhyming or alliteration)
Let’s inspect them more keenly.
How to Make a Brand Memorable on Social Media
Learn from businesses that leveraged these psychological methods successfully in their social media strategies.
Embed your brand’s DNA in your posts
What brand pops up in your memory whenever you see a twin-tailed siren in the green circle on social media?
If you instantly recall Starbucks, it means: first, you’re probably a coffee addict (well, who isn’t!
), and second—the psychology of social media branding works for you pretty well, too. And it does for many. The science of familiarity says people tend to better memorize familiar things they encounter repeatedly.
So, naturally, “If you want to boost your brand recall on social media, using your visual differentiators like colors and fonts in your posts is a must-do. They are already recognizable as your brand identifiers. You can likewise mark your social media content with your logo, unique signature, or tagline,” suggests Derek Pankaew, Founder of Listening.com.
For example, following its competitor’s footsteps (namely, Duolingo’s), Falou also reckons on the same visual strategy on social media and allows its mascot, the blue monkey, to do the branding job.
Add drips of novelty
All social media users share another characteristic feature: an originality-seeking mind. Surprisingly, novelty, the opposite of familiarity, is also one of humans’ fundamental psychological needs.
You can easily give it to your social media audience.
Here’s how.
New bio
Your bio is like a front door sign welcoming users to your social media world. However, you might need to update it regularly with new lines for higher brand awareness on social media.
Let’s peek into TikTok and find Netflix there. The brand’s social media profile never stagnates with the same bio for too long. It usually dovetails with the brand’s new streaming content.
For example:
After releasing 3 Body Problem, Netflix upgraded the bio with the phrase “YOU ARE BUGS” taken from the series.
Then, once Bridgerton Season 3 premiered, Netflix changed it to “Polin season is upon us,” referring to Penelope Featherington (Polin), one of its main characters.
New content
Phil Strazzulla, Founder of SelectSoftware Reviews (SSR), is convinced, “To make your brand memorable on social media, you should ditch the bad habit of copy-pasting or recycling content from others. Instead, become a generator of new ideas and posts.”
He recommends creating original content pieces, such as:
- Market research reports
- Case studies
- UGC
- Webinars
- Behind-the-scenes
- Live streams, etc.
For example:
SSR prioritizes LinkedIn for B2B and commits to novelty on the platform. One of the company’s recent posts is a new HR Tech Trends Report.
Always bank on emotional experiences
For Brooke Webber, Head of Marketing at Ninja Patches, there can be nothing stronger than emotional stimuli in social media marketing. She notes, “When users encounter a social media post that stirs their emotion—joy, surprise, or even sadness—they are more likely to engage with it (share, like, comment). Emotions build powerful connections and associations and get carved in the memory.”
Webber names the top five emotional responses on social media:
- Humor
- Excitement
- Pride
- Gratitude
- Intrigue
For example:
The Ninja Patches team intrigues the TikTok audience with the following video: “This is how many patches we can fit on one shirt.”
Alternatively, let’s review Red Bull’s strategy, one of the brightest examples of experiential marketing driven by emotions. (Btw, experiential activations can improve brand recall by up to 80%!)
The brand’s #1 rule seems to provoke a rush of adrenaline and thrill in social media users. Red Bull shares impressive video experiences with incredible tricks, like a crazy jump from a huge height or an insane bike loop.
Play the influencer card
“Hey, I remember this brand. My favorite actress, Emma Myers, used their product!”
Once noticing your next social media post, such thoughts could appear in the user’s mind if you partnered with Emma Myers, just like Samsung did. The brand featured the celeb in a video filmed with the Galaxy S24 Ultra in Seoul.
A well-planned influencer or celebrity marketing campaign can become your joker card and turn the tide in your social media game. Influencers bring fresh, engaging, and authentic content that makes brands unforgettable through the power of social proof. Indeed, influencer marketing has a considerably higher brand recall – 79%, compared to the unaided recall rate of 62%.
Yet, there’s an essential point to note when entering influencer partnerships. Managing Partner at Sympler, Sean Hakes, reminds brands to use proper hashtags. “Adequate hashtagging aids you in two ways: for social media SEO and ethics. Make sure the influencer adds your branded hashtags to make your brand more memorable on social media and discloses collaboration with the paid partnership label or tag for ethical influencer marketing.”
Indulge in unique holiday celebrations
Per Sederberg, a professor of psychology at OSU, claims that uniqueness can leave a lasting impression on people’s minds.
However, many companies ignore this psychological tactic on social media, especially when it comes to holiday marketing. They traditionally put only the most universal holidays in the social media content calendar: Christmas, Easter, or Black Friday.
If you also fall into the “be-like-others” trap, it’s time to stand out as a rare bird in the flock of brands with identical holiday campaigns.
Here’s a list of peculiar holidays to celebrate on social media:
- Bubble Tea Day
- Pi Day
- Retro Video Game Day
- Pokémon Day
- Cereal Day
- Popcorn Day, etc.
Have never seen any brand celebrating those, huh?
Well, then scroll through PrizeRebel’s Instagram posts and see them all!
Jerry Han, CMO at PrizeRebel, shares, “Unique holidays help us capture attention and drive brand memorability in different user segments. Such social media posts resonate with particular audiences who gather around common interests (favorite food or pastime). And when spiced by giveaways, they generate even more engagement and resonance over diverse social channels.”
For example, PrizeRebel merged the World Penguin Day celebration with a giveaway on Instagram.
And finally, try to rhyme!
“Pumpkins are orange
Whipped cream is white
A hot PSL
Is an autumn delight.
”
With a single poem like this, Starbucks gathers thousands of impressions and likes and cements the brand name in the followers’ minds on Twitter.
Thomas Medlin, Co-founder at JumpMD, briefly explains rhyming psychology and how you can apply it to social media. He says, “People remember rhymed phrases due to their rhythmic, almost hypnotizing nature. That’s why rhymes can act as mnemonic mechanisms for higher brand recall on social media. However, it’s crucial not to overload the user and write a short poem—four lines at most—or just add a rhymed slogan to the post.”
Don’t have a knack for rhyming?
No fuss! Use ChatGPT prompts for social media and craft engaging poetry. Enjoy the following rhyme ChatGPT generated for a skincare brand:
“Give your skin a little cheer,
Our moisturizer is finally here!
Hydrated skin from dawn till night,
Making you feel just alright.”
Automate This Formula for Social Media Success With Bulk.ly
Take your time to methodically collect all takeaways into one heap.
After that, go check Bulk.ly’s features. It’s the only social media automation tool you need to streamline content updates, randomize hashtags, and add changes on the fly whenever necessary.
Let social media auto-magic happen! Try Bulk.ly and leave your brand’s lasting imprint on social media. Every. Single. Day.