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How to Market to the Human Brain

How to Market to the Human Brain

2018-04-05 23:14:53 | Khylie Gardner |

What does it take to make your marketing great? The truth is a lot of time, research, and creativity – plus a little money and some luck. While marketing may not be an exact science, there is a plethora of research that exists about how consumers respond to various marketing efforts. No matter your budget, a good marketer can take advantage of this information to create a campaign that drives your audience through the buyer’s journey and creates loyal customers to support your business.

That’s why, this week, we are looking at the science behind emotions and discussing how to market your business in a way that capitalizes on how you make your audience feel.

Everything You Need to Know About How to Market to Emotions

Certain Emotions Make Us Act Differently

Humans aren’t actually all that complicated. In fact, a recent study suggests that we really only have four emotions: happy, sad, surprised/afraid, and angry/disgusted. It turns out that our reactions to these emotions can be pretty predictable, too:

  • Happiness makes us want to share
  • Sadness helps us connect and empathize
  • Fear and surprise make us cling to things
  • Anger and disgust make us stubborn

With this in mind, it’s clear that marketers have a serious responsibility (and opportunity). They need to learn how to advertise their businesses to elicit certain responses in their consumers.

Why Emotions Matter in Marketing

The average consumer is exposed to more than 5,000 advertisements every single day. That’s a lot of messaging! No wonder people start to tune it out. On average, only about 12 of those 5,000 advertisements will make any lasting impression on your customer. The best way to cut through the clutter and make sure that your message stands out? Make them feel something.

If you aren’t sure how to market effectively to your audience’s emotions, consider what makes them tick. What are they passionate about? Are they young parents, politically motivated, or career-driven?

Once you know this essential information, start to think about how you can use it: What can you offer your audience that no one else can? How can your business inspire them to take an action that aligns with their existing values? This is why emotions matter in marketing and advertising.

But it’s not just enough to tell someone how to feel – you have to make them think that they’ve come to this decision organically.

Use Storytelling to Make Them Care

Telling a “story” is one of the most thrown-around buzzwords in the marketing world. Many brands think that they do a good job of evoking emotion through storytelling, but very few actually hit the mark. The stories you tell should, first and foremost, feel honest, genuine, and real;  they should kick your audience into action by inspiring an emotional response and ending with a strong call-to-action.

Now that we know that there are only four basic emotions for us to play on (and we can anticipate the reaction that each will inspire in potential customers), it’s time to think critically about the sort of stories that we have to offer. What are the best ways to share this content? Perhaps your storytelling takes the form of a social media campaign, or perhaps it becomes part of a broader messaging strategy.

The most important thing is that it feels organic and powerful. For more tips about great storytelling, check out this article we love from Forbes.