As a B2B marketer, you’ve no doubt heard about the need to use emotional marketing to connect with your target audience. Emotional involves telling a story about your brand that will connect with your target in a personal, human way. Because consumers tend to make purchasing decisions based not on logic, but on feelings, emotional marketing is effective at creating meaningful consumer relationships with your brand and sparking loyalty.
What Does Emotional Marketing Do?
In order to compete with how new social media platforms, channels, and devices, where marketers have more venues to convey brand identity and vision, and consumers have more access to brand stories, you need to differentiate your brand by conveying your values, interests and passions in a way that connects.
Here are four approaches to creating an emotional marketing story that can turn consumers into loyal fans of your brand:
Be Inspirational
Associating your brand with an inspirational human interest story or inspirational spokesperson can make people think or act differently. When they see someone overcome an obstacle or accomplish a feat, they often feel a sense of pride and be inspired and swayed by that good deed or action. For example, Nike features many spokespeople who have achieved over odds in their “Just Do It” ads, and when wildlife suffered immensely in 2010 after the Gulf Coast oil spill, Dawn detergent was hailed as a wildlife hero for saving hundreds of birds with their dish soap. Procter & Gamble’s long-running Olympic “Thank You, Mom” campaign spotlighted the mothers of athletes, linking everyday caregiving with perseverance and gratitude, and extended across multiple Games to inspire audiences and deepen emotional connection.
Tap Into Consumer Aspirations
By creating an aspirational B2B marketing campaign you can tap into your target audience’s dreams and desires, or the experience or lifestyle they long for. Building a story that fulfils your customer’s self-image and identity can bring their dream to life through your brand messaging. For example, Tesla consumers believe in the aspirational mission of the company – to transition the world to sustainable energy, while the luxury brand Hermes has developed such an association with elegance, worldliness and the appreciation of fine craftsmanship that appeals to even those with modest budgets. Tesla presents its cars within a stated mission to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy, inviting customers to join a purpose-led story rather than focusing solely on product specifications.
Hermes, by contrast, builds aspiration through artisanal craftsmanship, heritage workshops, and disciplined production that maintains scarcity, which keeps demand high and reinforces the brand’s association with refinement and long-term value.
Make A Milestone Connection
You can use your brand’s personal milestones to create a story that strengthens your brand’s image and relationship with your customers. Being in business a long time reassures people. For example, The Big Mac turned 50 in 2017, the Smucker jelly brand turned 120 years old, and Star Wars made their advertising focus all about making their debut 40 years earlier. Apple marked the iPhone’s 10th anniversary in 2017 with iPhone X and next decade positioning, while LEGO celebrated 60 years of the LEGO brick in 2018 with commemorative sets and campaigns. By celebrating milestones you can develop a branding strategy that resonates with your audience.
Go Local
By connecting with people in your town, region, state, or even country, you can gain fans by connecting people’s passion for where they live with their pride and your brand and tailor your stories to foster than pride. This is a common strategy of even national banks, retailers, and auto brands. By playing active roles in local programs, as Target does, featuring local partnerships as Bank of America does, or supporting local sports teams as many national auto brands do, they play up their involvement in the local community. Location-specific emotional marketing is particularly valuable as a marketing tactic for younger, smaller B2B brands with smaller budgets.
