Emotional branding is a concept that is gaining popularity among major and small companies alike. You probably may have heard about it too, but what does it involve, and how can you use it to improve your brand performance?
If you want to appeal to emotions, you’ll find yourself in a more beneficial position in terms of customer acquisition and revenue.
The best way to appeal to these emotions is by providing the information your customers need to make an informed decision about their purchase. In other words, help them see why your product or service is the best one for them.
We’ll cover how you can use emotional branding to add value to your customers. If you stick with us till the end, you’ll find a lot of tips to help you convert more visitors into subscribers, subscribers into customers, and customers into advocates for your brand.
Let’s begin!
What is emotional branding?
Emotional branding is the process of connecting with your target audience on an emotional level.
It involves understanding what your target audience wants and needs, and helping them achieve it by creating an emotional connection between you, as a brand, and them.
For example, if you are an insurance company, then emotional branding would involve making your target audience feel secure and protected.
This can be done by focusing on the benefits of insurance in general, such as protecting against financial loss during a natural disaster or other unforeseen events.
If you’re selling a service, your target audience might want to feel they are being helped. You can create this emotional connection by offering them access to a community of people who have already had success with your service.
Doing so would create an environment of trust between you and your potential customers.
There are several emotions that can be attached to brands. So the question is…
Which emotions drive sales?
Emotion is a powerful motivator for people. It’s one of the few things that can get someone to do something, even if it’s something they don’t want to do.
In fact, emotions play such an important role in human behavior that they have been found to influence our thoughts and actions more than any other factor.
So which emotions are most likely to affect your business?
Well, it depends on what type of business you have and what kind of people make up your target audience.
The following list contains some commonly used emotional triggers:
Fear
This is probably the most common way marketers try to sell products or services. A company will use fear as an emotional trigger by making claims like “our product or service will protect you from this negative outcome!” or “with our product/service you won’t need another one!”
Anger
The goal with anger is to make the potential customer feel like they’re being wronged, and that your product or service will right this wrong. For example, a company might claim that their product or service will help the customer fight back against something that is making them angry.
Happiness
This is a common emotional trigger for advertising because it’s such an important feeling to have in our lives!
It’s also one of the easiest ways to sell someone on something, especially if you’re selling a product that makes people happy like entertainment or travel.
How to implement emotional branding to bring value
The best way to implement emotional branding is by creating a relationship with your target audience. You can do this by understanding what your customers want, and then providing it to them in a way that makes their lives easier.
Once trust has been established, it’s easier for people to continue buying from you because they know that they will get real value from your products or services.
Here’s how you do it;
Identify a need in your target audience
We’re confident you already know who your target audience is. After you have identified your target audience, it is time to identify their needs. What is the problem you are solving for your target audience? What is the pain point you are addressing? What is the opportunity you are providing? What value are you offering them?
Once you know their needs and how to solve them, it’s time to communicate that to your customers. It’s time to speak to their emotions and make them aware of what you can do for them.
Let them know how you can help them
It all boils down to how your customers understand the value you bring to them. This is where brand value comes into play.
When a consumer doesn’t understand the value of something, they’ll buy based on price.
So if you don’t tell them why your offering is valuable in terms of its emotional benefits a.k.a. how it’ll help them achieve their goals, it’ll be easy to lose them to your competition.
To avoid this fate, start with an understanding of what makes your target audience tick. Think about what their needs are, what they want most, how these things might intersect with their values, where their aspirations lie, and how these goals align with dreams and goals.
Then decide how best to communicate these elements back to them
Know what appeals to your target audience and play on those emotions
You know your customers inside out what they want (their emotions), you know you have the products and services to satisfy their needs. It’s now time to use this information to your advantage.
The next thing to do is to position your marketing and messaging parallel to these emotions.
This means you need to create content that speaks directly to your audience and their needs. You can do this in many different ways; through blog posts, social media posts, emails, infographics, etc.
The key is to make sure that this content is informative and valuable.
You can also create a story around your product or service that show how it can solve their problems or meet one of their needs. This would help you build trust with them and drive sales.
Final thoughts
Emotional branding is not just about getting people to buy your product or sign up for your service, though those are important parts of the process.
Rather, it is about building affinity for your brand and helping consumers develop a strong connection with it, a connection that will last long after they’ve purchased your product or signed up for your service. One that can be leveraged in the future if you choose to do so.
If you want to appeal to your target audience on an emotional level, then you’ll need to do some research.
Find out what makes them tick and what they value most. Once you know this, it will be much easier for you to create an effective marketing campaign that connects with consumers on a deeper level than just showing off your product or service.
Guest Blogger
Robb Fahrion is a Co-Founder and Partner of Flying V Group. He is passionate about helping businesses grow using the power of the internet. Robb graduated from Chapman University in Orange, CA and currently resides in Costa Mesa, CA. Robb enjoys writing about digital marketing, helping his clients turn their dreams into reality, and he is a HUGE Mike Trout fan.
