4 Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Persuade 

Over the last decade, social media has become a potent tool for businesses of all sizes. With its continuous rise in popularity, it is more important than ever for small businesses to learn how to take advantage of the numerous tools available to use. When it comes to being heard, you want to do more than merely add your voice to the conversation. To attract more customers, you need your message to be influential. Here are five powerful persuasion techniques to help you become a prominent leader and gain more customers.

Reciprocation
The rule of reciprocation, according to Robert Cialdini, author of The Psychology Influence of Persuasion, says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us. When it comes to social media, someone is more likely to retweet someone who has already retweeted them. We tend to link to people who have linked to us, and we tend to give a business far more trust after being provided a lot of free value. By focusing on initiating reciprocity and providing no-strings-attached value, you can gain more influence with your audience. 

Social Proof
One of the ways we determine our behavior is to observe what other people believe is correct. We view certain actions as fitting in a given situation to the degree that we see others engaging in it. By creating engaging content for guest posts, or offering to interview subject matter experts, you can gain social proof via reciprocation. 

Authority
In social media, the most direct measure of authority is the number of people who will download or buy a recommended resource based on nothing more than an authoritys endorsement. Social media has created an understanding that authority should be limited to a legitimate field of knowledge. 

Scarcity
Other than reciprocity, scarcity is one of the most used tools in social media. When bloggers open a class, membership, or subscription service, it is rarely for an unlimited number of customers. Instead, the try to create or leverage an already existing scarcity by limiting the number of seats or time to buy in order to increase demand for the product. 

These four powerful persuasion techniques can be used across all your social media platforms to create influence and attract more customers to your business. Positively using these techniques will help your customers get to know you better and like you, allowing you to gain their trust.
