The Marketing Power of Emotion

Do you have a memory of an event so intense that when you think about it, the feelings come flooding back and you can actually experience it again? I had one of these episodes today as I took my daughter to her kindergarten evaluation. As I waited outside the school for her to come out of the assessment the teacher was giving her, I could feel myself being transported back in time to my own childhood school experiences. I felt the excitement, the fear, and the anxiety all rushing back. I could actually feel my stomach in turmoil, my chest heavy, my mind spinning. Yogi Berra, the great Hall of Fame baseball player said it best, “This is like deja vu all over again.”

Why are these types of memories so powerful? In a simple word – emotion. In fact, our emotions have been with us from the dawn of civilization, hardwired in our brains. What if you could bottle these experiences, these feelings? Think about the power you would wield in your marketing if you could help your customers experience the best feelings associated with your company and products.

THAT’S TROUBLE WITH A CAPITAL “T”

Before you can delve into what to do, you need to understand what not to do. There are two main problems with today’s marketing environment. First, many companies place a yellow page ad, send a direct mail piece or have their sales people make cold calls and it’s called marketing. Second, when they do have a consistent strategy, the majority of companies market by awareness marketing or as I like to put it, the “me-too” method. Advertisements, direct mail pieces, telemarketing are all used with an inventory of the products they sell or the services they offer. This is almost as bad as not marketing at all because it is a huge waste of money. There is no differentiation between companies, let alone a compelling reason to use the company or product. When you market like everyone else, you never stand out from the competition.

It is also becoming more difficult to stand out in the marketplace. Our world is overloaded with information, data, advertising and stimulation beating down on us. The result is a this huge wall of noise constantly crashing over us, causing us to go through life with blinders on. We take in only what we need or want to see and hear. I call this trend the “Tsunami Effect”. How do we break through this barricade to our customer brains? Once again, the answer is emotion. I will give you three simple steps to take that will help you break through this barrier. Three simple steps to get into your customer’s minds and hearts. Three simple steps to generate extraordinary marketing results.

BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE

People have a natural process of buying. They follow a definite behavior pattern. First they become aware of a product. Second they have an interest in the product. Next they start to desire the product. Last, they must take action to buy the product or at least, start to gather information. Most companies stop at the awareness level creating a roadblock to the customers mind.

To smash through this noise wall we must use a sharp point. You do this by creating a simple, emotional statement. This statement should create awareness but must move beyond to stimulate interest. I am not speaking of taglines, which help you remember a company’s name but remain on the awareness level. I am speaking of what I call a Primal Tactic. Fly the Friendly Skies helps you remember United Airlines but does not induce you want to fly them anymore than American, Delta, or Southwest. It must connect emotionally or it is worthless. When I tell you to “Just do it”, you know its Nike, but if you are a runner or athlete, you know it hits you right in the gut. It tells you to stop whining and get going on your run or workout. A Primal Tactic is a statement that gets to the primal emotion of what your customers true desire is for your product or service. . It must be the one compelling reason why you are the company to use.

TELL ME AS A STORY

To take the next step from awareness and interest into desire and action, you must tell your customers a story. The Primal Tactic is meant to pierce the noise wall, the Primal Story is used to connect with your target customer on a primal level. Stories have been our primary way of communicating since the dawn of man. Before language ever took shape, we told stories with drawings on ancient cave walls and the tribal elders used their hands, body, and sounds to tell a story.

Your stories should be true to life, not made up. In fact, they should be the telling of a testimonial drawn out in detail. Better yet, let your satisfied customers tell their story to your target customers. If you have heard the On-Star commercials, you will understand what I mean. On-Star is the on-demand, push of a button help system you can have installed in your vehicle. Push a button and the On-Star operator can send help, unlock your doors or direct you to the nearest hospital. Their stories are actual recordings of people who need help. In one commercial you can hear the actual emotion in the woman’s voice as she tells the On-Star operator she has been in an accident and is hurt and scared. The operator calmly helps her through the crisis, explains that help is on the way and then connects the woman to her husband. The power of this commercial is overwhelming, all by telling a story.

GET INTO ACTION NOW

I cannot emphasize enough that the time is now to implement an effective marketing strategy. The events market was one of the first places that the economy hit as clients had to eliminate or scale back many events. Rising fuel costs and workers compensation premiums have only added to the dismal mood. Even so, most experts predict a rebound, perhaps as early as 2004. In a down economy, many companies scale back on their marketing efforts to save money. This is the worst thing they can do. It’s one thing to reduce expenses, but to reduce the possibility of revenues is insane. As a farmer plants seeds in the spring for vegetables in the fall, so must you market now for sales later. This is true in a down economy just as much as in an up economy. During poor economic times, you may have to look for a different pain or emotion the customer is experiencing and market new products and services accordingly, but you must continue to market. Positioning yourself now for the future will only put you ahead of the game when the economy does turn around.

It is also better to focus your marketing on specific niches rather than on general groups. Use your Primal Tactics and Primal Stories on carefully selected target markets. Create an action plan for each target to systematically to market to them. For marketing to be effective, it must not only speak to your customers emotionally, it must be consistent. Research the best ways to reach them by talking to them. Find out what types of marketing that works with them. Find out what they listen to, what they read. They will tell you things such as what magazines matter them. One excellent place to start is with trade magazines. They are always a good way to hit a particular niche rather than an overall consumer market. They are specialized business publications, often required reading for a particular job, industry or profession.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Emotions are powerful tools. They not only break through the noise we live with everyday but as I told you with my daughter’s kindergarten, they are the keys to helping you remember events. By using them in your marketing efforts you can create extraordinary results. Start getting your best customers into conversations. Listen to them about how they feel about you and your products. Listen for the “Just Do It” and their unique and persuasive stories. Create and use Primal Tactics to get through to your target customers minds so they will listen to your story. Tell them your Primal Stories to build an emotional relationship with them. Use your action plan to have points of contact with them on an on-going basis. After time, you will see that people will know your Primal Story just by hearing your Primal Tactic. They will work together in union. The time is today to plant your marketing seeds today for your sales tomorrow. In the immortal words of Nike, “Just do it.”