How many times have you prepared yourself to fall asleep to only find yourself scrolling through your Facebook timeline? If you are one of the millions of Facebook users out there, you probably take part in this “ritual.” Correction, “tribal ritual.” Marketers who understand this parallel can either rely on surveys to increase their sales, or dig a bit deeper to understand why having product placement on Facebook during nighttime is effective.
There’s no denying that the rise of social media is morphing our core behaviours in the early 21st century; however, underneath all the technology jargon we humans are still a social species. Bear with me as I make a small comparison between the habit of millions of Facebook users and that of nomadic tribes.
There was a time when members of a tribe would all gather around a giant bonfire and share stories before retreating to their makeshift tents or caves. These stories ranged from myths to achievements, acting as social adhesives for the tribe. Now, replace the bonfire glow on the faces of those primitive tribesmen/women with fully lit iPad screens. What you really get are our modern day tribesmen/women at a digital bonfire. We still long to belong, hear others’ opinions in our circle, reflect on our own lives and inadvertently compare our possessions. Whether it is the ivory necklace around our tribal leader’s wife, or the Louis Vuitton bag strapped around our trailblazing girlfriend visiting Paris.
Why are Facebook users more vulnerable to brand infiltration at night? Well, any psychologist can tell you, towards nighttime users are fatigued, in a state of relaxation or restless. The digital bonfire is something they are looking forward to before they go to sleep. While slipping in and out of consciousness, these users begin to internalize the latest fashions, fancy cars and brand love marks in general. And since plenty of Facebook users tend to filter their timelines with their happiest selves, we find little reason to appreciate our own lives. We may think, “Oh my, these people seem so happy, and these brands, these love marks must be part of the package deal… ” Voila! This is one of the ways desire can be seeded on Facebook. Common sense right? Yet it’s amazing how many professionals overlook our human nature. Neuromarketing experts can back me up on this: we humans are very susceptible to internalizing simple associations without conscious consent.
Tonight, hidden influencers in your social circle may populate your timeline with brand driven content, disguised as part of a c’est la vie lifestyle. Will you be influenced? Do you believe this is unethical? Or are you tempted to test this out for your client? Truth is: you may have already done this, though not necessarily for your client. There are simply too many brands in this world for us to have brand-free broadcasts of ourselves on Facebook. So the real question is not “why you should advertise on Facebook at night,” but how far you should go to be on everyone’s mind before the digital bonfire is out.
