Emotional Marketing: How to Connect, Convert & Build Loyalty

Consider the ads, campaigns or social media posts that stay with you. They probably moved you in some way. Emotional marketing is that which plays on the human experience and draws its audience in by referencing its emotions, such as happiness, surprise, sadness and nostalgia.

But why is it so effective? The answer is in our heads. Research also finds emotions to be a significant driver of consumer buying behavior. The thing is, people frequently buy for emotional reasons, and then retroactively justify with reason. This is how emotional marketing comes into play.

By tapping into emotions, brands can strengthen connections with customers, increase loyalty and drive action. Whether you’re attempting to develop a viral campaign or build brand loyalty, emotional marketing is the key to unlocking bigger success.

Bear This in Mind: Because It’s All About Emotional Marketing

This is why emotional marketing is so important for businesses big and small:

Increases Brand Recall: Audiences remember how they felt about a brand much more than what it sounded like.
Promote Sharing: Emotional content is easy to share and make go viral.
Creates Long-Term Loyalty: Good feelings toward you can be transformed into long-term fans.
Drives Purchases: When people feel strong emotions, they can be pushed closer to a purchase.

Know Your Audience’s Emotions

To be successful at emotional marketing, you need to know who you’re really trying to connect with. Different groups react to different triggers, whose nature depends on factors like age, culture and personal history. If you don’t understand what motivates your audience, your campaigns won’t strike the right emotional chord.

Here’s what Cook-Patton suggests so that you can get a clear picture of their emotional landscape:

Do Surveys: Ask your list what motivates, inspires or scares them.
Test Social Media: See how your followers respond to the type of content on your industry or from competitors.
Review Analytics: Keep tabs on the campaigns that engaged your audience and trends success.

The more you can marry your marketing to the emotional drivers of your audience, the more effective your campaigns.

Emotional Appeals in Marketing

Brands typically latch onto a couple of key emotions in their marketing campaigns to get customers hooked into their story. Here are some of the most powerful emotional appeals and a little bit about how they work:

Joy

When you make something that brings people joy, you stand a better chance of making a lasting impact. Brands frequently rely on humor, bright images and encouraging messages to elicit a warm glow. Coca-Cola’s “Taste the Feeling” campaign, for instance, focuses on warm, happy moments of connection, and has been supported by a series of shorter-term activations featuring teen music sensation Avicii.

Sadness

Sad campaigns, counterintuitive as it may sound, can motivate focus and action on serious issues. This is a tactic frequently used by charities and non-profits. Consider the ASPCA’s heart-wrenching “Adopt a Pet” ads, with its voice-over by distressed animals in need of rescue.

Nostalgia

Unleashing the nostalgic thread can latch your audience onto their past memories. Other brands like Disney also know how to connect with the memories of childhood, resulting in campaigns with a lot of emotional attachment.

Fear or Urgency

Fear appeals frequently are based on time scarcity or fear of missing out (FOMO). Message on the lines of: “5 seats only!” or “Offer ends today!” generate a certain level of panic that creates action.

Inspiration

Inspiring campaigns can promote customers to do, dare or advocate for change. Nike’s inspirational commercials, such as “Just Do It”, are perfect illustrations of drawing from this strong emotional appeal.

How to Use Emotional Marketing to Your Advantage

Here’s how you can integrate emotional marketing into your campaigns, the right way:

Know Your Brand Values
Pick the feelings that resonate with your brand the most. For example, a luxury brand could be about exclusivity and elegance, whereas a nonprofit organization might be about compassion and hope.
Develop a Strong Narrative
People love a good story. Carve out campaigns which emerge from emotional storytelling. Whether it’s a story of redemption or a heartwarming story about the impact your community has made, stories can help take your brand from forgettable to unforgettable.
Use Imagery and Music
The power of images and the power of music to increase emotion can be great. A tear-inducing song edited with great imagery can convey what words alone can not.
Create Relatable Content
Your audience needs to be able to relate to your campaigns. Focus on common experiences or concerns that affect your customers.
Evoke Action through Emotional Appeals
Have a call to action (CTA) which portrays some emotional signals. For example, instead of writing “Sign up now,” you might write, “Join our mission and make a difference today!”

Some Successful Emotional Marketing Campaigns

Dove Real Beauty Campaign

This campaign created new ideals of beauty by celebrating true and diverse women. They stirred feelings of confidence and pride by appealing to self-worth and empowerment.

Always Like A Girl

Always intended to challenge gender stereotypes with this campaign, inspiring and transforming what it means to “run like a girl.” The emotional and empowering note was definitely a memorable scene.

Airbnb Belong Anywhere

Airbnb’s theme was inclusivity, the collaboration that transcends borders and the notion of belonging. It did so by catering to customers seeking home-like experiences on the road.

Quantifying the Success of Emotional Marketing Campaigns

So now that you’ve put your emotional marketing strategy into action, it’s time to measure the impact. Here’s how:

Engagement Metrics
Monitor likes, shares, comments and reactions in social media. Greater success is typically a sign that an audience experienced an emotional connection.
Sentiment Analysis
You can use Brandwatch, or Hootsuite Insights, to measure public sentiment and find out what people think of your messaging.
Sales and Conversions
Track revenue, clickthrough rates and conversions to see if your emotional campaign is delivering the actions you desire.
Customer Feedback
Take the pulse with polls or testimonials to find out if your campaign connected on an emotional level.

Emotional Marketing to Shape the Future

Effective marketing has always been emotional marketing, and as the march of technology and consumer behavior advances, we can only expect it to become a more refined art. AI and data analytics will enable brands to deliver more personalized, resonant campaigns.

I mean using the relationship-based approach to positing on #LinkedIn, not the protagonist approach. Focusing on real connections and dialing into how your audience feels ensures that your marketing does the job AND that you build solid long term customer relations.

Looking to develop emotionally-enthralling marketing campaigns that capture and convert customers? Begin applying these tips into your strategy today.

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