Emotions in Marketing
Do you have an emotional connection to the brands you trust the most?
It might seem like a no-brainer question, but when it comes to marketing, there's a lot of fear in using "too much emotion".
As I sit and write this, it is the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City. A day that is fraught with emotions. And today, you've likely seen posts about it, and you've likely seen posts about a variety of other, totally non-related things.
And while neither of those is "right", there's something very important to consider when it comes to what YOU choose to post in situations like this.
Tapping into Emotions
First of all, as humans, we're not all super aware of any emotions we're having at a given time. We confuse certain emotions for other ones, and without a personal investment in learning our emotional alphabet, it can be hard to understand how we truly feel about significant events.
Extrapolate that ten-fold when it comes to marketing, because now, anything you put out there can be interpreted AGAIN by whoever is consuming your message.
This👆 is why most companies default to generic "jump-on-the-bandwagon" messages like "Lest We Forget" or "Happy Holidays". But that doesn't say anything meaningful about your brand. Nor does it contribute anything to making your people notice and remember you.
So, there IS an opportunity to tap into the emotional side of the conversation, IF (and that's a BIG IF), you're ready to have an actual conversation about what you believe.
Sharing Emotions
One of the critical pieces of sharing an emotion is the expectation that not everyone is experiencing the same emotion. What I feel (and felt) about the events of September 11, 2001 are uniquely my own, and nor are they more or less relevant than anyone else's experience from that day. Some people experienced significantly more pain. Some people weren't impacted by the event at all. And again, neither of those experiences are MORE right than mine.
I can't over-emphasize this point enough - YOUR experience isn't RIGHT. YOUR experience isn't what other people SHOULD be believing. And so long as you present it that way, it creates the opportunity for people to align with you.
Being Authentic
This is where the "bandwagon jumpers" really get me. They THINK they SHOULD post about a global event because otherwise they'll look bad.
But THAT👆 isn't an authentic share of emotions.
Authentically sharing your emotions in your marketing is inherently risky. Doing what everyone else is doing is playing it safe.
But in that risk is an opening...an opening to creating a meaningful connection between you / your brand and other human. Someone who connects with your experience. Something that brings them closer to you.
A study done by the New York Times in 2007, revealed that feelings of sadness make us empathize and connect. So, if events make you feel sad, and you share that, there are other people who experience the same thing that will empathize and connect with you.
Now, remember, this is all written under the header of authenticity.
There are people (and companies) out there who will take this information and FAKE being sad to create that empathy and connection. A word of warning: people will ALWAYS discover what you're really about. And nothing breaks a brand experience faster than lying in your marketing messages 💡
Listening Back
When we use emotions in marketing, we are opening a door to a two-way conversation. We are sharing our perspective, and then inviting people to share theirs back. It is NOT mean for one-way communications.
Which means, we have to give people somewhere to GO.
And by somewhere, I really mean, some ONE.
A person, who shares the emotion, they can connect with.
This is the power of community.
When we create a place where the people who resonate with us (and our purpose) can go, they WILL go there.
And they will expect to feel seen, heard and appreciated.
We're now talking about MORE than just an audience. We're talking about a place where all your people hang out. I like to think of it as a Campfire.
A place where we can build relationships, through conversation, based on real things...like human emotions💖
At the end of the day...
This isn't about tapping into our human psychology to dupe people.
It IS about tapping into our human psychology to show up like a human, so we can build human relationships in business.
Because you have the opportunity to capture the hearts of your people.
But you can't do that if you won't show them your heart ❤️🔥
Remembering 9/11 - Tracy's Reflections
"I remember hearing on the radio, as I drove to high school, that a plane had hit the world trade center, and I remember thinking they must have meant that a small bi-plane or something had hit an antennae. When I got to school, the cafeteria was packed with people, all watching one of those little, probably 20-inch TV's on a wheelie-cart, as smoke poured from the building. People weren't even going to their lockers. They just piled in there, jackets, backpacks, everything and just sat and watched. I don't know how many people were in there, but the room was silent. That day, we were all one big body of people; I don't think anyone understood what was happening, but we all knew that we were in it together. I can still feel the heaviness in my heart when I think about it, trying to extrapolate the experience of the people there. The pain. The anger. The confusion. The grief. It's like it floated around the world that day to impact all of us. That's how I know that we're all connected, regardless of our countries, our beliefs, our skin-color, our cultures. And that's why I know, if we choose to, we can unite that connectedness into the love that was so glaringly missing leading up to the events of that day."
