Many advertisers make the mistake of marketing logically – even as they continue to make emotional purchases as a consumer! If your advertising program is not working, make sure that you are not making this fundamental mistake. There is far too much digital ink spilled on marketing techniques and tech without attention placed on the real strategy. All of the techniques and tech don’t mean much unless you are moving your prospect towards an emotional connection to your product, not just presenting facts in a highly produced way.
How can you connect your stuff to your audience emotionally? Here are some vetted techniques that you can begin to use immediately.
Inspiration
You may understand the difference between “features” and “benefits” and why benefits are more important to showcase than features. The whole “sell the sizzle, not the steak” philosophy always applies to every aspect of marketing. You may have the same problem as many other marketers, however. How do you sell those benefits? One word – inspire. Tell a personal story. Someone who overcame a challenge is always a great angle. If they did it with your product, all the better.
Nostalgia
People often remember their past with rose colored glasses. Every so often, even multinational companies will take the time from regularly scheduled programming to look back into its history and pull out old images and slogans. Recently, Pepsi reintroduced its old logo, and Star Wars celebrated a 40th anniversary with re-releases and old cameos in its new movies. If your company isn’t old enough to have its own nostalgia, you can still use common themes in the collective memory of your target audience.
Relief
We mentioned features vs. benefits briefly above, but it is worth more time. When a product solves a problem, there is often an emotional release or relief that comes from it. Find that angle and use it in your marketing! This is the way that many pharmaceuticals market themselves – not with descriptions of ingredients, but with happy people riding horses, playing frisbee with the dog in the park, or enjoying a drink with a loved one. The benefit is relief, not necessarily health!
Pride
Do you have a product that can be attached to some sort of team, national or ethnic pride? If so, you have a very powerful tool at your disposal. The more that you localize your audience, the better you will be able to determine if you have a potential source of pride that you can tap into. Do not be afraid to localize your marketing even if your product is universal. You can tweak your advertising for different audiences. When major label artists tour, they say goodnight to a different city every night at the end of the set. Do the same in your advertising!
Fear
Use this tool with care, but understand that it can work very well for you. People respond to fear, and it makes them buy. If your product really solves a problem, however, then you may actually be saving lives! Keep in mind not to scare your audience so much that they become frozen. You also don’t want to be the bearer of bad news. Do not attach yourself to fear – make sure that people see your product as the option that can relieve them of it.
When you turn your audience on emotionally, you will have them for life. Use the best practices in your advertising to engender loyalty in your customers and get better ROI from your marketing plan.
