• 2022-12-21 00:00:00

Suppose you told me fifteen years ago that there would be these things called selfies in the future and that regular, everyday people would be using them to promote their favourite brands and make a name (and, for some, a comfortable living) for themselves on the Internet. As a result, I would have thought you were crazy.

Because for as long as there have been goods to buy, sell, barter, and trade, specialists have been committed to finding out how to purchase, sell, barter, and trade these things to their economic advantage.

Entire industries have been created to achieve precisely that. And the most successful ones have turned companies like Coca-Cola and Band-Aid into household names. However, selfies have altered everything. Selfies have thrown the advertising industry on its head, questioned the norm, and made the marketplace more democratic.

There's a good explanation behind this. And it all comes down to the science of persuasive marketing.

The Journey of Selfie

According to historians, Philadelphia native Robert Cornelius' daguerreotype photograph of the first-ever selfie was made in 1839.

While the selfie in its contemporary incarnation is often used as a scapegoat for our digital vanity, in this particular instance, Mr Cornelius was only interested in seeing how he appeared, echoing centuries of self-portraits by painters. Proof that taking pictures of ourselves has long been a goal of humans'.

As the smartphone era starting emerging, the selfie gained formal recognition in 2013 with an entry in the Oxford lexicon. Since that time, usage of the phrase online has increased by over 17,000%. The accessibility of smartphone photo-taking contributed to the surge of self-taken images, sparking a trend that literally turned the visual narrative on its head.

With the development of ever-cheaper foreign travel and the popularity of the visual platform Instagram, the selfie's global adoption increased. In fact, the site gave rise to the first hashtag-based selfie trends, such as #Iwokeuplikethis and #duckface.

How Did Selfie Marketing Campaign took place?

Selfie-driven hashtag trends and the format's rising popularity gave companies and marketers a new perspective on connecting with their audience on a whole different level.

Approximately 57 million #selfie hashtags were introduced to the social media sphere in 2013. The selfie's stunning visual quality, limitless creative potential, and chance to produce interesting user-generated material (like Dunkin Donuts' 2014 Shark Week selfie campaign) made it tempting to companies from many different sectors.

Characteristics of Selfie as a Visual Content

1.    Genuineness

When it comes to paradigm changes, there aren't many other things that spring to mind that are as extreme as social media and the worldwide influence it has had on business. Without social media, the marketing industry would have carried on much as it has, relying on symmetry and simplicity to pique consumer demand and get goods off the shelf.

However, social media is defying the laws. And what is currently the first order of business? Every marketing attempt must be perceived as genuine for a business to succeed in the social media market. Even the most persuasive advertising will fall short if they lack genuineness.

This study found that 74 per cent of customers said word-of-mouth marketing impacted their purchasing decisions.

2.    The beauty of symmetry

Advertising experts and artists are both aware of how effectively a fascinating image can drive us to want the thing it is marketing. In fact, the most compelling images pull us in with symmetry by appealing to a section of our brains where pleasure governs judgement.

An image's perceived attractiveness increases with its degree of symmetry. Ellen Dissanayake who is an anthropologist at the University of Texas, claims that pleasure also goes hand in hand with beauty. Dissanayake says, "you excite brains and offer joy if you make beautiful things."

In the realm of marketing, the more pleasure a product elicits in our brains, the greater our affinity for the brand and the greater our desire for the offered goods. And when want takes over, there's a significant chance we'll be persuaded to buy.

Unaware of it, the most persuasive imagery is frequently produced by the most prominent marketers—those selfie-taking sirens—when they share their favourite companies with their social media following. Looking closely, you'll see that many of these pictures fit our need for symmetry.

3.    Simple is best

Symmetry alone is insufficient for effective marketing efforts that increase revenue. The brain may experience pleasure when things are symmetrical, but simplicity wins out.

There is a possibility that everything we find beautiful will be symmetrical in appearance and straightforward in its presentation.
Once more, the most effective social media marketers are those that (instinctively or not) highlight those businesses and goods they adore in a straightforward manner.

Of course, celebrities have their own impact, but many common social media users are also skilled at producing photographs that effectively promote their preferred products. So it is no surprise that more and more companies are using these influencers to promote their goods and increase sales.

Implementing Selfie Marketing for your Brand

Nothing these days compares to compelling, impactful marketing when it comes to moving products.

Look for brand supporters initiating discussions about your items if you want to utilise this potential fully. How do they speak? How are they expressing it (via pictures, movies, blogs, etc.)? And how many people are they speaking to in total?

It's vital to keep in mind that the most persuasive marketers are those that produce material that, in addition to appealing to our feeling of pleasure through its symmetry and simplicity, also comes off as genuine. Inspired. Authentic.

Discover these social media gold mines, maximise your marketing potential there, and watch your sales soar as a consequence.