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There is a cost to letting your emotions show, especially in business. Don't get too excited, keep your cool, and never let them see you cry.
Opinion alert: I think that this is a BS way of thinking.
There's nothing wrong with showing emotion, especially when marketing your business. When you market emotions over facts, you'll find that you can connect with your audiences more deeply.
Here are three reasons your marketing strategy should lead with emotions followed by facts.
1. Emotional Connections Build Trust
Attaching an emotional element to our brand marketing allows consumers to connect with products and services on a personal level. Humanizing products and services can shift your brand positioning from a simple transaction to an emotional investment.
When we give our customers a reason to believe in what we're selling, we open the door to a relationship of trust and reliability. By showing that our offerings can fulfill their tactical and emotional needs, we're acknowledging that we view our customers as the complex individuals they are.
So, how do you create emotional marketing that builds trust? Nike is a great example.
In 2019, Nike released a campaign called Dream Crazier. Narrated by tennis legend Serena Williams, the 90-second spot showcases how women in sports are breaking barriers. The commercial elicits strong emotions of empowerment, inspiration, pride, and courage. By acknowledging the disparities seen in women's sports compared to men's, Nike is positioning itself as a brand that supports and celebrates women athletes.
When your marketing tactics and outputs deliver emotional appeals around a challenge or frustration that members of your target audience may face, your customers can trust that your brand represents their motivations and mission.
2. Emotions Drive Decision-Making
It's not uncommon for us humans to allow our emotions to overrule our logical decision-making abilities. When we market our brand as a solution to an emotional appeal, we're showcasing the problems our offering can solve and the positive attributes that can be gained from using our products and services.
Ninety percent of human decisions are made based on emotions. Humans use logic to justify their actions to themselves and others.
Apple is a brand that strategically integrates this psychological finding into its marketing strategy.
Instead of highlighting the iPod's features like the number of GBs, LED backlight, and battery life, Apple focused on the number of songs that someone would be able to listen to while "on the go" and how this emotional benefit could positively impact their lifestyle.
3. Emotional Appeals Make Your Brand Memorable
Authentic storytelling is a proven way to develop a loyal customer base. When audiences associate a brand with a human experience, the brand becomes more than a product or service. Integrating emotion into authentic storytelling is one tactic for creating a memorable brand.
In Coca-Cola's 2023 holiday spot, Kindness was the main theme. While the Coca-Cola product was featured in the ad, it was not the main focus. By creating a story about sharing kindness during the holiday season, Coca-Cola developed a memorable ad that connected its product to a warm emotion often felt and desired during the holidays.
Brands that allow emotions to lead their marketing messaging are strategically aligning emotional feelings and desires with their products and services. If Coca-Cola equals kindness, which people want to feel and receive, Coca-Cola is remembered as a brand that represents something good.
While the examples above are product-based brands, service-based companies can integrate emotion into their marketing strategies in the same way.
Understanding your customer's challenges and how your product or service can solve their problem is the first step in uncovering the emotions you can use to attract them to your brand.
When you consider the power of emotions in marketing, how they drive decision-making, and how they can create memorable brands, your marketing strategy will be set up to connect with your audience on a human and emotional level.
Are you ready to integrate the power of emotions into your marketing strategy?
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