Emotional marketing, a few words about what affects us
May 10 – Mother’s Day in Germany in a few days. Immediately on Facebook, photos of mothers, flower bouquets and promotions will fall apart. What works best to engage audiences on social networking sites on this special day?
According to the National Retail Federation study, Mother’s Day is celebrated by nearly 85% and is the third largest – in terms of spending on gifts – holiday.
Joy, sense of security, surprise or anxiety are just some of the emotions that marketing messages are most often saturated with. How can we use them?
According to the popular and read professor of neuroscience António Damásio, emotions accompany almost every decision we make. Emotional messages are almost twice as effective than referring only to information and rationality.
When the advertisement permanently appeared in four walls of the Internet, our approach to it has changed a bit – we spend very little time on the site, we do not follow banners, and most of us have installed plugins and add-ons blocking ads. Emotions in advertising have always been important, but never as needed as today.
An example of a movie that we made on the day of the mother using emotions.
Vertical format used for Instastory.
Regardless of whether the customer is standing in front of the supermarket shelf or watching the product in the e-store, emotions affect his choice. Very often people buy with emotions, and they justify their decision with their minds.
Emotional marketing is based on the mechanisms of creating an emotional relationship between the brand / product and the client. He sells not products and services but a specific lifestyle and experience. The key role is not needed but desire. The task of marketing is increasingly selling not the products themselves but emotions.
Emotional marketing what affects us
Emotions and persona
The use of emotions in marketing begins at the level of determining the groups of recipients. This is when we try to imagine a potential customer, start to feel and think like him and thus know what emotions have the greatest impact on him. By creating a potential consumer, we can choose the right way of communication – after all, there is no universal content that would reach every recipient.
The exact image of the consumer, i.e. Brand persona is a pattern that allows you to adopt the customer’s point of view. Thanks to it, it is easier to choose whether in the communication strategy it is worth focusing on satisfaction (trying to evoke feelings of joy and relaxation), fear – (arousing consternation and fear) or surprise (curiosity and surprise).
1. Affect overrides cognition
Emotions weaken the cognitive element and thus make it easier to make a decision about buying a given product. Not always rational. Affect sends knowledge, which results in buying products that we might not buy rationally. To evoke the right emotions for a customer visiting an e-store, it is worth using a paving mechanism, i.e. stimulating stimuli associated with, for example, sales (large red banners with the slogan promotion), holidays, great deals (Black Friday) or positive feelings (smiling people).
When a customer sees holiday ads, stars, Christmas trees in stores, or colorful lights on the streets, they are reminded of all previous Christmas holidays, and these are usually associated positively.
Emotional marketing what affects us
2. Imitating others
The principle of social validity known from psychology is that a person, not knowing what decision, view or behavior in a given situation is right, begins to imitate others. That is why it is worth recommending to customers products that other users have bought or viewed (“Other customers also bought …”, “You may also like …”, “This product also fits …”). For customers, such a mechanism evokes cognitive curiosity and raises emotions related to the choice of subsequent products.
Consumers today have, in principle, unlimited product choices. In order not to get lost, they are increasingly using different hints and comparison websites, following the voice of others. The comparison process is built into our cognitive system.
3. A desirable, unique mix of emotions
What else does the brand gain by referring to feelings in marketing communication? Uniqueness and uniqueness. While the functional features of the product can be copied, so the emotional message is impossible to duplicate. Manufacturers of clothing, footwear and sports equipment may be afraid of counterfeits, but they will not be their biggest problem, but strong competition that offers customers the unique values behind the brand. However, if we create a unique message, it will be the basis of the brand’s competitiveness.
Emotional marketing what affects us
4. Stories based on feelings
Emotions are also a great base to create a credible brand history. Storytelling is about arousing interest, building tension, showing uncertainty and generally drawing the recipient into the exciting story of our hero. It is not possible without emotions.
If the brand decides to build a strategy based on storytelling, it will automatically be forced to discover this emotional layer so that the message can be authentic. Discoveries or its creation – if the brand has not previously been based on stories or has become outdated, then the process begins again.
5. Brand as an inspiration
Adidas campaigns were also emotional, even the one initiated in 2011 with the slogan “all in”. The whole idea and all executions were based on the brand’s fundamental value, i.e. passion. Passion for sport, love for people and love of life.
The very statement by the brand explaining the concept of “all in” indicated above all feelings above reason. adidas therefore inspires its clients to live a full commitment. Full-hearted devotion to what we love and dedication to what is close to our feelings.
Emotional marketing what affects us
6. Negative emotions
It is widely believed that positive emotions are the ones that marketing communication should evoke. And rightly so, because positive emotions evoked by advertising will be associated with the product.
Interestingly, however, according to research, people remember more strongly situations caused by negative emotions. It was supposed to keep our prehistoric ancestor away from dangerous situations, and thus keep him alive.
Negative emotions in advertising are also important, provided they are not too strong. Negative emotions mean that we process information more deeply, and thus we better remember a given message or advertisement. Unless, of course, the emotions that this advertisement raises are associated with the product.
Summary
Many of the best marketing campaigns focus on our emotions. Let’s look at the Nike advertising – Just Do It, which discovers in each of us an athlete and a desire to sport.
And what is best associated with sport?
Of course, that Nike and their products, i.e. clothing, footwear etc.
Another example is an advertisement by MasterCard and its slogan: “There are things that you can’t buy …”.
This advertisement has been with us for almost 20 years and its form has not been changed even once.
Why?
– It plays great on our emotions and makes us smile automatically at the end.
– It’s memorable, so we often quote it on various occasions.
What is all this for?
Every good advertising campaign, even on the Internet, aims to reach your heart and experience, and then build a strong bond with the brand.
That is why emotions in Internet marketing do not refer to the advantages of the product, discounts or new technology. They do not show how many employees, offices or years in the industry.
Many studies indicate that emotions in internet marketing are more effective in “pushing” the customer to make decisions than other forms of marketing, and this should not come as a surprise to us.
As consumers, we must first decide to buy based on our emotions, only later we start using the part of our brain that is responsible for rationality.