Emotions drive decisions. Decisions drive sales. Sales drive profits.
Emotional messaging for thought manipulation is nothing new, it has been used since the dawn of civilization, and it will remain forever. Humans are generally minions to their feelings, and marketing experts exploit it to the core.
It is not a loophole in our psyche because it is just how we function. Emotional marketing is a tool to utilise this human tendency to the best of a business' advantage. It is reasonably easy to plan but a hard to execute methodology that can help sales skyrocket.
Save your time. Learn this in as little as 1 minute.
We’ve got 500+ bite-sized content to help you learn the smarter way.
Download the appLet's get this show on the road.
What exactly is emotional marketing?
Although we told you about the primary use of emotional marketing, it is also essential to understand what it stands for.
Emotional marketing forces people to think in a certain way, inspiring them to feel a particular emotion towards a specific product. Thus, it is a deliberate effort to manipulate feelings for the sake of company goals.
Marketers use it to develop a deep and trustworthy connection with the target audience. It often revolves around a targeted emotion like fear, joy, curiosity, etc. Try to look through an advertisement from a luxury brand. They will be trying to evoke your desires because, in their case, that works!
Moreover, we should not ignore the other side of the coin. People will never be interested in a brand if they don't feel a particular emotion. A product that doesn't stand for a specific sentiment will never have a long shelf life. In other words, a person doesn't buy logic; they buy emotions.
A good marketing strategy subtly enforces an urge for action. It compels people to take any action, and that action means money. It creates absolute brand loyalty. Have you heard the term fanboys? They are the consequence of great emotional marketing.
Learn the best of emotional marketing directly from professionals.
How to engage in emotional marketing?
You can use these ideas to develop your strategies.
Understand your audience.
Every strategy needs a goal. Without a specific target, things can become unimaginably confusing. You should always know your audience in detail before taking a fundamental marketing step. Be sure of their age, location, desires, income, gender, consumption pattern, expense capacity, cultural background, and every other information you can get a hand on.
The marketing prerequisite might look daunting, but it eases the upcoming suffering. You will be soaring through the planning stage once you know your target's pain points.
Inspire your audience
Now, you don't only have to fire an emotion but also guide your audience towards action. You have to inspire your consumers while using a specific feeling in mind. For example, a life insurance advertisement instils fear and pilots them towards a better future. It creates panic among the viewers but also gives way to hope for a risk-free life.
In totality, you need to resolve the problem you strike. An emotionally charged person is useless without a CTA. Tell them their pain, cast an emotion and mould an action.
Use nostalgia
Nothing works better than targeting fond memories of your customers. Big companies like Coca-Cola, Ford, Apple have used nostalgia to sell their product. They create a sense of belonging and re-introduces audiences to a particular idea. However, if you are working for a new firm, you must add this strategy for the long run and act accordingly. Let people know that you care for them and their well-being. Acknowledge their support and love for your brand. You can also give them special discounts, giveaways, and a pat on their back.
Such actions create positive emotions for your company, and it is undoubtedly one of the best emotional exploitations of all time.
Take note of rivals
Like any other marketing activity, you have to take note of your competitors. To be exact, you have to play around with the emotion sold by your opponents. Moreover, understand that the market doesn't allow you to create an opposite feeling, and that's logical too.
Study your competitors and create a slightly different way to sell the same emotion. You can play around with different subtle feelings, but the core of your emotional marketing should never change. For instance - Nike and Adidas sell the same emotion, yet they differ in their treatment.
Don't be pretentious
.
There is no mistake worse than being a wannabe. Do not try to copy any other brand. You have to remain authentic and then tackle the emotion at hand. Build a feeling that goes true to what you are selling and stick to it.
Consumers are not fools, and they will reject anything fishy without any regret. Thus, you have to be careful about your image and the feelings you spread. However, you don't have to change to be acceptable. Be as quirky or bold as your brand is, and the audience will accept your culture. Help from seasoned marketers will guide in the best possible direction.
Listen to your audience.
Marketing is an ever-evolving process. If you do not listen to your audience, they might disregard you in a hurry. Be sure of what your audience demands in life, the impact of world events on their psyche, their reaction to particular incidents. You have to flow with the wave while keeping your product's core emotion intact.
Use your audience's psyche to your advantage. Tell them what they want to hear with a pinch of your agenda. It might sound easy, but a marketer must know human psychology to experiment with this idea.
Conclusion
Emotional marketing can be a great tool to maximise sales if adequately used. Consumers love to be involved in inspirational messages, and seemingly things won't change for a long time. Do not be afraid to experiment with your emotional message. Sometimes a little change can become your product's hallmark.
Make sure that you do not copy-paste some other brand's emotional marketing campaign. Please do a deep study of global events that shaped the concept of dynamic marketing. By no means hold yourself back, and you could be the next marketing maestro.
Explore our newly added digital marketing domain, upskill yourself in 15 minutes and connect with experts to learn some amazing tips on our micro learning app- KoolStories