Marketing Is About Emotion

Have you ever heard of your ‘Reptilian Brain’? It’s a part of the human mind which is responsible for the following functions:

1. Recognise danger
2. Detect hunger
3. Recognise the opportunity for procreation (jiggy time)

Why is this important for marketing your business? Because most people subconsciously use their Reptilian Brain and recognise hard-selling commercials as a threat of the unknown. They ‘recognise danger’ as part of our evolution. These instincts have developed over millions of years and are hard to turn off. 

Think about it... do you trust pop-up adverts? Flashy sale GIFs? Cold emails or LinkedIn messages? Of course not! It even comes down to recognising stock photos - you just have that gut feeling that these photos are not really that company’s employees. Whilst there are exceptions, most humans do not respond well to hard marketing, nor will they become repeat customers because your stats and pushy messages are not memorable.

Instead, you should aim to form an emotional connection with your target audience. In a survey, 92% of consumers confirmed that they prefer adverts which feel like a story. Our brains release dopamine when experiencing an ‘emotionally-charged’ event, which makes it easier to remember and have a positive connotation with your brand. There are dozens of examples from Nike, John Lewis or Apple. Story matters. Actually, wait… I need to rephrase that: REAL story matters, don’t try to BStorytell or you’ll get exposed.

(example of a storytelling video from NOSY)

People like us do things like this

The next evolutionary behaviour to consider is word-of-mouth. In ancient tribes, our instincts assessed food, shelter, or water as safe if others were using it. Would you feel more comfortable eating berries from a bush, after you saw 12 other Neanderthals eat them and not die? Of course! This principle applies to marketing; “If others trust this business, I should too.” If you can combine story with this ‘social proof’ (for example, a real customer testimonial video), then you’re onto a winner, chief.

“When people feel insecure about something, they look around for validation. Show them that other people trust you.“

- Francisco Rosales

Relationship building

Finally, I want to touch on the word ‘relationship’. If you do not form a positive relationship with your customers they will always look for a replacement. It doesn’t matter how much money you make them, how good your product is or how cheap you are. If a customer feels emotionally tired or distressed about using your services, they will eventually walk away.

Ask for feedback, show care and listen, be honest, fix mistakes and most importantly, realise that you cannot form a positive relationship with everybody. If you have to be fake to please the customer you’re wasting everybody’s time. Instead, focus on nurturing the relationships which can really prosper.

(build relationships where you can throw people off a large slide and still walk away smiling)

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, I’d love to hear some examples of how you storytell and form positive relationships with your customers.

Matt x

Further reading:

• Psychology of colour
• Emotion & influencing buying behaviours