When's the last time you bought something simply because the vendor logically communicated the value proposition?

Whether you thought, "That's exactly what I've been looking for?" {excitement}, "I can't wait to try this out." {anticipation}, or "I'm going to blow the competition out of the water with this new SaaS tool" {pure joy}, you felt an emotion.

And chances are, if you felt it, that's exactly what the advertiser intended. It doesn't matter who your audience is. Whether they're academic, CFO or the creative type, you can connect with them through emotions, and we'll show you exactly how.

What Is Emotional Marketing?

Emotional Marketing is the deliberate use of language, offers, imagery, and other strategies at your disposal to evoke a specific feeling in your target audience (Buyer's Persona). This emotional response then hopefully results in your target customer taking action.

What Are the Benefits of Emotional Marketing?

Most of us typically assign meaning to that “action” as a click to purchase or some sort of marketing engagement.  However, we'd be short-sighted if we take this narrow view. Emotion can propel your audience along the Buyer's Journey and breed loyalty.  Emotion creates super fans who recruit, love and adore your brand.  Emotion is underrated and ultimately, increases revenue. There, we said it.

By purposefully utilizing emotion in your writing, you maximize your content's engagement and shareability. Smart marketers understand how emotions play a significant role in your target customers' decision making process.

In 2021, we saw a massive shift from transactional to emotional marketing that was adopted by thoughtful brands that put customers first.  This “trend” has morphed into best practices for brands that want to attract modern audiences with authentic messaging.

How marketers approach this challenge varies depending on your who, why and how. One thing is clear. Emotion is powerful. To that end, let's discuss how to leverage emotions to achieve results that matter.

1. Leveraging emotion

Consider the emotional value of your words and how that influences decision-making. Both positive and negative emotions certainly can trigger results:

• Fear - If you miss this opportunity, you might not get another chance.
• Sadness - These people need your support.
• Joy - Imagine how you’d feel driving a new car.
• Envy /Jealousy - Why should your competitors have all the fun? You deserve it.
• Anger - Look at this injustice. Help us set things right.

Word of caution: Avoid evoking emotions you didn't intend and be authentic. A "weak" advertising attempt can evoke a negative emotional response toward your brand in less than one second.

2. Speak with, not “at”

What's the most effective strategy you can deploy in your marketing to connect with your audience? AI-informed messaging can help most marketers, but it’s important to remember “you are who you are”.  The most powerful tool you have is ultimately your brand's authentic voice. Regardless of where you reach your audience, communication consistency is what connects your brand to your target audience. Speaking from the heart, with your Buyer Persona helps deliver content that resonates and should drive results that matter.

Imagine you're sitting in the coffee shop with your customer, cooling off your Darjeeling as you actively listen to their problems before sharing how you might be able to help. Why not copy this same behaviour with your digital marketing efforts?  Listen to your customers (feedback, social listening, CRM analytics, competitive analysis). Better yet, when you create content, imagine you're talking with your customer right across the table.

3. Sharing insights

If your friend wanted to know what your other friend thinks about them, they might ask them directly instead of going through you. If your marketing content simply regurgitates what others are saying, why should customers turn to you for information, advice, or inspiration? 

Be original.  Find a unique and valuable perspective and encourage thought provoking conversation.  Brands win by attracting customers with authentic communication and developing deep, meaningful relationships that matter.

By insights we don’t mean spam.  We are bombarded with spam advertising and bad communication all day every day.  As a matter of fact, during the last 10 seconds of you reading this, somebody most probably spammed you something. Authenticity and real communication is what people want.  

Tips on Creating Insightful Content

• Share industry updates, studies, statistics, and success stories with your audience 
• Provide unique, thoughtful and relevant insights on any content published and/or shared
• Create content that is both shareable and snackable, ie short and long form media
• Back up your claims with hard evidence and be transparent with your sources
• Be objective and professional while giving content a personality
• Collaborate with other thought leaders to gain recognition and access to new audiences 
• Speak to each audience type with thoughtful communication.  Do your research about  the topics and categories your customer is interested in.  Authenticity rules the day.

4. Measuring emotional impact

If something isn't measurable, does it exist? The next step to successful emotional marketing is to employ reliable performance analysis to better determine the impact of your creative.  By testing and measuring different types of emotional language and imagery, marketers can assign business intelligence to each campaign.  

We suggest benchmarking your current environment to ensure a performance baseline is established ensures each relevant stakeholder is aligned. Our team has broken down authenticity by the following attributes.

1. Resonance (time spent, repeat visit, shares)
2. Behavior (are we getting the response we seek? Can we map the response to revenue for the CFO)
3. Emotions (not sentiment, but genuine emotion; are we making the customer feel good. This is critical as every great brand is as why, not a what, and contains an emotional component.)

5. Why AI with an EQ matters

How can your audience fall in love with you if they feel like you’re constantly misleading them?   If a personal friend was constantly overselling, lying or being deceptive, you probably wouldn't accept it.  We agree that brands want to connect with their target customer but sometimes miss the mark.

Through AI, we teach brands how to be more human and really understand the voices who make up their customer base, who they are and what they need.  With our technology, social media posts, blogs, videos, and paid media can be authentic to diverse audiences globally. 

We scientifically measure "authenticity" as it relates to the brand and campaign objective. By scanning, analyzing and categorizing structured and unstructured data points, we better understand what type of communication resonates. 

We have built the world's first AI marketing platform with an EQ. Quite simply, we help brands connect to today’s audience with authenticity.

Leverage RAD AI to connect with your audience

Interested in joining the authenticity revolution? Leveraging emotion takes a combination of creativity, purposeful content intelligence and determination. We’d love to speak with you.  Learn more about how RAD AI can help transform your marketing content.

See RAD AI in action - Book a Demo!