If consumers relate to a brand’s message, story or personality in an emotional way, the sense of connection it creates can help drive them to take action. To prompt customers and prospects to sign up for emails, subscribe to newsletters, download a free asset or like, follow and share a brand’s social media content, for example, using marketing tactics that elicit emotion is a great way to nudge them toward a direct response.
Emotions tend to trump facts when it comes to influencing buyers. Rather than listing the benefits or features of a product or service, appealing to the audience on an emotional and personal level can generate more conversions. Below, 15 Forbes Communication Council members outline different ways leveraging emotional marketing can help boost brand awareness, recall and loyalty.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Connecting More Deeply With Audiences
Emotional marketing allows you to connect with your audience in a much deeper way. Feeling connected with you on a deeper level, they will value your brand more and feel more obligated to stay loyal to your company and support it. This is what people do when they can relate to a brand’s mission on a personal level. They feel a part of something bigger, and that’s the key to adding value to your brand. - Christian Anderson, Lost Boy Entertainment Company
2. Creating Stronger Loyalty
We focus on B2H—business-to-human—marketing because at the end of the day, all CEOs, CIOs, CISOs and IT managers are also human beings. Marketing campaigns that get emotional responses create stronger loyalty than campaigns that don’t. - Sal Viveros, Ivanti
3. Helping Consumers Self-Identify With A Brand
All marketing is emotional. People brand themselves as “cool,” “thrifty” or “exclusive” (pick an adjective), me included. We are all irrational. Otherwise, why buy branded products? Nike, Coach, Apple or “no label”—all are ways we brand ourselves. So as a marketer, know the human emotions your brand evokes. Connect with those who seek to convey that same emotion. Always personalize marketing. - Rob Wyse, Rob Wyse
4. Building Personal Relationships
Basic human psychology tells us that the more emotionally invested we are in anything, the less critical and more open to different ideas we are about it. Emotional marketing allows brands to create a deeper and closer connection with their chosen audience. Moreover, creating a shared experience allows brands to build personal relationships and nurture communities on an emotional level. - Alison Bringé, Launchmetrics
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5. Creating More Inclusive Experiences
Emotional marketing allows one to forge personal connections with customers, creating stronger relationships and loyalty. Connect with customers by asking proactive questions and listening to their challenges in order to identify their needs. This, in turn, adds another level of personalization and creates a more inclusive experience. - Kimberley Drobny, Theatro
6. Highlighting A Brand’s Mission At Work
Personal stories and user testimonials allow current and prospective customers to see your brand’s mission at work. These user stories elicit an emotional response from your audience that encourages engagement and makes your brand memorable. Your audience can see how your products and services affect others and imagine how their lives, too, can be impacted. - Karen Parisi, CentralReach
7. Encouraging Rapid Growth
Telling stories makes it easy for your audience to relate to your brand by tapping into human emotions. Brands must truly understand their “why” and their intention to then craft powerful messages that remain timeless, which positions your brand to continually grow at a rapid pace, rather than growing all at once from a timely strategy. - Emily Burroughs, BGSF
8. Building A Sense Of Community
Emotional marketing should be grounded in a whole-person approach to your audiences, which means understanding the key emotions and challenges they experience in their journeys. You need to understand their stories first before you can build marketing stories that strike the right emotional chords. Done well, this approach can build engagement and even a sense of community around your brand. - Alyssa Kopelman, Healthline Media
9. Branding Through Storytelling
Marketing is storytelling, and what is a story without human emotions? The best brand advertisements revolve around human emotions. For example, instead of saying, “We sell the best-tasting bread on the market,” say, “We make family mornings a ritual with our bread.” Show the bond between father and son over breakfast. Show the emotions, and the brand will automatically build itself. - Raj Rentala, Techwave
10. Humanizing A Brand
Empathetic marketing, at its core, appeals to the human in all of us—we want real connection, meaningful engagement and a joyful experience. Marketing can sometimes feel like a one-way street, and that’s the wrong way to connect with your audiences. Brands should strive for human-like qualities and values in their marketing strategies, creating deeper, long-lasting connections with customers. - Niki Hall, Contentsquare
11. Making A Brand Memorable
Emotional marketing gives your audience something to connect with on a more personal level. If you can elicit emotion from someone, the next time they feel that same emotion, your brand or story may come to mind. It is a way to make your brand memorable to them. - Sarah Lero, A.L. Huber
12. Driving High Engagement And Retention
According to Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, 95% of purchasing decisions are based on emotion. Emotional marketing heightens authenticity, attracting loyal consumers who believe in the brand’s values. In a recent study, Dash Hudson uncovered a strong correlation between content that derives high engagement and retention and sales, underscoring the importance of emotional marketing. - Kate Kenner Archibald, Dash Hudson
13. Making A Lasting First Impression
Emotional marketing makes a lasting first impression. Responding to an ad that generates an emotional response will leave consumers with a memorable impression of a product. A consumer is more likely to remember a brand or product that elicits an emotional response. Think beyond your product’s utilitarian value and instead focus more on its hedonic value—how it can make consumers “feel.” - Asad Kausar, Dabaran
14. Helping Audiences Retain A Brand’s Message
When I think of emotional marketing, I think about a story—whether it’s entertaining, heartfelt, funny, joyous or any kind of emotion a brand campaign may want to portray. The human brain recognizes the familiar arc and narrative framework of a story, so putting your marketing into this emotional structure will help an audience better connect with and retain your message. - Melissa Kandel, little word studio
15. Making An Aspirational Imprint
Emotional marketing helps the consumer to deeply connect with your brand, beyond the general offering and “what’s in it for me?”—showing how a product or service will help them overcome a life challenge (such as finding more time to spend with their family, more success in achieving their goals and so on). They get a taste of what it will feel like, and it makes an aspirational imprint that goes far beyond general promotions of features and benefits. - Stacy Bliek, Integrity Staffing Solutions
