Emotional marketing: why it’s so effective and how to use it (+ examples)

Here are some facts about emotional marketing.

According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), the emotional connection between a customer and a company is 52% more valuable than customer satisfaction. In other words, customers connected to your brand emotionally can generate 52% more revenue in the long run. 

Furthermore, according to Moz, one of the SEO giants, anger-inducing content has a 38% chance of going viral. In turn, content based on awe has a 34% chance of doing so.

It's no secret. Emotions are the most powerful weapons in marketing in all its forms. And emotional marketing is one of the approaches with the best chances of success.

However, many marketers still underestimate the capabilities of emotional marketing. That's why today we're going to tell you what it is, why it works so well, how to apply it and what best practices you can take advantage of. 

What is emotional marketing?

As its name suggests, this model is based on using emotions to connect, engage, educate, convince and retain your target audience. Always using emotions, feelings and sensations to structure your campaigns and strategies based on them.

And of course, always seek to create a positive response in the buyer persona and project a good brand image.

This approach seeks to go beyond the common data, problems and needs of the target audience. It also seeks to discover:

• What the target audience's pain points are and how to exploit them.

• What emotions your target experiences with your products or services.

• What emotions they seek to experience.

• The most effective emotions for your marketing, according to your buyer persona and what you can offer.

• What emotions NOT to transmit.

All these aspects are key to develop winning strategies, regardless of whether we are talking about traditional or digital marketing.

Now, this concept is nothing new in the marketing world. In fact, the psychology of it is inherent to persuasion, as well as to sales techniques. Therefore, feelings have always been part of sales and advertising strategies.

Note: although emotional marketing is quite powerful, it needs to be well supported, with solid and thorough research. Here we recommend that you never, ever assume the emotions and reactions of your target audience without knowing them well.

4 reasons why marketing works so well

Okay, by this point, we've talked enough about what emotional marketing is by definition. How about we take a look at its benefits and the reasons behind its results?

1. Triggers immediate purchases

A large part of sales is based on impulse purchases. Those that can trigger your target audience's emotions, such as sympathy, awe and even fear.

This type of marketing can help you boost your overall sales.  However, emotional marketing is the one to improve your immediate sales. 

With it, you can detect your audience's pain points much more effectively and use them to your advantage. In this way, your products and services will resonate more strongly in the minds of your ideal customers. 

And as a result, they will prefer what you offer without a second thought. 

2. Establish more lasting emotional connections

With emotional marketing, your brand won't be just another run-of-the-mill brand.

By better connecting with your customers' emotions, not only will they be satisfied with your products, but they will become loyal customers who will prefer your brand over others.

In other words, your brand will become memorable to your customers. 

Note: emotional marketing, like all types of marketing, needs quality products and services, in line with your marketing. You can have the best marketing in the world, but if the quality declines or is inferior to what you offer, customers will feel disappointed and...

3. Incentivize your audience to promote your brand

There is no better marketing than recommendations from your customers.

A satisfied and loyal audience can also become an active community. A community that will share your content with potential customers. And who will also recommend what you offer to others.

On the other hand, you will get a large number of testimonials that you can leverage in your different media and at all stages of the funnel.

In addition, your brand's reputationyour brand's reputation will also improve in the eyes of potential customers. Your brand will have a better chance of positioning itself as a unique reference in the market.

4. Improve your chances of going viral

An active community, full of loyal followers, satisfied with your products and services is one of the best competitive advantages you can get. But it’s also a great ally to expand the reach of your content.

With well-developed and implemented content strategies plus a loyal and active community, your content can go viral in just a matter of time. 

And if it goes viral, the visibility of your brand and your number of leads will catapult. 

Tip: in most cases, going viral is a consequence of solid and well-worked marketing strategies. Therefore, we recommend you to focus on improving your emotional marketing instead of trying to make your content go viral at all costs.

4 examples of how to apply emotional marketing

1. Storytelling

You can use emotional marketing to tell your story and your brand's story and tune into the feelings and emotions of your audience.

You can leverage stories to reflect and project emotions into more compelling and memorable messages. And of course, you can complement this approach with attraction marketing tactics.

You can also use it to create high-impact copy for all those leads that are about to purchase your products or services. 

Moreover, storytelling is applicable in all kinds of formats and platforms.sto For example, you can use it in email campaigns, but you can also use it to create case studies and even buying guides.

2. Strategies based on FOMO

The fear of being left out is an excellent emotional trigger, especially if we are talking about impulse purchases. And as we mentioned, emotional marketing is exceptional for these types of purchases.

You can opt for:

• Limited-time offers: it's no secret that discounts and flash sales are customer favorites. The fear of missing out on an offer is one of the biggest motivators for immediate purchases. And of course, if you make these kinds of offers every so often, you're also going to gain followers. 

• Limited stock offers: limited stock products can sell out much faster than other products because they also represent a great opportunity. 

• Limited or premium editions: because exclusivity is quite an effective sales weapon. The fear of running out of premium products or limited edition products has always been - and will always be - a great motivator for customers. 

And this is just to mention a few.

3 Testimonials, reviews and recommendations

Many consumers ONLY rely on testimonials, reviews and recommendations. Therefore, having a good reputation and a good number of reviews and recommendations is indispensable for your emotional marketing.

Besides...

Nothing enhances the credibility and reputation of your brand better than positive testimonials and recommendations.

Moreover, they are infallible when it comes to telling your story and grabbing your target audience with impactful stories. Not to mention that they are a gigantic plus for copywriting and direct selling.

4. Brand building

As you'll see, marketing is essential at all stages of brand building, from the discovery phase to building customer loyalty.

But it’s also essential from the beginning, when defining the values you want to convey. Also when establishing your brand's personality, the emotions you want to reflect and the emotions you want to generate in your audience.

If you want to build a positive, solid and memorable reputation, it’s best to take advantage of emotional marketing from the start.

4 strategies and best practices for your emotional marketing

We can't leave without revealing some of the best ways to apply emotional marketing in your marketing methods. 

That's why we've compiled 4 simple strategies and best practices that will help you take your marketing to the next level.

1. Research, analyze and keep researching

And this part is paramount if you want to build solid strategies and plans to connect with your audience.

At this point, it's not just about "putting yourself in your ideal customer's shoes". It's also about going much further than your competitors and discovering what emotions you need to convey and generate.

To do this, you can conduct market research, surveys and competitor analysis. And of course, you can take advantage of all possible metrics and statistics to make more accurate analyses.

Keep in mind that you must always, always research your audience and study them constantly. This way, not only will you know who you are targeting, but you will be able to identify market trends and behavioral changes in your target audience, among other key aspects.

2. Use stories and testimonials in your different strategies.

Both will help you generate better emotions for your brand, regardless of the channels you use.

You can use testimonials when telling your story, but you can also feature them in the welcome section of your website.

You can use them when creating informative content to take users to the next levels of the funnel. But you can also leverage them when creating copy to sell more directly. 

And you can also use both stories and testimonials to promote your products and services.

3. Leverage customer insights

Customers are the cornerstone of marketing, and they also provide the best insights for your strategies.

All the information you need is there. It's all a matter of knowing how to get it. And to do that, you can collect positive and negative comments from your customers. You can also ask for suggestions and feedback, and even create forms for them to tell you what they think of your brand.

And if you use your customers' words for your content, you will speak to your audience in their own language, and respond to their needs more accurately. 

4. Complement your sales with FOMO strategies

A holistic sales strategy also has to have offers based on Fear Of Missing Out.

If you incorporate these strategies into your emotional marketing, you will have excellent opportunities to boost your conversion rates. What's more, many potential customers will start following your brand so as not to miss out on your offers.

Differences between emotional marketing and neuromarketing

Emotional marketing shares many similarities with neuromarketing. In fact, many marketers often confuse the two concepts. And that's why we've created a comparison chart with their differences.

Check it out below.

Give a plus to your marketing with emotions

The power of emotions is key to connect with your customers

If you can take advantage of emotional marketing and the feelings it can provoke, you will gain an amazing competitive advantage to establish yourself in the market.

Your brand will better empathize with your target audience, which will not only boost your sales, it will also give you more loyal customers, willing to share, recommend and promote your brand in the short and long term.

And now it's your turn.

Do you think emotions carry so much weight in marketing? Do you know of any other emotion-based marketing techniques? Don't leave us in the dark and tell us all about it in the comments.