Rational Thinking Doesn’t Boost Sales: Emotion in Marketing Does.

There is a question that I get asked as the CEO of Sagon-Phior on a regular basis, and it’s one that I have spent a considerable amount of time researching, testing, and learning over the years.

“What exactly is emotional marketing?”

The answer: “Emotional marketing enables marketers to better understand often unseen patterns of consumer emotion and behavior.”

Using instinctive or intuitive feelings in marketing — as opposed to reasoning or knowledge — can drive a far more impactful relationship between a brand and a customer. This is accomplished by addressing the outcomes of a product or service, inspiring feelings based on customer needs and pain points, driving perception through the user experience, and creating meaning through empathy and powerful stories that support the very purpose and reason your business exists.

In other words, humanizing the customer experience.

All of this is significantly more effective than plugging the functionality or features. By using computational linguistics (language) and Big Data, human intuition, behavioral research, data analysis, and evaluating market trends, it is possible to uncover the real desires and needs, and, ultimately, the human response behind what drives decision making and brand affinity.

Emotions give a brand meaning — and there is a science behind doing it right. That’s where the payoff lies.

The Emotional Brain is Faster than the Cognitive Brain

The saying “it pulls at your heartstrings” is only part of the story. Emotions are a result of brain biochemistry and have a foundation in neuroscience. And there is not only one part of your brain that processes emotion, rather there is a network that encompasses the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, the cingulate cortex, the hippocampus, and the basal ganglia (motor control, motor learning, executive functions and behaviors, and emotions). Each region works together to process emotions and send them throughout the body where they are felt in the heart, in the gut, in the stomach, and so on.

And when these areas of the brain work together effectively, they process sensory information in 1/5 of the time it takes for the cognitive brain to perform the same action. Ultimately, emotion trumps logic. Even when we believe we may be making a logical choice, emotion is still consistently winning out.

This is where savvy marketers succeed — they recognize the emotional triggers in their targeted customer’s brain, which enables them to better engage with them through highly intuitive marketing experiences. An experienced marketer does not tell their customer what to think or what the best decision is. Effective marketing does not always require making statements — but asking questions. Instead, successful marketing engages and invites customers to participate in the process of uncovering their self-interests, and what serves to be a desirable advantage for them. An emotional marketing campaign executed properly triggers a desire that leads to a simple thought, “I really want this.”

Emotional Marketing Uses Good and Bad Feelings

Frankly speaking, emotional marketing is not a one-way street — it goes both ways. Let’s use a real-world example — albeit a sensitive topic.

Breast cancer.

While I am clearly not a woman, I do recognize that the thought of this condition alone is terrifying. And one of the most highlighted emotions, based on research surrounding breast cancer is, in fact, uncertainty. Having my own family members face breast cancer provided the first-hand experience and insight that enabled me to start to really understand what they were going through.

Uncertainty about if one is doing a self-exam correctly. Uncertainty about the efficacy of a mammogram.

Uncertainty about exposure to radiation.

Uncertainty about what’s going to happen “if” a lump is found.

Uncertainty about a future that may include breast cancer.

All around uncertainty about the entire situation from start to finish — and it drives behavior both on and offline.

At my agency, we were approached by leadership at QT Breast Imaging. They were seeking to relaunch their brand and wanted to boost awareness about a new choice in detecting breast cancer in women with dense breasts and family history — more comfortably, without radiation, featuring faster results, and with far more accuracy. The company developed a breast imaging solution that offers a spa-like, patient-centric experience using a transmission ultrasound combined with a reflection ultrasound, which provides peace of mind (and comfort) that is not possible using mammograms.

Through our integrated marketing, branded content and digital campaign, which showcased a five-part video series that shared the personal stories of patients, pathologists, and oncologists, we developed a strategy that humanized the brand experience of patients and focused on the positive emotions and solutions connected to breast health. It moved away from the mental and emotional torture so many women face when the subject of breast cancer arises, no matter if it is associated with getting screened, waiting for results, or experiencing doubts about accuracy.

Our campaign successfully moved a consumer from a negative mindset to the positive — and in turn, endeared QT Breast Imaging to its intended audience. Namely, women of all ages concerned about breast health.

Emotions Make You Feel Good About Your Purchase Decision

Let’s transition to the luxury market in this regard.

Studies show that the appeal of luxury is primarily psychological, and that primary psychological factors reveal emotion. Emotional end-benefits impact a consumer’s concept of self and play an important role in motivation. Luxury brands frequently are driven by perceptions about self-identity, ideal self, social comparison, and other “self” motivations.

For example, luxury automotive OEMs invest a considerable amount of marketing dollars on the experiential and hedonic motivations that revolve around self-promotion, and the experience of elevating someone to a higher class on the social scale. They have learned that luxury is a fundamental part of a customer’s life, and capitalize on connecting to emotional dispositions around self-esteem, independence, pleasure, security, and certainty. Creating a status symbol is a tenet of emotional marketing.

B2B and Emotional Marketing

So, at this point you might be thinking that emotional marketing is a B2C marketing strategy — but that’s not true. Business purchases can involve huge risk. When a consumer makes a bad purchase, the stakes are relatively low. Best case, its returnable. Responsibility for a multimillion-dollar software program that goes bad, can lead to poor business performance and even the loss of a job.

Executives won’t buy unless there is a substantial emotional connection to the company, they are considering helping to mitigate that risk. Response is predicated on emotional not cognitive thought. Personal value has twice the effect of business value across a broad range of commercial outcomes. This Includes emotional appeals in areas such as professional benefits (e.g., being a better leader, simplifying my life), social benefits (e.g., fitting in with colleagues, admiration from others), emotional benefits (e.g., confidence, excitement, happiness), and self-image benefits (e.g., doing good for society, sense of accomplishment). B2B buying is highly personal — even more so than B2C purchases — due to the level of personal risk buyers feel. Suppliers should aim for both emotional and rational differentiation to win preference. Understanding and addressing your customer’s emotional needs and behavior will influence their response.

Let’s consider B2B and how emotional marketing is accomplished. The technology industry, for instance.

In this regard, I’m going to share a great example about one of our agency’s clients, Graphisoft. The company offers a SaaS product and is a challenger brand to a market giant in the architectural, engineering, and construction industry.

Their primary goal was to disrupt an industry while enabling architects to push traditional boundaries of creativity. We created a series of riveting episodes that explored in-depth interviews with high-profile architects, engineers, and developers that revealed stories, insights, and experiences that enabled them to overcome challenges, become more innovative, and realize new success. These were not testimonials, but thought-provoking episodes that brought personal stories to life, the result of which accelerated engagement, response and sales, while capturing the imagination of prospective customers.

The campaign, ultimately, appealed to the emotions of a B2B buyer, such as a partner, CIO, CTO and IT Director. It also answered questions like, “will it help our firm and make me look good in the process”, and “will I be able to achieve the goals that I set forth for my company (which will make me look good)”, as well as “will I receive acknowledgement from my peers for making this [great] decision?” The results of this approach continues drive revenues and profits year over year. Even in the B2B space, you can appeal to the heart — you don’t have to focus on the buyer’s head.

The 7 Core Emotions Defining a Buyer’s Feelings

Building off these three examples, let’s take a quick look at the core emotions that define a buyer’s feelings. They are:

• Need & Control: Do I want it, and does it make me feel in control?
• Self-Expression: What are the consequences if I do not use this brand?
• Fear: Does it represent who I am or who I want to be?
• Growth: Will it bring me positive change or improvement?
• Recognition: Will I feel validated and acknowledged by my family or my peers?
• Exclusivity: Will I be accepted?
• Care: Is this something I relate to or feel passionate about?

When you apply the seven core emotions to any marketing and communication program, the outcomes will be consistently rewarding. Focus on uncovering the emotional quotient. Think about your customer’s needs, pain points, and personal desires. It’s possible and quite achievable for your brand to use this approach to build awareness, relationships, and revenues — no matter if you’re in the B2C or B2B space.

I always welcome an opportunity to provide advice, and help organizations obtain their sales goals. Reach out and let’s talk.